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CABE Connection
Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), a coalition of civic associations, environmental groups, and concerned citizens, collaborates with DontWiden270.org to oppose widening the Beltway and I-270 for privately owned for-profit luxury toll lanes.
Follow CABE at www.cabe495.com or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/495CABE) or Twitter (@495CABE). The following came from the CABE newsletter. Sign up for their mailing list on www.cabe495.com.
August 1, 2020
Will the Draft I-495 Luxury Lane EIS Add Up?
Check out MDOT’s 40-slide presentation of the 18,000+ page draft environmental Impact statement for the $11 billion I-495/I-270 expansion-for-Luxury-Lanes proposal. It includes a number of noteworthy statements, timetables, and confusing estimates of traffic relief that deserve close attention.
For example: Slide 17 says in the year 2040 it will take 30 minutes less than today to cover the 13 miles between College Park and Bethesda during the morning rush under Alternative 10 (two high-cost toll lanes on the west and east side of I-495).
What’s interesting is that an even longer (35 mile) trip up I-495 -- from MD 5 to the George Washington Bridge -- saves only two minutes (not 30 minutes) on the free lanes under the same Alt 10, according to a table on page 123 of the DEIS’s Traffic Analysis Technical Report (Appendix C).
In fact, Appendix Table 5.5 shows the afternoon commute from I-495 to I-370 will take less time (10 minutes) if the state leaves I-270 just as it is than under Alt 10 (16 minutes) or any of the other alternatives covered by the DEIS. Let’s repeat that: thanks to the improvements already underway, apparently the fastest afternoon commute on I-270 happens when Luxury Lanes are not built, according to MDOT’s own analysis.
Here’s something else to think about: MDOT officials, starting with former Secretary Pete Rahn, have consistently acknowledged that expanding I-270 north of I-370 for Luxury Lanes will require direct taxpayer support (aka “gap financing”) to be financially feasible.
Which raises a very important question. If it’s cheaper for taxpayers and faster for commuters to not build Luxury Lanes on I-270, then what’s the public purpose of doing the I-270 segment of another high-risk multi-billion public-private partnership? (Governor Hogan’s first P3, the Purple Line, is still in financial trouble.)
Other MDOT slides cover risks to wetlands, parklands, and privately owned properties and also show that the traffic modeling apparently excluded proposed tollway interchanges on U.S.1, Pennsylvania (MD 4), New Hampshire and Connecticut Avenue. (This raises obvious questions about the reliability of the modeling results used in the DEIS.)
At a minimum, what we’ve seen so far demands much closer scrutiny by citizens, local governments, Comptroller of Maryland Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, who sit on the Board of Public Works that has final approval authority. (For more analysis, see the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission staff analysis and presentation.)
Together, the slide show and DEIS underscore the very large risk to taxpayers of approving an $11 billion P3 on the basis of data that hasn’t been independently vetted.
Another takeaway from the slide show is how little time is left to make a difference.
May 6, 2020
Maryland Matters, May 6, 2020
To Really Create Jobs, State Should Turn to Shovel-Ready Public Works Projects
Jennifer Russel’s recent guest commentary on the $11 billion plan to expand I-495 and I-270 for private-for-profit tollways is baffling [“Opinion: Public-Private Road Projects Will Boost a Flagging Economy,” Maryland Matters, April 23]. It is baffling why anyone should be thrilled when time ran out for the Maryland Senate to take up bills — overwhelmingly approved by the House of Delegates — to beef up taxpayer protection and oversight of public-private partnership projects, like this one.
This means for the time being there is no way to ensure the promises being made about the project to the public and elected officials are kept. As any business person knows, a promise that isn’t in writing and that can’t be enforced is meaningless.
The Maryland Department of Transportation is already scuttling some of the for-profit tollway’s marquee promises. Example: MDOT canceled the promise that contractors would pay union wages in an amendment to its request for qualifications from would-be bidders.
MDOT has also walked back the critical crowd-pleasing promise that taxpayers won’t have to pay a dime of the mammoth project’s costs. MDOT made explicit in a March document, called a “Transaction Summary,” that the state would share in the financial cost.
Another promise — that only tollway users would pay for the construction of the $11 billion road over the next 50 years — was further undercut when the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission said moving water and sewer pipes to make way for the privatized toll roads would cost its customers nearly $2 billion in extra charges. What other costly surprises await Maryland residents and businesses? The abrupt end to the General Assembly session will make it much more difficult to find out.
That’s important for two reasons.
First, that taxpayers, on average, cover 44% of the funds for P3 projects sold as 100% privately financed, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Second, P3 toll lanes are, at the end of the day, more expensive to taxpayers than traditional financing, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation and other researchers.
What about the promise to use toll revenues for local mass transit? At this point, it isn’t clear if Montgomery and Prince Georges counties would see any real money until after the tollway company pays off its other obligations, like the project bonds (which can always be refinanced). Funding mass transit is a good promise and worth making clear and enforceable.
