Dive Brief:
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act on Tuesday, establishing an oversight board of directors for the Maryland Transit Administration and a Commuter Services Advisory Board to oversee commuter rail and bus services.
- The legislation gives the board of directors authority to oversee budgets, service plans and certain grant decisions for transit in the Baltimore region.
- The act repeals the Baltimore Regional Transit Commission, established in 2023, and directs the transit administration to reallocate staff between the two new boards.
Dive Insight:
“We have no good public transportation system,” the Maryland Legislative Coalition, an association of activists, wrote in testimony to the state senate’s finance committee, adding that “it’s time to have some oversight” of the transit administration. The coalition said it strongly supports the newly enacted bill.
Maryland’s consolidated transportation program anticipates spending $22.1 billion statewide over its fiscal year 2026 to 2031 plan. Projects include repairs to the Key Bridge, highway and tunnel work, improvements to the state’s airport light rail line and completion of its 16-mile light rail line connecting New Carrollton to Bethesda, Maryland.
The Maryland Department of Transportation, which supported the act, is required to contract with the Baltimore Metropolitan Council to complete a technical study by Dec. 1 to consider the creation of a rail authority in Maryland.
“Years of underfunding have kept Baltimore’s transit system stuck in the minors with a losing record,” transportation advocates Paul Sturm and Lauren Byrd wrote in a commentary for Maryland Matters, a nonprofit news site. “Unreliable bus and rail service” affects workers, students, older adults and people with medical needs, they said.
