Providing convenient, reliable and safe transportation is the key to success for our citizens and our businesses. District 32 is crisscrossed by major transportation routes – 295, 695, 170, 175, light rail and bus routes. We have thousands of jobs located at Northrop Grumman, BWI Airport, Maryland Live, NSA, and the National Business Park with jobs that need to be filled and people in surrounding jurisdictions that would like to work in these very successful businesses, however there are problems connecting them - transportation is an issue.

At BWI, the kiosks open at 5:30 am and at Maryland Live employees work early into the morning. Public Transportation is not available for these jobs and many others.  I have supported shuttles to run from bus stops and the light rail to important job centers. In 2018, I sponsored HB1468, Transit – Job Access and Reverse Commute Program, providing State grants for non-profit organizations to provide shuttles.

In 2022, I was the lead sponsor on SB514, Investment Program – MARC Rail Service (Maryland Regional Rail Transformation Act), which requires that in the future the MTA plan for more convenient train travel. The MARC train could have a direct line to DC, we could add train travel to and from Western Maryland and from Delaware. Virginia has successfully planned additional train travel and is now implementing the plan. Maryland needs to catch up or we will continue to have parking lots instead of expressways.

The high speed magnetic levitation trains - MAGLEV - has been trying to get approval from the Federal Railway association for many years.  This train would travel at high speeds, underground, tunneling straight through District 32, with a stop at BWI airport, coming above ground in a conservation area in Prince George County and ending in Washington, DC.  Do we need a train to travel over 300 miles an hour to get from Baltimore to DC?  Will it help alleviate traffic on our roads when there are only three (3) access points – Baltimore City, BWI and DC?  The route is only about 35 miles long, MARC or Amtrak could get there in less than 30 minutes with a straight-through track. This would be a far less expensive proposal with little impact to our communities.  We are currently waiting for the results of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS).  I will continue to try to protect our communities from the MAGLEV.