Maryland's Commuter Traffic a Hot-Button Issue

Imagine sitting in your sweltering car on a congested five-lane highway that inches along, adding an hour or two to your trip. All the while, your four-dollar-a-gallon gas tank is draining, your exhaust is polluting the air, and there's no chance you'll get home in time for your kid's game. In the DC Metro area, which includes Northern Virginia and most of Maryland, this nightmare is a daily occurrence. Not only do Marylanders have one of the longest commutes in the country, but several of our traffic areas have been rated the most dangerous in the nation. Just last week, a truck plunged over the Bay Bridge costing some poor soul his life and backing up traffic for eight hours.

The situation isn't much better for those who take public transportation. While the DC metro system is well-maintained and expansive, it's also completely overburdened. Commuters tell horror stories of being packed together to wait in unsafe conditions in Union Station. Some fear being trampled in riotous rages when passengers are told of yet another delay.

Once outside of DC Metro and into Maryland proper, the public transportation system falls apart completely. Maryland's bussing system is plainly inadequate for the state's needs and its rail system next to worthless due to limited destination stops.

Indeed, working professionals in the area avoid public transportation not just because of crowding and limited stops, but because unreliable schedules make it so that commuters cannot predict even a ballpark figure of when they'll arrive at work. Conditions in Maryland's mass transit got so bad in June that the Transit Administrator had to issue a public apology.

When Governor O'Malley took office in 2006, expansion of public transportation was a core part of his platform. However, inheriting a massive structural budget deficit from his predecessor, these plans have been gutted. Democrats claim that the previous Ehrlich administration slashed maintenance service for public transportation, and now the state has to spend money repairing equipment instead of expanding service. Unfortunately for O'Malley, voters might not care about whose fault the crisis is-they just want solutions and fast.

To some extent, the problem might be best solved by Maryland's congressional delegation. Much of the state's traffic is national, and not local, in nature. Federal resources to help maintain the systems that the rest of the country uses as they pass through would be a great help. Investment in Amtrak and incentives for the rail system to cooperate more fully with MARC would help shore up Maryland's public transportation system. But there are no easy answers.

Certainly, the Governor has put resources into making our transportation system greener-new ethanol stations are being built around the state and 500 busses are going to be converted to hybrids. He's pushed an aggressive environmental agenda to reduce emissions and to repair the state's bridges and roads. But with transportation woes robbing commuters of hours and hours of family time, congestion may now be more important to Marylanders quality of life than the environmental impact of that traffic.