ROCKVILLE, MD (March 21, 2017) — The Maryland General Assembly’s latest transportation scoring legislation could still favor commuter transit trips at the expense of the roads that serve about 84 percent of Maryland commuters. That is one of several findings in a new report issued today by the Maryland Public Policy Institute.  The full report can be viewed at mdpolicy.org.

Maryland legislators are currently considering a compromise to last year’s unpopular “Road Kill Bill.” The compromise, Senate Bill 307, would simply delay the use of the “Chapter 36 process” to allocate transportation money, so that state officials can study the system more carefully and propose amendments by January 1, 2019.  Senate Bill 307 passed the State Senate with the support of the Hogan Administration on March 15. It awaits a vote in the House of Delegates.

“A system that takes from motorists and gives mostly to transit riders simply won’t fly whether it occurs now or in 2019,” said Christopher B. Summers, president and chief executive officer of the Institute. “A Goucher Poll of Marylanders this past February found 59 percent favor a greater focus on improving roads and highways against 35 percent wanting the focus on public transportation.  Maryland lawmakers would be wise to tap the brakes on any legislation that favors a few commuters at the expense of the majority.”

The report is authored by Peter Samuel, an adjunct fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute and resident of Frederick, Md. From 1996 to 2013 he published Toll Roads Newsletter and tollroadsnews.com.

About the Maryland Public Policy Institute: Founded in 2001, the Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Institute’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies at all levels of government based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, and civil society.  Learn more at mdpolicy.org.

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