Who are we?

• A diverse group of businesses, civic and environmental organizations, and foundations affiliated with the Greater Baltimore Committee, Baltimore’s premier business organization. BTA's funders and partners include the Baltimore Community Foundation; the Goldseker Foundation; the Open Society Institute; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Citizens Planning and Housing Association; Transit Riders League of Metropolitan Baltimore and many others. BTA members share an interest in the economic and social health of the Baltimore Region, and want to see the region compete successfully for jobs and grow in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. The BTA believes transportation issues must be addressed on a regional basis, and that the development of a mass transit system is a key component of regional cooperation.
  
  

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Board of Advisors

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What do we want?

• A real transit system for the Baltimore Region--a system that gets us to our most important population, employments and cultural centers; connects together in safe, convenient and easily understood way; provides a real alternative to driving for all our residents; is reliable, fast, clean and doesn't pollute our air.
  
  

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What are we doing about it?

• We advocate a regional approach to planning and implementation of rapid transit projects, including the committed involvement of the region’s local jurisdictions and elected officials; proactive station area planning; and participation in the preparation of project financing plans.
  
  
• We support expedited development of the Baltimore Region Rail System Plan. Baltimore needs a more extensive rail system now, and we support beginning construction on a major new east-west rail line by 2010 to be followed shortly thereafter by construction of an extension of the Metro line beyond Johns Hopkins Hospital. To accomplish these transit improvements we will seek both State and federal funding.
  
  
• We support better, more frequent rail connections between Baltimore and Washington, including MARC, Amtrak and the continued study of Maglev to examine its feasibility.
  
  
• In the near term, we support more and better MTA bus service throughout the region, particularly in high density future rail corridors that are not currently under study. We also back the restructuring of the bus system into a “family” of services, i.e., express, local and neighborhood circulators. We support the MTA’s initiative to upgrade the communications technology of the bus system, including more reliable destination signs, dynamic digital arrival signs at bus stops, and more readily available schedule information.
  
  

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Why is this a priority for us?

• Traffic congestion and commute times are growing in the Baltimore Region placing a burden on employers, workers and families.
  
  
• Access to jobs is an economic growth issue in the region, particularly for low wage workers who lack access to cars. Transit effectively expands the labor pool and increases worker reliability.
  
  
• High quality transit maintains the vitality and competitiveness of Baltimore’s Central Business District. Every work day, more than one in five downtown workers uses transit. More than 70,000 more parking spaces would be needed downtown if they drove instead.
  
  
• Transit organizes growth in an efficient manner and stimulates economic development around stations. The Washington Metro has generated nearly $15 billion in private development near transit stations. Between 1980 and 1990 alone, 40% of the region’s retail and office space was built within walking distance of a Metro station.
  
  
• Transit reduces energy consumption and helps clear the air. The region is under an increasingly strict federal mandate to reduce air pollution. Transit accomplishes this without taxes or government mandates.
  
  
• Transit spending generates jobs. A billion dollars of capital investment in transit produces 30,000 jobs. The same billion dollars, if spent on transit operations, produce 60,000 jobs due to the local multiplier effect.
  
  

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