Baltimore officials pressed Maryland for more transportation funding after the state’s proposed six-year plan allocated $96 million for the Red Line, no dedicated funding for the city’s BMORE Bus Plan and a smaller share of state road money.

While MDOT included $96 million for the Red Line over six years, that amount would keep the project in the planning phase rather than move it toward construction. Mayor Brandon Scott, state officials and students voiced their concerns about how long it may take to complete the project.con

“Planning is important, but planning must ultimately lead to construction,” Mayor Brandon Scott told MDOT officials. “Construction must ultimately lead to service. The Red Line cannot remain a project that Baltimore talks about from one [Consolidated Transportation Program] cycle to the next.”

State lawmakers, city officials and students filled the Board of Estimates chamber at City Hall on Wednesday to press state transportation officials about the draft Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP).

Road funding was another concern, as Baltimore’s share of state transportation money is set to decline.

Baltimore’s share of the Highway User Revenue (HUR) program was cut in 2009 during the Great Recession, a change city budget data shows has resulted in about $1 billion less for Baltimore over time. HUR funds are distributed by the state for road maintenance and improvements.

In fiscal 2028, Baltimore’s HUR share will drop from 12.2% to 9.5%, reducing the amount available for road maintenance and improvements.

“Over the last decade, Baltimore has spent $131 million on state roads,” Scott said, citing city budget data. “We’ve been able to spend $14 million on local roads. This is not sustainable, and it cannot continue. Going backwards to 9.5% will absolutely make things worse.”

The Red Line was canceled by then-Gov. Larry Hogan in 2015 and revived under Gov. Wes Moore in 2023. The project would provide cross-city light rail service across Baltimore, connecting neighborhoods with schools, workplaces and medical centers.

But the Red Line remains more than six years away.

Meanwhile, the Purple Line, which will connect Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, is about 90% complete. The proposed CTP includes $852.2 million for the Purple Line from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2032, compared with $96 million for the Red Line.

“We appreciate the state’s renewed commitment to the Red Line and the work that has been done to restart the project, but Baltimore has waited a long time for this kind of transformational transit investment that other parts of Maryland are already receiving,” Burke Attila, interim director of Baltimore’s Department of Transportation, said.

The BMORE Bus Plan also does not have a dedicated line of funding in the CTP, though the state’s fifth bus division is receiving $23 million in investments that Thomson said would support elements of the plan.

The plan, which was announced in spring 2024, would provide more frequent service, limited-stop routes, on-demand transit and longer hours of operation.

“[The BMORE Bus Plan] will increase frequent transit to 163,000 people on the weekdays and 202,000 on the weekends; it will provide access to 39,000 additional jobs,” Baltimore City Delegate Mark Edelson said.

City Councilman Mark Conway said unreliable bus service is contributing to students and residents missing school and work.

“We have the highest chronic absenteeism rate in the state of Maryland, one of the highest in the country as of 2025,” Conway said. “So 48% of young people are missing 10% of school. This is one of the highest priorities of the City Council.”

Baltimore City Del. Regina T. Boyce said she was frustrated by what she described as insufficient state investment in Baltimore’s transportation infrastructure, particularly as Moore and state transportation officials have emphasized the city’s importance to Maryland.

“Since MTA took over the management of Baltimore’s transportation system in 1970, it seems like all we do is beg and plead and work to prove our worthiness to get a bit of quality service for our riders,” Boyce said.

CTP includes some Baltimore investments

The CTP also includes several major transportation investments in Baltimore, including upgrades to the light rail and subway systems.

Thomson said the statewide $1.38 billion Light Rail Modernization Program will reconstruct major components of the light rail system, including stations, train controls, power substations and rail cars.

This is the first major investment in reconstructing the light rail system in 32 years, according to MDOT. The project is in the procurement and planning stages, with no specified end date.

“I cannot emphasize enough how important the Light Rail Modernization Project will be for the Baltimore area,” Thomson said. “With delivering this project, we’re setting the stage to seek further federal funding for critical area transit projects.”

Baltimore subway rail cars also will receive $300 million in upgrades, with no completion date specified by MDOT included in the Light Rail Modernization Program.

The $50 million RAISE East-West Transit Priority Project breaks ground Oct. 6, providing 20 miles of bus routes from Maryland Children’s Medical Services west of Baltimore to Fox Ridge.

Stops on the RAISE project include Edmondson Village, Harlem Park, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Eastpoint Mall. The project is expected to be completed by 2029.

Students describe stakes of unreliable transit

Students from Baltimore Polytechnic held a rally outside City Hall before the transportation hearing, with Scott, Edelson and City Council President Cohen joining them, chanting and holding signs calling for more state funding for buses and the Red Line.

Freshman student Izma Sheikh discussed her hardships with getting to school due to the lackluster bus transit of Baltimore. She said her parents also refuse to let her ride.

“Every few weeks, I see my classmates arrive at school more than three hours late after an unreliable bus messes up their entire schedule,” Sheikh said. “Every few days I see them arrive soaking wet from the rain after waiting at unsafe, unprotected bus stops as I help them dry off with broken hand dryers and paper towels.”

Justice LeGrand, a senior at the Baltimore School for the Arts, said unreliable public transit makes it harder for students to get to school, jobs and after-school activities.

“We see students waking up at 5 a.m. to make it to school by 8 a.m.,” LeGrand said. “We see students missing after-school activities, jobs and opportunities because they can’t rely on the system to get them where they need to go.”

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