HoCo Exec Ball Plans To Bolster Transportation Options

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — During a business leader breakfast hosted by the BWI Business Partnership, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said there must be better commuting options for residents within Howard County.

Considered a suburban county and bedroom community for Baltimore and D.C., Howard County has more commuters who travel past its boundaries than any other jurisdiction in the area.

"As I drive around my county, it's clear to me that transportation infrastructure needs to be a priority," Ball said at the meeting. "Alleviating traffic is important to our quality of life, and we need to decrease the time that we spend in cars and increase the time that we spend with our families, in the workplace being productive and just living our best lives."

Ball said his administration has asked the Maryland Department of Transportation to reinstate $1.8 million in bus rapid transit funding initially promised in 2013, and is working on "what can be done now" in the meantime, the Business Journal reported.

Ball said the county will be adding five new accessible transit vans to its fleet by the end of the month. RTA also plans to launch a mobile ticketing system early next year to expedite the boarding process, Ball said.

The county executive said at the meeting that he has also set goals of boosting RTA ridership to 1 million, reducing traffic fatalities by 19 percent and building 95 miles of bikeways throughout Howard.