The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) held I-495 and I-270 toll rate range setting hearings on Monday and Wednesday this week.
The all-volunteer group DontWiden270.org, which is based in Rockville -- where the in-person hearings were held -- has posted sixteen of the testimonies given at the Toll Rate Range Setting hearings. MDTA has not yet made the recording available.
Local voices have not had much of a platform in this ongoing controversy over Governor Hogan's proposed toll lane expansion. Neither has Treasurer Kopp, who also recently voiced concerns about the toll rates in her comments on the predevelopment contract.
Readers are urged to consider the serious issues raised in these testimonies.
"Thank you for the opportunity to once again – share the unanimous agreement of the Rockville City Council and our Staff that this hearing is an example of a government burying its head in the sand – refusing to turn away from 20 year old ideas - and a complete denial of climate change and social justice. ... I’ve long believed that government is there to provide that which an individual alone cannot do. Well – members of MDTA – why are you all not providing safe and equitable transportation services for the public in Montgomery County? Why should we be forced to accept a toll road when the governor stated that tolls in other parts of Maryland were regressive?" -Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton
"These tolls are just plain too high. The maximum toll from the G W Parkway to Shady Grove starts at $50 when the highway opens, and it keeps going up. It hits $141 – that’s right, $141 – by the time Transurban’s contract runs out. And these numbers go up even higher with inflation. But these sky-high tolls aren't enough for Transurban. Its demands are revealed in a November letter that MDTA waited months to release and then buried in fine print on its website. In that letter, the profit-hungry company told the state what it really wants. The tolls need to go up even faster than the Hogan administration proposes. ... This is what you get when you turn our highways over to a company that, in its own country, gets called “an untouchable, blood-sucking monopoly.” That’s from Joe Aston in the Australian Financial Review – hardly a left-wing paper. This proposal is a betrayal of the public interest. These tolls and the contract behind it must be rejected." -Ben Ross, Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition
"Transurban, the Australian company MDOT selected for this project, needs congestion to make money. For about ten years they prevented the Virginia Department of Transportation from building an additional southbound lane on I-95 at the Occoquan River crossing because it would relieve congestion. Yes, that is right. They blocked it because it would relieve congestion. Embedded in the fine print of their contracts are “non-compete clauses” that block efforts to relieve congestion. Anything the local government wants to do to relieve congestion either incurs a huge payment to Transurban or is completely blocked. ... This P3 is a soul-crushing plan. It is soul-crushing to think anyone would want to unleash it on us. It is NOT “traffic relief” and NOT FREE! It’s an unconscionable regressive tax. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. We absolutely must not let Marylanders fall victim to it." -Sally Stolz
"Privatizing roadways can lead to significant control of regional transportation by private companies accountable to their shareholders rather than the public. Transurban is on record saying its goal in our region is to “maximize the tolls”. Road and mass transit improvements that would be good for our climate and desired by Marylanders are considered undesirable by Transurban and its shareholders. This toll lane proposal sets up a perverse incentive for a private company and our own government to lock in car-dependency and act against the public interest for generations. ... We strongly disagree with the high tolls that are proposed that surely will substantially increase over time, with the high cost the project will have on our health, environment and pocketbooks, and the way this toll lane proposal will deepen inequities in Maryland and fail to serve the public interest." -Brian Ditzler, Sierra Club Maryland Chapter (full testimony)
"This is a public private partnership. A corporation’s mission is to bring in more MONEY. Their goal is NOT bring us less congestion, NOT to worry about what working families can afford, and NOT to worry about the environment. These FOR-PROFIT HOT lanes have a REVERSE incentive. If there is MORE traffic on the rest of the highway, they can CHARGE MORE for their toll lanes. And don’t forget, LESS TRAFFIC IS what we were trying to achieve. The tolls revenue will go to a private company and not to the government or to fund other transportation options. I do not support any plan that allows wealthier people to bypass traffic, while low wealth people are subjected to more traffic. This is a short sighted plan and a tax on the poor and middle class, for not being able to afford to live close to their jobs or public transit." -Patrice Davis
