This morning in Annapolis, a joint hearing of the House Ways and Means, House Appropriations, and Senate Budget and Taxation Committees was held to consider SB 5/HB 5, the Transportation Investment Act.

Maryland Chamber President & CEO Kathly Snyder joined Greater Baltimore Committee President & CEO Don Fry and Greater Washington Board of Trade President & CEO Jim Dinegar today to urge lawmakers to increase transportation funding by a minimum of $600 million annually.

“The time is now for Maryland to invest a minimum of $600 million per year in its transportation infrastructure,” Snyder said. “This is an investment in our future that will enhance the region’s competitiveness and viability for supporting economic expansion and job growth.”

The three organizations recently released a transportation study that found that roadway congestion in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region costs Maryland more than $3 billion per year — $1 billion in the Baltimore area and more than $2 billion in the D.C. area. The cost of congestion in Maryland has increased almost 1,200 percent since 1982. The volume of the state’s rush-hour traffic has increased 135 percent in the last 25 years, yet the number of lane miles on major highways has increased by only 35 percent.

The three organizations agree that:

• An increase in the state’s gas tax should be part of the solution in increasing annual transportation revenue by at least $600 million;
• Revenue dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund should stay in the fund and not be used for General Fund purposes;
• The majority of additional taxes for transportation purposes should be raised from transportation-related sources.

To read the Maryland Chamber’s position statement on the Transportation Investment Act, click here (pdf). To learn more about the transportation funding study I mentioned above, click here.