BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP Newsletter
Land Use and Transportation Issues around the Region
May 20, 2003
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Contents:

*Rally Tonight to Protest Proposed Transit Fare Hikes
*Meetings on Rapid Transit Plan Begin May 21
*Massive $2 Billion Widening of I-95 Planned
*Poverty Less Concentrated in 1990s
*Region's Outer Counties Struggle with Growth
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RALLY TONIGHT TO PROTEST PROPOSED TRANSIT FARE HIKES

Transit riders and other transit advocates will gather at the State
Office Building in Baltimore tonight at 5:30 PM to protest proposed
transit fare hikes of about 20-36 percent combined with service cuts. 
An official public hearing on the changes will begin at 6:00 PM in the
building at 300 West Preston Street.  Key legislative leaders have
objected to the basic trip fare increase from $1.35 to $1.60, saying
they were led to believe during the General Assembly that the new fare
would be $1.50.

For more information on the protest, contact Caroline Harmon at
410-539-1369 or go to:
http://www.cpharegionalcampaign.org/
and click on the link to the protest.

May 16 Sun story on backlash available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.fare16may16.story

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MEETINGS ON RAPID TRANSIT PLAN BEGIN MAY 21

Moving forward with plans to implement a more comprehensive rapid
transit plan for the Baltimore region, the Maryland Transit
Administration will host seven public meetings along the alignments of
two priority lines between May 21 and June 18.  The overall plan would
expand Baltimore's 43 miles of subway and light rail transit to a
network of 109 rail or rapid bus lines linking the region's four largest
counties and Baltimore City.  The seven upcoming public meetings focus
on the plan's two priority segments, a new east-west "Red Line" from
I-70 through downtown to the Patterson Park area and a "Green Line"
extension of the current Metro subway line from Johns Hopkins Hospital
to Morgan State University. 

For more information, contact Dan Pontious, Baltimore Regional
Partnership, at danp@balto-region-partners.org or 410-539-1369 x207, or
visit the MTA-sponsored web site:
http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com

May 10 Sun story on meetings available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.transit10may10.story

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MASSIVE $2 BILLION WIDENING OF I-95 PLANNED

Last month Governor Robert Ehrlich announced approval of a plan to spend
$2 billion of state toll revenue to widen I-95 from Baltimore City to
the Delaware state line.  Between Rt. 543 in Harford County and the
Baltimore City line, the plan calls for adding 2-3 lanes in each
direction, an expansion of 50-100 percent, depending on the highway
segment.  In 2001 the Baltimore Regional Partnership expressed concern
about the magnitude of the proposed widening and its effect on
rapidly-growing Harford County.  The coalition urged the state to study
a more modest widening option combined with variable tolls for express
lanes and bolstered express transit service in the corridor to mitigate
the sprawl-promoting effect of expanded highway capacity.  The final
plan, however, does not take that option into account.

April 24 press release available at:
http://www.mdtransportationauthority.com/mdta/servlet/dispatchServlet?url=/News/newsDisplayChoice.jsp?position=7


Baltimore Regional Partnership 2001 comments available at:
http://www.balto-region-partners.org/mdta_letter.htm and
http://www.balto-region-partners.org/brp_factsheet.htm

For more information on I-95 study, visit
http://www.mdtransportationauthority.com
and click on "I-95 Master Plan Study" in the left column.

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POVERTY LESS CONCENTRATED IN 1990S

A new study by the Brookings Institution finds that the 1990s saw a
significant drop in census tracts with more than 40 percent of residents
falling below the federal poverty level.  Equity advocates often point
to concentrated poverty as a significant regional problem, since it
tends to correlate with troubled schools, crime, and large-scale
migration of middle class families to outer suburbs of the metro area. 
The data tends to show, however, that poor households tended to relocate
to outer city or inner suburban neighborhoods, moving them closer to the
40 percent poverty mark, rather than moving to truly low-poverty areas
of the region that are usually out of their financial reach.  Perhaps
ironically, President Bush has proposed this coming fiscal year to end
the federal HOPE VI program that has turned troubled high-rise public
housing projects into mixed income communities in Baltimore and
elsewhere.

May 18 Sun story available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.poverty18may18.story

More information on Brookings Institution study:
http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/urban.htm

Sun Perspective article on proposed cutting of HOPE VI program:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-pe.housing18may18.story

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REGION'S OUTER COUNTIES STRUGGLE WITH GROWTH

All four outer suburban counties in the Baltimore region are grappling
with rapid residential growth and the toll it is taking on schools and
other costly public services.  The growth and political pressures are
moving even further out, too -- to Cecil, Queen Anne's and Cecil
Counties.  In the Baltimore region growth pressures are exacerbated by
significant population shifts out of Baltimore City and its inner
suburbs, turning a 7 percent regional growth rate into a 20 percent
growth rate in the suburbs over the past 12 years.  Elected officials in
outer counties are weighing growth moratoriums, zoning changes, and
higher development fees, and building in some growth areas is held up
because of school capacity issues.

May 18 Sun story available at:
http://www.sunspot.net/bal-te.md.restrict18may18.story

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ABOUT THE BALTIMORE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP AND NEWSLETTER

The Baltimore Regional Partnership is an alliance of five civic,
environmental, and anti-sprawl groups:1000 Friends of Maryland
(www.friendsofmd.org), Baltimore Urban League (www.bul.org), Chesapeake
Bay Foundation ( www.savethebay.cbf.org), Citizens Planning and Housing
Association (www.CPHARallyForTheRegion.org), and Environmental Defense
(www.environmentaldefense.org).

This newsletter explores current issues, recent and upcoming events, and
ongoing deliberations that affect the region's quality of life through
transportation, economic development, and land use policy and planning. 

We hope to link citizens in the region who are working to fight sprawl,
promote clean and efficient transportation, protect valuable farm and
forest lands, and revitalize urban areas, older suburbs, and historic
towns. You can view past issues at
http://www.balto-region-partners.org/news.htm.

Has this newsletter been forwarded to you, and you would like to receive
it yourself? Go to
http://www.balto-region-partners.org/news.htm to sign up.

Send us information, too. Let us know about your work on land use and
transportation decisions that are affecting the Baltimore region. Email
information to Dan Pontious at danp@balto-region-partners.org.  Visit
the Baltimore Regional Partnership website at
http://www.balto-region-partners.org.