"Here’s an example of how the needs of middle- and lower-income people were discounted in the toll-setting process from the beginning. Among the documents released by MDTA is the study used to determine how much people are willing to pay to take the toll lanes. Problem is, only certain sorts of people were invited to take part in the study. Of the 2,383 participants, 54% were male, the median age was 55-64, and 43% lived in 2-person households. Fewer than 12% had a household income under $75,000. The median income was between $125,000 and $150,000. A whopping 23% earned $200,000 or more. Where are the majority of working families in this study? They aren’t there because MDOT and MDTA never intended the toll lanes for them. But that doesn’t mean lower-income and middle-income people don’t have a designated role in this toll-lane scheme. They – we – are the congestion fodder. We are the people who fill up the reduced number of free lanes until congestion is so intolerable that the few who can afford it pay the sky-high tolls to escape. It’s been baked in from the beginning." -Janet Gallant, DontWiden270.org
"There’s been inadequate conversations about mass transit and the opportunities that those options offer. We have got to be careful as we do this, because I can tell you there are constituents of mine who might happily pay $67 to ride in a fancy toll lane; I assure you that as you go further north into Gaithersburg, into Germantown, those folks for the most part are not going to be able to afford the tolls. Yet they are the ones who’ll be driving more miles and paying higher tolls." -Senator Cheryl Kagan
"Although public payments are made through the MDTA which is a subsidiary of MDOT, the pre-agreement contract guarantees a profit margin for the private partner. This has the effect of the State of Maryland enforcing a conditional burden on Maryland residents to the benefit of a non-elected partner of the governing body. There may be little legal redress that can be sought by the citizens of Maryland once the contract is put into effect. Lower and middle class citizens may find better opportunity out of the State, particularly if saddled with deprivation during economic downturns in the future. If this condition is realized, it could have obvious consequences on Maryland's tax base." -Ollie Ellison
"Under MDOT’s design, if you are on a toll lane when you cross the American Legion Bridge and plan to drive all the way up to I-370, you can transition directly to the general lanes only at the Clara Barton Parkway. For the rest of the trip up to I-370, the only way to exit the toll lanes is to exit the highway altogether and drive on local roads until you get to the next entrance ramp for the general lanes. This kooky design not only creates havoc on local roads, it will lock some people into the toll lanes and force them to give more of their hard-earned dollars to Transurban." -Barbara Coufal, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion
"The most important thing I can tell you is that no one will drive in these toll lanes unless the public lanes are crowded. And the higher the tolls go, the more crowded those public lanes will be. So the toll lanes will fail, because the only way they will raise substantial amounts of money is if the public lanes are so congested that people feel forced to pay through the nose to get out of them." -Ellen Ryan
"My fear is that under the P3 model, the private concessionaire will have every incentive to push Maryland and MDTA to perpetuate or expand harmful and predatory tolling policies that hurt consumers but fatten their bottom line." -Delegate Al Carr
"This is a very risky project for Maryland taxpayers and setting tolls without a tally of the physical and environmental costs is flawed and shows poor stewardship and lack of restraint." -Elliot Levine
"This P3 is not an acceptable deal for Maryland and its taxpayers. Good government demands that full fiscal, environmental, and social impacts of this project be determined before locking into a long-term exclusive contract. No contract should be voted on, much less approved, until the environmental impact statement has been finalized. It is premature to develop toll rate ranges at this time." -Linda Rosendorf, DontWiden270.org
"The scheme to widen 270 rather than focus on public transit would escalate the climate crisis. Climate change is causing extreme weather catastrophes throughout the world. Temps in the pacific NW and parts of CA are higher than they have ever been in history. People are dying because of climate change right now." -Becky Batt
"Virtual Information Room ... has small print that says: 'Toll rates are for illustrative purposes only,' and 'Actual toll rates will be set in the future by the Phase 1 South Section Developer.' How does this support an informed decision? The October 20, 2020 Preliminary Due Diligence document states ...: 'the rate can be set to maximize throughput or revenue. In order to achieve the P3 program goals, the rate must be set to maximize revenue …' What are the actual P3 program goals, and how does maximizing revenue serve the public interest? Last, the March 12, 2021 Preliminary Due Diligence Report ... mentions the Capital Beltway Accord. But no version of this document has ever been made available to the public. Finally, I want to comment on the behavior of some of the supporters of the P3 Project. It does not help when the Governor accuses those with legitimate issues of being 'far-left, pro-traffic activists.' And it does not help when an MDOT Deputy Secretary threatens jurisdictions with loss of funding if they oppose the P3 project." -Andrew Gallant
"Each of you has been handed a dilemma: How can I fulfill my fiduciary responsibility to the people of Maryland, Montgomery and Prince George's counties when I have no final information from the EIS [environmental impact statement] to weight the pros and cons, benefits and costs of this project?" -Arthur Katz