Next, Russel failed to mention decades of experience that adding lanes to roads ultimately leads to more traffic not less. Or the fact that privatized, for-profit tollways are designed to monetize congestion, not reduce it in any meaningful way for working families. That’s why it’s unlikely Transurban, other bidders or investors would be interested without a very firm promise of substantial, predictable and profitable congestion on I-270 and I-495 for the next 50 years (and bailouts if the predictions fall short).
Unfortunately, until the General Assembly strengthens state law, the public, other agencies and elected officials have no way to independently verify the private traffic and revenue studies MDOT is largely relying on to justify this $11 billion pig-in-a-poke.
Last point. Contrary to Russel’s claim about the impact of COVID-19 on commutes, this pandemic is providing our region with a successful proof-of-concept for mass teleworking. At the same time, traffic is collapsing on P3 roads across the world, leading to downgrades on some P3 tollway bonds and calls from tollway companies for taxpayer support.
Given the privatized for-profit tollways are at least two years away from moving dirt, the uncertainty of future commuting levels, the dubious cost-benefit and the fragility of P3 promises, there is no reason to rush ahead on a project that may already be obsolete, will worsen global warming, take away houses and hundreds of acres of parkland, degrade our streams and rivers, and provide little hope of fulfilling its basic promise for shorter rush hours.
We should instead turn to genuine, financially sound and shovel-ready public works projects to create jobs now.
Brad German and Barbara Coufal
The writers are current co-chairs of Citizens Against Beltway Expansion.
April 1, 2020
Well, this is telling.
Transurban, the big Australian company itching to claim the $11 billion plan to expand I-495 and I-270 for for-profit tollways, is jacking up its toll rates in Sydney, despite a massive drop in local traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to local media reports.
So why is Transurban raising tolls when, according to one traffic index, Sydney's weekday rush hour traffic was down 36.6 percent at the end of March?
The answer is money. "Transurban is dealing with big shortfalls on projected traffic figures amid the coronavirus crisis that’s caused thousands of job losses and kept many of those still in work at home," according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In a related development, truckers will be fined nearly $200 (AU) if they use a free road instead of a Transurban tollway opening in Sydney later this year. In other words, truckers won't get to decide whether or not it's in their financial self interest to pay a toll. Transurban convinced the local government to rig the market in its favor.
What's more, it doesn't seem to matter if anyone is unhappy paying to access "free" public roads or upset by Transurban's COVID-19 toll hike. There's nothing the regional New South Wales government can do under its contract with Transurban, the Herald reports.
For Maryland, the question is whether what is happening in Australia is a preview of what will happen on I-495 and I-270? To put it another way, is there any reason to think for-profit tollway companies like Transurban would treat Beltway Luxury Lanes any differently than their tollroads Down Under?
The best way to ensure a better deal for Maryland is for Maryland to enact stronger laws to ensure the public benefit of our roads isn't overwhelmed by uncontrollable profit seeking, especially during an emergency.
Bottom line: let’s use every moment we have to tell our elected officials to protect Maryland taxpayers, communities, and commuters from Luxury Lane boondoggles.
Don't let Maryland be taken for a ride.
Spread the Word
(not the virus)
March 22, 2020
A Few State Senators Block Bills to Protect Maryland Taxpayers from Luxury Lane Ripoffs
As you probably know, a few Maryland Senators are the reason why the Senate adjourned without passing three House-passed bills that would have protected Maryland from predatory public-private partnership tollway projects, like Governor Hogan's $11 billion Luxury Lane plan for I-495 and I-270.
"The Senate is unalterably opposed to regulating in any way the P3 landscape," House Environment and Transportation Committee chair and HB1220 sponsor Kumar Barve (D-Mont) told Bethesda Magazine.
Senate Majority Leader Nancy King (D-Montgomery) made it clear in the same article that she wasn't going to let the bills come to the Senate floor, even though they passed the House of Delegates on March 17 with veto-proof majorities.
“I look at these bills — I have to read them yet — but I don’t want to do anything that looks like it is stopping the flexibility and stopping the moving forward," King told the magazines.
In other words, King sees more upside in giving powerful corporations the "flexibility" to bilk the public with backdoor bailouts (common among P3 projects according to reports from the Congressional Budget Office and the US Dept. of Transportation) and charge commuters with sky-high tolls that aim to monetize congestion instead of relieving it.
This is disturbing. It's bad business. It opens the door to fine-print ripoffs likely to leave upcounty residents stuck in traffic and everybody stuck with the bill.
On yesterday's Kojo Nnamdi Show, CABE asked how Senator King how she would protect Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties from a $2 billion charge WSSC says it will levy to move pipes for Luxury Lanes.
