O'Malley and liberal elites to push for gas tax hike again

[skeemer]

I always enjoy Bloomin Onion posts. They are like a parody of a what a deranged lunatic would post.

[Baltimatt]

Damn, another black person offered me his seat on the bus today. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

[bmore_ken]

And remember all this is happening at hte same time that the passage of the illegal alien Dream Act will likely causes increase in both state and local taxes as these illegals go to our community and state colleges. Gay marriage might also lead to higher taxes as the state will now be giving benefits to same sex spouses.

Oh my God are you a lunatic

[Bloomin Onion]

The irony is that the more we build-up mass transit, the less traffic we get on the main arterials. You driving-only people should be jumping for joy at every mass-transit project that gets proposed: it means more room on the road for your PT-cruisers and more parking at your endpoints.

The only people I know in the Baltimore area who use public transportation are those that can' afford a car. In the DC area more people take it becaue of the lack of parking in places like Washington DC and Bethesda. I don't know a single person who takes mass transit out of preference vs necessity due to the parking situation or their financial situation. Also the contruction of the Red Line will increase density in the parts of the suburbs it goes into. That decreases the quality of life in the suburbs, even WITHOUT the crime increase and the ghetto influx that inevitably will follow.

And WHY should drivers, including those on the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland, pay to subsidize mass transit in the city? About 50% of the state's transportation budget is spent on public transportation like the MTA, MARC, Light Rail, Baltimore Metro and DC Metrorail. They talk about a backlog of road projects. Well cancel the plans for the REdd Line and they will have the money for all those road projects.

We need an additional bridge across the Potomac River between Frederick and the DC Beltway, a highway bypass around Manchester, an additional bridge into Ocean City and a wider Route 90, and upgrades to Baltimore's freeway network including more lanes at each major interchange lke 95/395 or 95/695. Also the two-lane part of Interstate 70 in Howard County should be widened to 6 lanes like the rest of the highway between Baltimore and Frederick. I also think that Interstate 795 should be extended to serve Westminster.

And finally any gas tax increase MUST be coupled with an increase in bus and Metro fares.

[Bloomin Onion]

Because the Eastern Shore uses mass transit too...


http://mta.maryland.gov/content/eastern.cfm

http://mta.maryland.gov/mta-buses-ai...ore-evacuation

http://mdot.maryland.gov/News/2008/A...land%20Bus.htm

The Eastern Shore has mass transit yes but nowhere near the extent that the DC suburbs and the Baltimore area do. I'm more okay with gas taxes going to buses since they do use the same roads as other vehicles. But think about the cost of running and building the Light Rail and the two Metro systems. The current gas taxes are enough to fund the current operations. The only reason they want to raise it is to fund the Red Line. I think a sales tax is more fair as everyone, even illegal immigrants who don't have cars and take the train, has to pay. That is the one tax that illegal aliens cannot escape.