SMTA Advocacy

Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance P.O. Box 10352 Rockville, MD 20849

Regional Transportation Planning Board to Move Forward on Long-Range Plan – Action Needed

July 20, 2017 | Author: John Fineran

This Wednesday, July 19, the COG Transportation Planning Board (TPB), will finalize the list of projects in their long-term study (details below). The public is invited to testify and your input is crucial, either in person or via email (using the button below). What TPB is voting on In light of studies showing our current long-range plans do not have enough capacity to handle future travel needs for our region, and if we don't add major new transit and road capacity, congestion gets much worse, TPB is studying 10 major...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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New “Fix270Now” Coalition Launches Effort to Ease Traffic on 270

September 19, 2016 | Author:MoveMDweb

Area leaders, including U.S. Representatives John Delaney and Chris Van Hollen, and a host of local and state officials from Montgomery and Frederick Counties, gathered today to launch a new coalition effort to re-start two long-delayed project studies that hold great promise for unlocking the severe traffic nightmare that is I-270 during both rush-hours. Congressman Delaney is the group's Honorary Chair and played a key role in its creation. The bipartisan group of business, civic and elected leaders will press for multimodal solutions, including new express-toll lanes and regional bus-rapid-transit (BRT) using...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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Purple Line Forum September 29 to Focus on Denver Experience

September 12, 2016 | Author: John Fineran

Purple Line Now is hosting a forum at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services center September 29th to explore Denver's experience with a light-rail line delivered through a public-private partnership, as is also the case with Maryland's Purple Line. Guests are invited to sign up in advance to attend. Click this link to RSVP. The Purple Line is one of SMTA's top-priority projects and would help connect the region and more effectively utilize our current Metro system, enabling tens of thousands more residents to enjoy faster, more efficient east-west trips from Bethesda to...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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New Regional Poll: Transportation is #1 Issue, Public Supports New Roads AND Transit

April 18, 2016 | Author:MoveMDweb

A recent poll released today at a briefing of area leaders shows transportation is by far the top long-term concern for residents of the Greater Washington Region. Overwhelming majorities also favor significant new investments in both the area’s highway and mass transit networks. Large majorities in this regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support: Investing in the core capacity of the existing Metro system (though not necessarily its further expansion); plus major new multi-modal investments to widen and redesign several highway corridors, including I-270, the Capital Beltway,  portions...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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Maryland General Assembly Overrides Veto on Transportation “Scoring” Bill, No Cause for Celebration

April 11, 2016 | Author: John Fineran

In the last week of the Maryland General Assembly, both the Maryland House and Senate narrowly voted to override Governor Larry Hogan's veto of legislation (HB 1013), dubbed the "Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016," establishing new measures by which the Department of Transportation (MDOT)  is required to score future major capital projects.  SMTA has long been a vocal advocate for using objective performance criteria to evaluate and make funding decisions on major transportation projects across all modes.  However, we testified against this bill for several reasons.  Most importantly,  the...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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Board of Public Works Approves Purple Line

April 6, 2016 | Author:MoveMDweb

Maryland's Board of Public Works, which include Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, and Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, approved a $5.6 billion contract for the Purple Line this week.  The contract includes both construction and operating costs, and make the Purple Line one of the largest transportation projects in recent Maryland history, significantly more expensive than the InterCounty Connector, another SMTA priority project, that has been operating for several years now in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. The Purple Line links key activity centers from Bethesda, to Silver...regional poll of 800 residents in Maryland, DC and Virginia support:

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SMTA Sponsors

Transportation funding remains a key issue in Maryland this year. Tell your legislators to Invest Now!