Media Contact: Mark Guidera, V.P., Communications & Marketing, GBC markg@gbc.org or 443-898-2320
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) and the Greater Washington Partnership (the Partnership) have launched a campaign to rally support among leaders in the Baltimore region to provide a transformative transit system to better serve existing riders and successfully compete in the global economy.
The campaign, called Baltimore’s Transit Future, will be a key focus of both organizations throughout 2022 and beyond.
“To compete in the global economy, Baltimore’s transit system must be reimagined with a transformative vision that can deliver a modern system accessible to every community,” said Arun Subhas, Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP (EY) Baltimore Office and GBC Board Member, “Great cities have great transit networks.”
“To create a more inclusive economy, that can offer better access to jobs, education, housing and this region’s rich cultural amenities, we need public and private sector buy-in behind a regional strategy to build a better transit system” said Bill Stromberg, Retired Chief Executive Officer, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and Board Member of the GBC and the Partnership. “With the passage of the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, we can make generational investments to expand our transit system for the first time in a quarter century, but we need to act fast.”
To meet the opportunity from the federal infrastructure bill, the Baltimore’s Transit Future campaign focuses on six goals:
- Address the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) repair backlog and operator shortage
- Establish frequent, reliable bus service to all regional job centers
- Support regional coordination, decision making and funding
- Implement a 10-year rapid transit program
- Prioritize regional rail investment
- Catalyze equitable development at transit and rail stations
The region is already making progress on many of the campaign’s goals. The campaign aims to align a broad and diverse set of private, civic, elected, and community leaders to accelerate momentum to ensure the region can compete for the more than $100 billion in federal transit funding in the next five years – the lifespan of the federal infrastructure bill.
A key priority of the campaign is to ensure the region’s low-income communities have greater access to a more reliable and expansive public transit system to catalyze inclusive growth and address income gaps in underserved and minority neighborhoods.
“The business community is ready to work with our elected officials, the Maryland Transit Administration, and the region’s stakeholders to help advance specific transit plans to ensure a better future for Greater Baltimore,” said Sharon Markley Schreiber, Chief Operating Officer and interim leader of the GBC.
“The region is already a leader with its highly educated workforce, relative housing affordability, and cutting-edge healthcare industry,” said Joe McAndrew, Vice President of Government Affairs & Infrastructure at the Partnership. “Adding a world-class transit system to the mix will position Greater Baltimore as one of the most attractive places to live, work and learn in the entire country.”
Laura Gamble, Chair of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance and Regional President Greater Maryland, PNC, said, “At CMTA we want many more people in Central Maryland to be able to get to a job with a family-sustaining wage within a 45-minute commute, and to do that requires investing in transit.”
ABOUT THE GREATER BALTIMORE COMMITTEE
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) is a regional organization of business and civic leaders that includes businesses, nonprofit organizations and educational and civic institutions. It is the leading voice for the private sector in the Baltimore region on issues relating to equitable economic growth, racial inclusion, job creation, workforce development, transportation, the business climate and quality of life. The GBC markets the region’s economic assets and opportunities and promotes to a national audience Greater Baltimore as a world-class market in which to do business, live, learn and invest. The GBC’s membership includes more than 500-member organizations, including large, mid-size and small companies, nonprofits, foundations and educational and healthcare institutions in the Greater Baltimore region.
ABOUT THE GREATER WASHINGTON PARTNERSHIP
The Greater Washington Partnership is a first-of-its-kind civic alliance of CEOs in the Capital Region, drawing from the leading public, private, and nonprofit organizations committed to making the region from Baltimore to Richmond one of the world’s best places to live, work and build a business. Working in collaboration with leaders across our communities, the Partnership connects and leverages the region’s extraordinary assets to catalyze inclusive, actionable solutions that strengthen the Capital Region as a leading global center for commerce, innovation, and shared prosperity.