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County
to increase transit for BRAC
By Andrew
Childers
Capital Newspaper Staff Writer
12/9/07
Anne Arundel
officials hope the 22,000 anticipated workers Fort George G.
Meade's expansion will bring to the region will come by the
busload. County planners hope to bolster Anne Arundel's public
transit network, particularly in the under-served west county
area, before the impact of the Base Realignment and Closure
process is felt. Speaking at the Annapolis Regional Transportation
Management Association's annual meeting last week, Robert C.
Leib, a special assistant to County Executive John R. Leopold
for BRAC, said many of the incoming workers bring a culture
of commuting via transit. Transit will play a "primary role"
in planning for BRAC.
More than
4,000 employees of the Defense Information Systems Agency in
Arlington, Va., will be relocated to Fort Meade by 2010. Those
workers, Mr. Leib said, are used to Northern Virginia's robust
transportation network and bring a culture of transit commuting.
"We recognize this is a requirement," he said. "These are Northern
Virginians. They're used to commuting." The county is purchasing
additional buses to run between the New Carrollton Metro stop,
the MARC station and Fort Meade. Additionally, Mr. Leib said
a federal grant will pay for additional transportation studies
to highlight critical road and transit needs in west county.
"It's going to offer more opportunities for people living (in
west county) now and going to Fort Meade," ARTMA Executive Director
Heather McColl said.
Mr. Leib
said officials from across the region have managed to winnow
the $5 billion in anticipated transportation project needs for
BRAC down to $1.2 billion for the most pressing concerns. But
Donald C. Fry, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee,
worries BRAC counties will not receive the funds necessary to
cope with the worker influx after he said the General Assembly
failed to adequately address transportation funding during the
special session. The former Harford County delegate and senator
said: "transportation doesn't really get attention until it
becomes a crisis." The $450 million that will be raised for
transportation projects through the sales tax increase is far
short of the $600 million realistically needed to address the
state's growing congestion, he said.
A 30-year
transportation outlook compiled over the summer by the Baltimore
Metropolitan Council, which includes Baltimore, its six surrounding
counties and Annapolis, was universally panned this summer for
its lack of transit planning. Area officials asked planners
to take a second look at it with an eye toward transit. The
second draft shuffled more of the region's anticipated $8 billion
federal allotment, particularly for the Red Line in Baltimore,
but still remains heavy on the road projects, to the dismay
of some participating jurisdictions.
Published
December 9, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright © 2007
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
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