Miller tells business leaders: Higher gas tax is coming
<a href="http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2011/11/taxes_dominates_discussion_amo.html">http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2011/11/taxes_dominates_discussion_amo.html</a>;
Excerpt: "Del. Anthony O’Donnell, the House Republican leader, made clear that his caucus would not support a gas tax increase. “When people are banging on the door for a tax increase, think about the little guy,” he said, telling business leaders that consumers already are strapped and can ill afford more taxes and fees."
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B' Spokes: The way I see it, is the state is trying to penny pinch road projects by excluding bicycle and pedestrian safety issues because the "need" for more road projects is so great. But the fact the road revenue is not keeping up with road "need" in and of itself says volumes.
Do road projects have the right to turn public space into killing zones? Maryland has the 4th highest pedestrian fatality rate <a href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/States/StatesPedestrians.aspx">http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/States/StatesPedestrians.aspx</a>;
Clearly Maryland is not doing something right.
Of course the big unspoken issue is in Maryland there is very little choice for too many including the "little guy", they "need" to drive. And that's the real big issue, we are just digging ourselves into one big unsustainable pit with more and more road projects and no other options. Maryland is not saying lets do this road project well and for all users within what we can afford. Instead Maryland looks at cutting cost so we can do even more road projects, like my Mom says "If you squeeze every last bit from that tube of tooth paste you can then afford something nice." - While there is a point here about not being wasteful but in reality no mater how much you squeeze out it will never get you anything close in value to that tube of tooth paste. We need Maryland to rethink what is needed. And keep the goal as "mobility for all" instead of just for cars.