"That's the first I heard about it," King admitted, less than 48-hours after the Senate adjourned without passing P3 protections. On the upside, King said she's willing to work with anyone she could to figure out the best way to get through this.
We recommend she use some of the COVID-19 recess to read the three bills that overwhelmingly passed the House to the Senate and bring them up for a vote when it briefly reconvenes in May.
The bills would have established new oversight and transparency requirements for large P3 projects in the future (HB1424); required the state Board of Public Works to approve toll increases (HB1220); and codified promises made by MDOT to the public and elected officials such as the commitment that no taxpayer funds would be used to build the lanes and that there would be more support for transit (HB1249).
Meanwhile, let your senators (click here to find them) know what you think.
Don't let them take Maryland for a ride.
Spread the word.
January 25, 2020
P3 Reform Push Accelerating in Annapolis
Momentum in Annapolis is building to reform the state's public-private partnership laws in response to the two-year debate over MDOT's proposal to expand I-495 and I-270 for a network of high-priced, for-profit toll lanes. Here are the latest developments:
P3 Reform Hearings Start Jan 29: Hearings already have been scheduled in the House and Senate on a 31-word bill that would require MDOT to get approval from a majority of counties before proceeding with a proposed toll road or bridge that would physically affect them. MDOT is now required to do this with the nine counties on the Eastern Shore.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a January 29 hearing on SB0229, introduced by Sen. Susan Lee (D-Mont) and co-sponsored by 15 other senators. The House Environment and Transportation Committee will then hold a February 11 hearing on the House version of the same bill, HB0292, sponsored by Delegates Mary Lehman, Brooke Lierman and 52 other delegates.
P3 Eminent Domain Protection Bill introduced: Also on February 11, the House Environment and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on HB0299, which would prevent the state from acquiring homes and other property for a P3 project involving I-270 and I-495. The bill was introduced by Delegate Sara Love and 20 other delegates.
New Transit Caucus to push P3 reform: A new 48-member coalition of state Delegates and Senators, dubbed The Transit Caucus, promises to pursue several bills, including a "P3 Oversight and Reform Bill" being drafted by Delegate Jared Solomon (Montgomery). Based on HB1091, which passed the House last year, the bill is expected to require more transparency from MDOT and give lawmakers more oversight over public-private partnership proposals like the one to expand the Beltway for Luxury Lanes.
Notably, the new Transit Caucus includes Delegates Lily Qi and David Fraser-Hidalgo from District 15 in northern Montgomery County.
Bottom line: keep up the pressure for P3 reform. Contact your state Senators and Delegates and let me them know what you think. Click here to find your state Senator.
Spread the word.
CBO: Taxpayers now on hook for 44% of P3 costs
Taxpayers are on the hook for 44 percent of the funds needed to pay off newer public-private partnership (P3) transportation projects, according to a January 2020 Congressional Budget Office report. (Click here for a copy.)
Specifically, CBO found that for partnerships with private financing that began after 2008, about 44 percent of the $33 billion (in 2018 dollars) in costs was guaranteed by state payments to the P3 partner tied to toll revenue (aka availability payments). Of the $6 billion (in 2018 dollars) in high-way projects with private financing before that date, 17 percent was guaranteed by availability payments.
Apparently, the recession convinced the P3 industry it taking on too much risk tied to delays, cancellations, and bankruptcies. CBO doesn't mention any P3s that were 100 percent backed by toll revenues. (This undermines Gov. Hogan's key claim his $11 billion proposed Luxury Lane system on I-495 and I-270 won’t cost taxpayers a dime.)
Other ways P3 investors receive subsidies include federal loans under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), other interest subsidies, and contract provisions restricting the state’s ability to build or expand competing roadways.
What's more, despite expediting and smoothing the highway design and construction process, the privately-financed P3 highways CBO looked at, on average, didn’t save taxpayers any money.
Since taxpayers shouldn't live or commute in the land of surprises, the CBO study helps explain why P3 reform is needed to protect taxpayers from financial and environmental surprises.
January 18, 2020
Bill Requiring County Consent for Tollways Drops in MD Senate
State Senator Susan Lee (Montgomery) has introduced legislation (SB 0229) with 15 co-sponsors that would give all Maryland counties the same de facto authority to veto proposed toll facilities now enjoyed by the nine counties on the state's Eastern Shore.
Identical to a bill that died at the end of the 2019 session, SB 229 would prevent state agencies from constructing toll roads, toll highways, or toll bridges anywhere in Maryland without the the consent of a majority of affected counties.
The bill was triggered by two years of heated debate over MDOT's $11 billion public-private partnership (P3) plan to expand I-270 and parts of I-495 for high-cost, for-profit tollways. (Tolls on similar lanes in Northern Virginia topped $62 this month.)
A similar bill is expected to be introduced shortly in the House with 53 co-sponsors.
