Testimony – Transportation Priorities Hearing
Good evening, I’m Nancy Soreng, President of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. Transportation issues have been a focus of League research, study, discussion and consensus since the early sixties. We have developed positions on transportation at the local, regional and state level. A copy of those positions, and the years in which they were studied and adopted are attached to this testimony.
A quick review of the positions shows a long-term commitment to a balanced transportation system with strong support for transit. In fact, following a study and consensus process conducted by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County in 2000, we concluded that building a transit line, including the Georgetown Branch Trolley (now called the Purple Line), constructed generally south of the Beltway, should be a funding priority.
Recognizing the cost of a creating and maintaining an efficient safe and accessible transportation system, the League has always included a financing component in their studies of the issue. The National Capital Area League supports a dedicated funding source for transit and endorses the use of an increase in the sales tax that excludes such necessities as food and medicine. The study also resulted in support for using federal funds, state and local contributions, user fees, including tolls, fares, and other fees, private funding, bonds and a gasoline tax.
There are currently two transit projects that have long been in the planning phase, Corridor Cities Transit way and the Bi-County County Connector (the Purple Line). We know that you, the Council, The County Executive, and the majority of Montgomery County residents are eager to see these projects progress beyond the drawing table and become a reality. With the pressures on our transportation system that will follow our predicted increases in population, we must move forward as quickly as possible. The League would like to offer our services to work with you, the County Executive, and the Maryland Transit Administration to convene a meeting of stakeholders with the goal of coming to consensus on some of the remaining issues of contention. We were instrumental in organizing such a meeting in the 60’s when METRO was a popular concept, but the final pieces to making it a reality needed to be put in place. It was the first time that all of the key players had sat at the table together, and the result is the wonderful subway system we now enjoy and that continues to grow in ridership.
If you are interested in this offer, please contact our office. The number is on your copy of the testimony. Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you this evening.
Support for:
A balanced system of transportation which includes a rapid transit system. (1962, affirmed 1973)
Transportation services which are made convenient and accessible by minimizing the time required for a trip, providing frequent and reliable service and adequate parking and charging reasonable fares. (1988)
Transportation information which is readily available by methods that include efficient telephone information, information on buses and at bus stops, and wide distribution of maps and schedules. (1988)
Solutions to current and future county transportation needs that include the following: (2000).
building a new or improved East-West connection; no consensus on the Inter-County Connector. (edit 2005)
building a transit line, including the Georgetown Branch Trolley, on a right-of-way generally south of the Beltway - funding priority;
building an outer transit line at some future time
building the Corridor Cities Transitway from the Shady Grove Metro Station to Clarksburg
opposition to the widening of the Capital Beltway.
1. In support of the concept that there be some form of transportation for all, we endorse public policy in services and planning that:
supports a coordinated transportation system which includes bus and rapid rail transit (1964, 1970, 1983, 1989)
promotes and improves the present and proposed transportation systems to encourage the use of mass transit (1963, 1970, 1989)
integrates transportation and land use planning on local and regional levels.
2. Priorities in transportation services and planning should include:
transportation systems services that are convenient, frequent, regular, speedy, and economical to the user for the benefit of the larger community (1963, 1964, 1970, 1983, 1989)
reduced air pollution through the promotion of mass transportation systems (1970, 1989)
allocation of road space for use of high-occupancy vehicles (bus, carpools, vanpools) to speed services, including traffic control measures.
3. We support public participation and supervision in determining information needed and in
evaluating transportation proposals, transportation planning, and operations. Public
involvement and decision-making should include:
appointment of citizen members to decision-making boards with full authority to participate in their functions, and enough tenure to master the subject (these members would be residents of the jurisdictions involved, consumer advocates who do not have business connections or official roles in the transportation and appropriations process) (1971, 1989)
every effort should be made by local governments to include minorities, senior citizens, economically and/or physically challenged persons, and other traditionally under-served, under-represented citizens on transportation and land use advisory committees and to facilitate their participation (1977)
open public meetings of all regulatory and public management boards (1971, 1989)
compulsory paid publication in general circulation newspapers of proposals on which public review is to be held (1971, 1989)
decision-making on the level of service for the regional mass transit system by WMATA with
local input, including citizen input, early in the decision-making process. (1981, 1989)
4. We support financial measures that include:
informing the public of the total costs of auto use and full public disclosure of the cost of transportation service, of who pays for service and who receives it, and of full cost/benefit information
public investment to finance public transportation systems, to encourage substantially greater use of mass transportation, to increase resources for bus and rail transit, to achieve a realistic alternative to private auto use, to provide funds for bus shelters and information services (1971, 1983, 1989)
reduction of subsidies to auto use, such as tax favors which support parking and free parking for employees paid out of public funds. (1971, 1989)
the use of a dedicated tax to help fund public transportation. The objective of such a tax should be to spread the costs of mass transit among the total population and to encourage the use of mass transit instead of the automobile. A sales tax which excludes such necessities as food and medicine would be the best means of financing mass transportation in the metropolitan area. The most important criteria to be used in evaluating particular taxes dedicated to transportation should be revenue potential, timeliness, and reliability. (1980)
5. We support the integration of transportation and land use planning on local and regional levels. (1997)
6. We support an interstate compact authority for regional transportation.
Members representing corporate, environmental, social and political jurisdictions would best promote a regional approach to transportation planning.
Members representing political jurisdictions would best produce cooperation among/between local jurisdictions and would best promote efficiency and flexibility in meeting transportation needs.
The following areas of transportation planning should come within the jurisdiction of a regional transportation authority:
Roads and highways
Urban and suburban transit, including bus and rail
Interstate rail, including connections among systems, i.e., Amtrak, MARC, etc.
Pedestrian/bike paths
Water, i.e., water taxis, ferries, etc.
Bridges and tunnels
Approved projects should be funded through:
Federal funds appropriated through transportation authorization act
State and local contributions
User fees, including tolls, fares, and other fees
Private funding
Bonds
Gasoline tax (2004)
Action to support an integrated transportation system and mass transit systems which are efficient, safe, clean and accessible. Support for adequate and equitable funding and cooperative regional programs is necessary to achieve these goals. (2002)
Support for:
Maintaining the solvency of the Transportation Trust Fund.
Increasing funding for mass transit.
Developing regional visions and frameworks for transportation which reflect local concerns and which incorporate relevant LWV positions on land use, economic development, and environmental protection.
Achieving and maintaining cooperative working relationships among state and local agencies in order to achieve better planning and to decrease the use of single occupancy vehicles.
Incentives which promote use of mass transit and other alternative modes of travel.
Public education to promote transportation goals which would provide alternative travel modes, encourage technological improvements that abate emissions from mobile sources, reduce energy consumption and protect natural resources.
Support for1: A motor vehicle fuel tax on a per gallon basis to be used for transportation, with measures included to protect the environment.