Maximize2040 for a Greater Baltimore Region
On behalf of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB), thank you for 
your interest in the process to develop the region's next long-range transportation plan - Maximize2040:  A Performance-Based Transportation Plan. 

Results of recent efforts in the Maximize2040 planning process are highlighted below. Visit www.maximize2040.com for full details. 
Scenario Workshop Participant Presenting Results
SCENARIO WORKSHOPS PROVIDE GLIMPSE OF FUTURE
Big ideas illuminate how transportation planners should prepare for the future of our region

Maximize2040 - Scenario Workshops, Changing Factors
The BRTB, in its development of Maximize2040, considers major trends and external forces that could dramatically change our lives 25 years in the future. The objective is to find the investment strategy that best addresses the needs of the Baltimore region, while recognizing the challenges it could face in the future.

To reach that goal, the BRTB sought out opinions from the public as well as regional experts. From June until December 2014, the BRTB looked more critically at the factors that could have dramatic effects for transportation planning. More than 200 people throughout the Baltimore region participated in a survey that asked about the social, economic, technological, environmental and political forces that could play a role in long-range transportation plans.  
Quote from Zipcar about Maximize2040

Following this, the BRTB hosted two workshops - one in September and one in December 2014 - in which a total of 38 experts from around the Baltimore region participated.

Discussions focused on three scenarios that presented possible events and conditions - best and worst case - in three very different futures that are based on challenges that the Baltimore region faces today. 

The results of these workshops serve to provide insight about how the BRTB could craft Maximize2040 to reflect possible trends and events. 

 
Man looking at map of ideas at Maximize2040 outreach event
RESULTS OF PUBLIC PROJECT IDEAS NOW ONLINE 

The BRTB would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations who took the time to share their ideas on our interactive map, email comments, or speak with staff during outreach events around the region from September 9 through December 9, 2014. The public shared about 1,150 project ideas as a result of this effort. Please read the following highlights. 

The public suggested 178 major (large-scale and long-term) projects. 

Maximize2040 - Major Project Ideas Pie Chart
The majority of these (101) related to extension of the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Metro or light rail system to places such as Annapolis, Columbia, Dundalk, Harford County, Martin State Airport, Morgan State University, and White Marsh. 

Other ideas include adding rail in the median of I-95 or parallel to MD 295 and providing high-speed rail to Washington, D.C. or New York City. 

In addition, 31 project suggestions related to adding lanes along interstates such as I-95, I-695, I-97, I-795, and MD 295 or extending US 29 to I-795. 

Another suggestion is to create an interchange on I-695 or I-795 to provide access to the Old Court Metro station for commuters and visitors heading to downtown Baltimore. Several suggestions include constructing an east-west connector highway between Harford County and Baltimore County (I-83), some suggestions included setting aside funding for building a second beltway or a second Bay Bridge.
Quotes from Maximize2040 Public Project Ideas
Maximize2040 - Minor Project Ideas Pie Chart

The bulk of the ideas (754) generated are short-term or related to operations (for example, improvements to MARC commuter train service or local bus schedules).

Appropriate agencies, such as the MTA or the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), will receive these ideas for their review and possible incorporation into the short-term planning process and/or near term operations. 

For example, MTA's Bus Network Improvement Project (BNIP) may be able to address the 206 ideas to expand local bus service. The 118 ideas to improve bicycle and pedestrian access may be incorporated into local bicycle and pedestrian master plans. Or, the 30 new road or transit technologies may be addressed by SHA or MTA. 


The remaining 215 comments, labeled "other," as they relate to items with little specific suggestions such as "relieve congestion" or relate to broader policy items outside the purview of the BRTB such as greater enforcement for texting while driving, providing better driver education, the transportation trust fund, and reducing/increasing tolls.

Maximize2040 Project Ideas
WHAT'S NEXT

The federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, requires each metropolitan planning organization in the United States to develop a long-range transportation plan for its region. Maximize2040: A Performance-Based Transportation Plan, is the Baltimore region's next long-range transportation plan. The long-range plan identifies the region's transportation-related goals, strategies and lists the major projects the region expects to implement over the next 20-25 years. 

The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board, as the region's MPO, selects these projects in consultation with state agencies and local jurisdictions, in accordance with federal requirements and regional goals and policies. 

Maximize2040 is scheduled to go before the BRTB for approval in November 2015. A draft of the plan will be made public for a comment period during summer 2015. 

Please follow us on social media using the links below to stay up-to-date on upcoming meetings and opportunities to comment. 
Maximize 2040 is an initiative of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board