"This is a remarkable show of support," said Regional Policy Advisors president Gary Hodge, who has been working on transportation reform with Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition chair Ben Ross. (Both are members of CABE.)
Thank you, Senators!
Washington Post Editorial Misses the Mark (Again)
The Washington Post editorial writers (again) are backing P3 tollways in Suburban Maryland and are (again) uninformed. Their latest editorial again tries to mislead the public into believing opponents of Gov. Hogan's proposal to expand I-495/I-270 for Luxury Lanes are only concerned with the loss of a few dozen homes.
If this were true, there would only be a few dozen opponents. But it's not true.
There is also widespread opposition because public-private partnership toll lanes fail routinely at living up to their two chief promises: reducing congestion and paying for themselves.
Well-documented Luxury Lane failures have sparked significant bi-partisan blowback in Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere. You can read about them in Texas media, the Wall Street Journal, and U.S. Department of Transportation reports.
Given this track record, commuters are rightly worried that this mammoth construction project will end up monetizing congestion for investors instead of relieving it for working parents with kids to pick-up in the afternoon.
Taxpayers are rightly worried there is too much evidence P3 tollways depend on subtle public subsidies wired into the tollway agreements with concessionaires and bond-holders.
Others are worried about the impact on national and local parkland, air pollution, compliance with greenhouse gas emission targets, and the cost of managing the stormwater flowing from hundreds of acres of new road surface.
Bottom line: P3 reform is essential to protecting taxpayers and ensuring Montgomery County commuters and businesses get the best and most forward-looking transportation network possible. As reported above, P3 reform legislation is already being introduced in the House and Senate.
But, the only way to pass legislation is to tell your state Senators and Delegates to better protect Maryland from private-profit highway boondoggles by acting this year. Click here to find your state Senator.
One more thing. We also encourage you to tell The Washington Post to write about P3 tollway issues in other states and what they ended up costing commuters and taxpayers. That's not the sort of news that belongs in the shadows.
Spread the word.
January 4, 2020
Jan. 8 Board of Public Works Vote Planned to Delay I-495 and- Advance I-270 P3
Wow. Something changed. Last month Comptroller Peter Franchot called MDOT's December proposed changes to its $11 billion Luxury Lane plan for I-495/I-270 a half-baked idea. Now he says he will vote at the January 8 Board of Public Works meeting to advance the plan with some additional changes delaying Luxury Lanes on I-495 between the I-270 spur and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Of course the Beltway toll lanes can come off the backburner at a 'BPW-meeting's' notice. But for the foreseeable future the latest batch of changes mean no immediate pressure on the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission to give MDOT parkland in Rock Creek and Sligo Creek. (M-NCPCC was threatening to go to court on this given how MDOT was handling the environmental impact review process.)
The new agreement also requires greater, though unspecified, "collaboration" between the P3 tollway company and Montgomery and Prince George's County "to minimize impacts, accelerate delivery and provide congestion relief." While it remains to be seen how this works out, this -- plus required collaboration on using upfront funds from the P3 company, and 10% of future toll revenues, for mass transit -- won approval from County Executive Marc Elrich.
Other changes will keep MDOT from acquiring homes until the BPW approves a final plan (now scheduled for May 2021), require continued study of the I-270 monorail proposal, and would let transit buses ride future Luxury Lanes for free.
These are basically the changes that got Franchot to vote to with the Governor back in June and which MDOT wanted to rollback in December. The fact that MDOT and Governor Hogan seem to be shifiting gears and looking for compromise is significant.
"No taxpayer risk" promise zapped
But what's missing -- and is also signficant -- is the explicit commitment Comptroller Franchot demanded last month that MDOT stop hiding traffic and revenue projections, toll data, and environment data from the public and other public agencies. We don't know why he changed his mind -- you can read his Facebook post below -- but that he did is important.
First, M-NCPPC, the State Treasurer and others have asked for the data so they can conduct their own independent analyses. They have a responsbility to protect Maryland from the kind of over-optimistic vendor projections that have been triggering commuter misery and taxpayer bailouts in Texas, North Carolina, and other states.
Second Governor Hogan has -- conspicuously -- dropped his promise that the P3 Luxury Lane plan won't cost taxpayers a dime. Now he's only promising "no new taxes" for tollways. That is a big red flag for anyone worried about being trapped into a 50-year commitment to subsidize a massive for-profit project being pushed through on the strength of financial projections MDOT is keeping away from independent verification.
Bottom line: despite the improvements and Gov. Hogan's concessions, it’s clear this process for approving multi-billion dollar P3 tollway projects needs reforms.
“The process is still lousy,” Montgomery County Council vice-chair Tom Hucker told the Washington Post. “Two people on a three-member Board of Public Works should really not be determining the fate of $11 billion, a commitment that our kids and grandkids could be stuck paying for.”