In response to the Maryland Senate's vote in favor of the transportation bill (HR 1515), Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz issued the following statement: "The Maryland Senate made a winning decision today for Marylanders. Passing the transportation bill means desperately needed transit projects like the Purple Line, Baltimore’s Red Line and MARC upgrades can go forward. Transit projects like these are top priorities to give Marylanders affordable transportation choices, relief from numbing traffic, and cleaner air."

UPPER MARLBORO – Today, the Coalition for Smarter Growth delivered a petition to Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, urging him to choose a Metro station site for the planned Regional Medical Center. Over 1,000 Prince George’s residents signed the petition. "The petition demonstrates how many people in our county want the new medical center at a convenient Metro site,” said Coalition for Smarter Growth staff representative and Cheverly resident Reba Watkins, who delivered the petition. “As a Prince George's resident, this issue is important to me. Right now, without a car, I have to go to Bethesda or D.C. for quality, convenient care. We can do better." The petition adds to growing consensus that the new hospital should be located at a Metro station site.

We don't need a ranking to know our traffic is bad. What the headlines miss is the crucial role our Metro and our other transit investments have played in preventing gridlock, in offering us an effective alternative to sitting in traffic, and in fueling an economic boom that has revitalized our city and transit-oriented suburbs. "Fifty years ago, visionary leaders conceived, planned and built Metro, and reshaped the Washington, D.C. region. The first order of business is to complete the reinvestment and full rehabilitation of this system that is so critical for our regional economy. We are also calling today for a new vision for a new generation -- for a Next Generation of Transit investments and the leadership to make it happen," said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. "We believe our region's leadership is ready for the challenge."

The TRIP group ("The Road Information Program") just issued its annual report on the bad condition of state roads, featuring Maryland and other states and conveniently timed for the state General Assembly debates about transportation funding. "We agree with TRIP that Maryland's roads and bridges are in need of repair, but TRIP's primary recommendation has traditionally been highway expansion," said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. "This simply doesn't track. Too often when we see the alarm raised about aging infrastructure, we see new funding go into capacity expansion even as the maintenance needs continue to mount."

VIRGINIA -- "Our groups pressed for major progress at every step of the legislative process, including pushing for the needs of the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions, funding for local roads, substantially more funding for transit, and most of all - for a meaningful, on-going evaluation of VDOT spending," said Jeff Painter Executive Director for the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. "While a number of the priorities we recommended were included, such as funding for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, for intercity rail, for Dulles Rail, and for road maintenance, there remains a great need for thorough evaluation of how and where all of these new taxpayer dollars will be spent."