MdTA Chairman Thanks Hearing Attendees

Dear Editor:

On behalf of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), I want to thank the hundreds of residents that attended the recent public hearings in Havre de Grace and Perryville regarding the toll increase proposal. I applaud the elected officials and members of the public who gave their time to share their ideas and opinions as the MDTA Board evaluates its options for generating needed additional revenue. 

As explained at the hearings, this increase in revenue is necessary to pay for the cost of operating and maintaining the MDTA’s unique facilities, a cost that increases with each passing day. For example, re-decking the Hatem Bridge and additional underwater repairs requires $132 million. Another $121 million is needed for repairs to the John F. Kennedy Highway. The reality is that it costs more today to rehabilitate many of our aging facilities than it did to build them.

The recent public hearings on the toll increase proposal have generated some questions about the MDTA, its facilities and how it operates. There are some misconceptions that I would like to address.

MDTA facilities, like the Hatem Bridge and the Bay Bridge, are not bought and paid for. As anyone who owns a home knows, you don’t pay for the house and walk away. You have to continue to maintain it. A simple snapshot of the past three years shows the 71-year-old Hatem Bridge generated a total of $12 million in revenue. However, during that same period, the MDTA spent $74 million for operations, maintenance and rehabilitation of the bridge.

Many ask, “Why is the increase necessary?” There are three primary reasons driving the need for additional toll revenue. MDTA’s seven existing facilities are aging; many are 50 to more than 70 years old, like the Hatem. They require a major infusion of funds to maintain and rehabilitate. Many are unique facilities and repairs are expensive. Over the next six years, more than $1.2 billion in rehabilitation work is required for MDTA’s bridges, tunnels and turnpikes. It is this preservation of our existing system that represents a substantial part of the revenue the MDTA is seeking. The MDTA is also constructing two much-needed highway capacity projects in the widening of I-95 in the Baltimore region and the Intercounty Connector (ICC) in the Washington region. Some claim, incorrectly, that this toll increase is solely designed to pay for the ICC. As you can see the ICC is not the sole reason for the additional revenue being sought. Other equally important needs must be met. We must pay the debt incurred for all three of these initiatives.

It is important to note that every toll dollar collected goes right back into the MDTA’s facilities. The MDTA does not provide funds to the Transportation Trust Fund or the State’s General Fund, and no toll dollars go toward the support of other transportation projects or other state agencies. MDTA funds are not used to support core transit service in the state’s urban areas.

The reality is that there is never a good time to raise tolls. The MDTA has reduced the rate of growth in annual expenses and dramatically scaled back major projects. Every effort has been made to avoid a toll increase for as long as possible, but the bills are coming due. The comments received at the public hearings in Harford and Cecil counties will help shape a final toll plan the MDTA board will vote on later this summer. If the Hatem Bridge and other MDTA facilities are to remain effective links in Maryland’s transportation network, we must keep them safe and well maintained. This continued investment is critical because when we invest in the future of these facilities, we invest in our own future as well.

Beverley K. Swaim-Staley
Secretary, Maryland Department of Transportation and
Chairman, Maryland Transportation Authority