Public transit and smart transportation planning are some of the most important tools that local and state governments have to fight climate change and reduce structural inequalities. Transportation decisions should improve local air quality, rather than drive greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce economic inequality instead of excluding working-class communities from the opportunities we need to thrive.
Historically, Maryland transportation decisions have worsened inequality instead of reducing it. Governor Larry Hogan's decision to cancel the Red Line in 2015, just weeks after the Baltimore Uprising, threw away years of community labor for the project in favor of suburban highway funding; and when the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition (BTEC) challenged that decision in court under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act on the basis of its discriminatory impact, the Trump administration refused to consider the case. Then in 2022, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Transportation Equity Act to make sure that the state could never make such an inequitable decision again - with bipartisan support, and no opposition voiced at the hearings. Fifty organizations encouraged Governor Hogan to sign it into law, but in May, he vetoed it. We need to pass the Transportation Equity Act in 2023 to make sure that doesn't happen again.
How? The Transportation Equity Act (HB9/SB19) would effectively enact expanded provisions parallel to those under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Ensuring equity would become a primary goal of the Maryland Transportation Plan. Whenever the state is planning any major service changes, the Maryland Department of Transportation would have to conduct transit equity analyses, cost benefit analyses, and outreach to affected communities before public hearings. Instead of inequitable decisions being made and then communities having to challenge them in court, this would bake equity in from the very beginning.
The legislature did the right thing by passing this bill in 2022, and the legislature must pass it again in 2023. Let’s set the Moore administration up for success with this important tool to ensure equity; and let's give enough time to fully implement the bill this term, so this administration can make sure these protections are in place for the long haul.
Take Action! Tell the General Assembly to support the Transportation Equity Act and set Maryland up for equitable transportation in the future.