How do Hogan and Jealous compare on transportation?

WTOP ^ | October 26, 2018 | Bruce DePuyt, Maryland Matters

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The Libertarian and Green Party candidates were not consulted on their positions on transportation for this article. Figures.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[jyo19]

There are very few people as aptly named as Benjamin Jealous.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland races to catch up with Virginia in toll road projects (6/30)

[max americana]

I thought this was a WWE thread..

[daler]

Well, we can assume Jealous has at least one ardent supporter:

[Fungi]

What a joke. A red herring to the hilt. If you cannot baffle them with erudite brilliance , throw more crap against the wall hoping something will stick. Pure unadulterated crap.

[TBP]

Toll lanes — like the Inter-County Connector.

[TBP]

News reports from Virginia, which now has an extensive network of high-occupancy toll lanes, is likely the reason the public is skeptical about the Hogan plan, observers said, particularly in the I-66 corridor, where tolls can reach eye-popping levels.

“What’s embedded in people’s heads are those $45 tolls,” said AAA’s Townsend.>

Yes, and seeing those Virginia campaign ads for Barbara Comstock in which she talks about her opponent's support for those tolls isn't helping Governor Hogan's plan gain support.

[TBP]

Hogan is going to beat Jealous comfortably.

[nd76]

Don’t get Wexton’d.

[BobL]

““What’s embedded in people’s heads are those $45 tolls,” said AAA’s Townsend.”

Toll Roads: The people who use the road, pay for the road. And if the road costs $45 per car during the evening rush hour because of monopoly pricing...well, then people need to SUCK IT UP. That’s CAPITALISM, isn’t it?

[TBP]

News reports from Virginia, which now has an extensive network of high-occupancy toll lanes, is likely the reason the public is skeptical about the Hogan plan, observers said, particularly in the I-66 corridor, where tolls can reach eye-popping levels.

“What’s embedded in people’s heads are those $45 tolls,” said AAA’s Townsend.

Yes, and seeing those Virginia campaign ads for Barbara Comstock in which she talks about her opponent's support for those tolls isn't helping Governor Hogan's plan gain support.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Montgomery Co. residents fear losing homes over plans to widen I-270 and Beltway (10/11)

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Montgomery County residents voice concerns on I-270, I-495 widening project (10/12)

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Fight over toll lanes clouds DC area’s transportation future (10/18)

[sphinx]

If houses and businesses do need to be taken, Townsend said it’s “imperative” that owners be compensated fairly. “The government has to give the great priority to making those people whole. We’re not talking about a token kind of payment. I’ve seen too many people lose their treasure and their investment because of these takings. It is an unfortunate thing … It [has to be] more than just market value.”

This does not fully capture the issue. Almost 10 million people live in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area, which extend from Southern Maryland to Winchester and Shepherdstown and from Frederick, MD to Fredericksburg, VA. We are the fourth largest metro area in the country, trailing only NYC, LA and Chicago. We are suffering the inevitable consequences of size, while too many people are still living in the 1960's and think that more asphalt will solve the problem.

The problem is sprawl. More people need to live closer to their jobs. This means putting the planning emphasis on protecting, rehabilitating, and in some cases reclaiming neighborhoods and communities in the core and the inner ring suburbs. The inner ring jurisdictions will have to accept densification. Densification is not a dirty word; it's what needs to happen when suburbs build out and become urban places. At the same time, the outer ring counties need to establish growth boundaries. Preaching limits to the fringe cowboys, who think they still live on the open range, is like spitting into the wind, but if nothing else it's a matter of fair warning. The exurbs need to be put on notice that -- if MD extends strip malls and sprawl all the way to Hagerstown and Gettysburg, and if VA strip malls everything out to the Blue Ridge and the Rappahannock -- they can't expect sensible, closer-in communities to destroy themselves to accommodate heroic commutes by people who want to live 40, 60 or more miles away from their jobs. Want to live 60 miles out? Fine. But take the train.

I live on Capitol Hill, where over 50 percent of people do NOT drive to work. The long distance suburban commuters immediately respond that such a model is simply not relevant to them, and that's true for many. But this misses the point. More and more of the jobs are in growing job centers in the suburbs and edge cities. The key regional issue is whether places like Frederick, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Reston, Herndon, Manassas, etc., etc, etc. will start planning now for denser, more balanced, multi-purpose neighborhoods that give a significant fraction of their residents the option of living close to work. Some are. But I ran an errand yesterday afternoon south of Manassas, in the new sprawl around Nokesville and Bristow. On my return there was a wreck on I-66, so I diverted up 28 through the Dulles corridor. It's sad to watch the transportation mistakes of the last generation being repeated so mindlessly. The assumption clearly is that everyone is going to drive everywhere. That doesn't work in a city this big.

[Jimmy Valentine]

The problem with the widening is the same as last time;even if you find the room the real estate developers will be ahead of you so the congestion will continue.
A number of Federal Agencies need to relocate out of the area. Agriculture to Kansas, for example.

[sphinx]

PS: I should add that even in sensible, high-density, mixed development neighborhoods, a lot of people will still drive. Many still do even here on Capitol Hill, for example, though they're the minority. But the easiest way to reduce congestion in such neighborhoods is to get a lot of your neighbors out of their cars, which is doable. Give people multi-modal transportation options, and many will choose not to drive (especially if they have to pay for parking). To drive or not to drive becomes in part a time of life decision. I rode a bike to work for years and started driving when my kids were at the age at which I became a chauffeur. I'm now back on my bike.

There's also a world of difference between a two or three or five mile commute on city streets vs. a 30 or 40 mile commute along a clogged commuter sewer like 66, 270, 95 or 495. Build communities that encourage people to live within five miles of their jobs and get there on neighborhood streets, without having to become a road warrior.

There will still be people who want to live in Urbana and drive into DC. But the best way to reduce their angst is the drain the swamp ahead of them by getting a lot of people in the closer-in suburbs out of their cars. 270 would be a lot easier for the Frederick/Urbana commuters if everyone in Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville, etc. wasn't clogging the road ahead of you.