A proposal by the Maryland Department of Transportation to drastically reduce the budget for the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit project would harm the region’s prospects for economic growth and continue subjecting commuters to needlessly long travel times, the Board of Charles County Commissioners and members of the state delegation told MDOT Secretary Paul Wiedefeld Tuesday afternoon during an often tense face-to-face meeting with state transportation officials.
“We understand that the state is facing significant budget challenges in transportation, but we cannot accept the proposed cuts to SMRT … after decades of tireless effort,” said Commissioners’ President Reuben B. Collins II (D). “This is not just a Charles County project, it’s a regional project benefitting [a] ridership of over 450,000 people, a community with one of the worst commutes in the entire nation.”
Collins also stressed that the issue is one of equity.
“We’re one of the fastest growing counties and regions in the state, but have no fixed-route, high-capacity transit,” he noted.
Collins and the other commissioners and elected officials were protesting the near zeroing out of the budget for the proposed 19-mile rapid transit corridor between the Branch Avenue Metro station in Prince George’s County and the Waldorf-White Plains area in MDOT’s draft Consolidated Transportation Plan, which was unveiled earlier this month.
The previous CTP listed a capital budget of $20 million for the SMRT project, consisting of a mix of federal and state funds. The draft CTP for fiscal years 2025-2030 provides just under $2.2 million.
In announcing the draft CTP on Sept. 3, an MDOT press release blamed “slow economic growth” for “plac[ing] downward pressure on transportation revenues, alongside increased costs for materials and labor,” requiring the department to slash $1.3 billion in planned capital expenditures on transportation projects around the state through the 2029 fiscal year.
Momentum for the SMRT project, which has been in the works for decades, had recently begun accelerating thanks to the awarding of $10 million in federal funds that, by state law, must be matched by the state to fund an environmental study to ensure the project complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As previously reported by TLR, the NEPA assessment is required before ground can be broken on the project.*
During the meeting — part of MDOT’s annual statewide budget-review tour of counties and cities nicknamed the “road show” — Wiedefeld told Collins that he “definitely heard you loud and clear” regarding the importance of the SMRT project to the region, but made no commitment to restoring the funding.
“It’s important to us as well,” Wiedefeld said. “Definitely we will work through that with you as well going forward.”
Federal Contribution is Contingent Upon State Capital Budget
The estimated cost of the NEPA assessment is $27 million. TLR has learned that in addition to the $10 million in federal money already earmarked, an additional $5 million is expected to be included in the next federal budget, which is currently being negotiated in Congress. The total of $15 million in federal funds, plus an equal amount allocated by MDOT from the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, should therefore more than cover the NEPA study.
The draft CTP suggests that the $2.2 million will instead be used to “evaluat[e] existing conditions; review[] alternatives for alignments and mode; analyz[e] capital, operations, and maintenance costs; and conduct[] stakeholder outreach and engagement activities,” called a Planning and Environmental Linkages, or PEL, study.
The Annotated Code of Maryland specifies that the state is obligated to allocate at least $5 million from the Transportation Trust Fund “in each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027” to match the federal contribution. There is no time limit by which the federal funding must be used, TLR has learned, but it cannot be unlocked until the state restores its portion of the matched funds.
County Learned About Potential Funding Cut in August
In an interview with TLR, Charles County Department of Planning and Growth Management Deputy Director Jason Groth explained that Secretary Wiedefeld had indicated to the county in August that the SMRT project was among those being considered for defunding due to “significant revenue issues” related to the Transportation Trust Fund, which is funded in part by gasoline and vehicle title taxes, registration and license fees, and federal aid.
As is customary, Wiedefeld met with Groth and other county representatives at the annual Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference in Ocean City for a brief, informal discussion about the county’s transportation priorities.
Groth said that Wiedefeld reminded the county representatives that MDOT was faced with declining revenues and increasing costs, and that the department was looking at opportunities to delay or defer projects as a result.
“At the time, [Wiedefeld] didn’t indicate what the plan was for SMRT and its budget,” Groth said. “He just indicated that everything was on the table, so to speak.”
When the county representatives reminded Wiedefeld about the state law requiring MDOT to match federal investment for the NEPA study, Wiedefeld reportedly acknowledged the statement with a nod but made no comment in response.
In addition to lining up federal grants and lobbying for support in Annapolis, SMRT advocates also recently established a multi-agency “framework agreement” between the governments of Charles and Prince George’s counties, MDOT, and the Maryland Transit Authority.
“We’ve worked very hard on the funding allocation for this project at both the state and the federal level, and to get to this point in the process … and [now] what’s being proposed by the state is more or less unconscionable to us,” Groth said.
TLR will follow this story as it continues to develop.
* The Federal Transit Administration will use the results of the NEPA study to prepare what’s called a “record of decision,” which will determine whether the SMRT project will take the form of a light rail line, as many local transit activists and supporters — and Charles County’s elected officials — hope, or a bus rapid transit system. A study conducted in 2017 found that, while a bus system would likely have lower startup costs, a light rail line would be more able to scale up cost-effectively to keep pace with increasing ridership as the population of the region continues to grow. (go back)