The one lingering mystery from the now-cancelled free E-ZPass program for state legislators concerns the number of Senators and Delegates who had them. In August 2009, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) told us that 128 state legislators had free E-ZPasses but refused to release their names. On September 30, MdTA responded to our Public Information Act (PIA) request seeking those names and told us that only 71 had them. What happened to the other 57 legislators? We found out that MdTA tipped off the General Assembly about our PIA request in a September 23 letter, but we had no further details. So we sent another information request and MdTA has sent us its response.
Specifically, we asked MdTA for:1. A list of legislators who held non-revenue E-ZPass accounts for any period of time between January 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009.
MdTA responded to each of these questions as follows:
2. A list of the dates on which any of these accounts were canceled from January 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009.
3. Copies of any records of communication between MdTA and any member of the General Assembly about these non-revenue accounts from August 1, 2009 on.l. A list of legislators who held non-revenue E-ZPass accounts between January 1 ,2009 and September 30, 2009 does not exist. The September 30, 2009, list was provided to you as a courtesy, although the Authority was not required to do so by the Maryland Public Information Act. Under the P IA, you may only obtain an agency's existing records.
So the agency does not have any historical records on free E-ZPass use, does not know when they were cancelled prior to the program’s termination and – incredibly – claims to not be covered by the state’s Public Information Act. Moreover, the agency says that some documents are protected by attorney-client privilege. Did the agency consult an attorney in determining how to respond to our PIA request?
2. A list of dates on which any accounts were cancelled for Maryland General Assembly Members does not exist.
3. Correspondence responsive to this request regarding legislators and the E-ZPass nonrevenue account program, which is not privileged or otherwise not subject to disclosure, is enclosed. Some correspondence responsive to your request has been withheld pursuant to SG § 10-615(l) because it is subject to attorney-client privilege. Portions of documents have been redacted or withheld because they contain personal data provided to the Authority in connection with an electronic toll collection system that shall not be disclosed pursuant to SG § 10-616(m).
MdTA did send some documents that should be considered in a timeline of this matter’s development. It is clear from the correspondence that the agency, this blog and the General Assembly’s leadership interacted in a way that ultimately terminated the program. Here is how the issue progressed.
1. On August 24, we reported that 128 state legislators carried free E-ZPasses but MdTA refused to name them because of “privacy and security issues.” Two days later, we drafted a PIA request to get the names of the legislators who had them. MdTA received the request on September 1.
2. MdTA began its effort to respond to our PIA on September 2 by assembling data on legislators’ license plates that were associated with free E-ZPasses.
3. On September 23, MdTA wrote to members of the General Assembly who had free E-ZPasses alerting them about our PIA request. We obtained a copy of MdTA’s letter on our own and MdTA sent it to us in their latest PIA response.
4. On September 25, Senate President Mike Miller and Speaker of the House Mike Busch announced that they were asking MdTA to cancel the program. We posted a copy of their letter and mass press coverage ensued, including on NBC4. 
5. On September 28, MdTA faxed Senators and Delegates a request seeking information about the vehicles covered by their free E-ZPasses. It is unclear why MdTA was requesting this information because the General Assembly’s presiding officers had announced the end of the program three days earlier. Below is a faxed letter sent to Senator David Harrington (D-47), one of many that were sent out.
6. Several members of the General Assembly began communicating with MdTA about this issue during this period. Here is an aide to Senator Rona Kramer (D-14) asking MdTA to make clear that the Senator never had a free E-ZPass.
Here is Delegate Rick Weldon (I-3B), who represents parts of Frederick and Washington Counties, responding that he does not have a free E-ZPass because he does not have to use toll roads to commute to Annapolis.
And here is Senator Mike Lenett (D-19) making it crystal clear that he has no free E-ZPass and pays his tolls like any other citizen of the state.
7. The thirty-day deadline for MdTA to answer our PIA request seeking the names of free E-ZPass holders was rapidly approaching by the end of September. MdTA knew it was under scrutiny by the press, and especially this blog. So did the General Assembly and its leadership. On September 28 – just two days before responding to our PIA seeking the names of legislators with free E-ZPasses – MdTA sent this letter to a state legislator allowing that person to cancel his or her free account. Who was this individual? Why is this person’s name redacted? Were any other similar letters sent? We will never know because the list of legislators with free E-ZPasses we obtained from MdTA was dated September 30. This letter is hard evidence that MdTA allowed at least one state legislator with a free E-ZPass to escape being outed on this blog.
MdTA was also in direct communication with the Speaker’s office on this issue. Here is an email from Gail Moran, MdTA’s Manager of Government and Community Relations, to Kristin Jones, the Speaker’s Chief of Staff, pointing out our blog post about the program’s cancellation.
And here is a second email on the same day from Moran asking Jones to “please call me NOW.”
8. MdTA responded to our PIA request and named 72 state legislators who had free E-ZPasses on September 30. But MdTA almost immediately contacted us to remove one name from the list: Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-21). MdTA told Rosapepe of its effort to clear his name from the list.
9. At the request of the Senate President and Speaker, MdTA terminated the free E-ZPass program effective November 1.
So what are we to make of all this?
First, we are unable to solve the mystery of why MdTA said that 128 legislators had free E-ZPasses in August and a month later claimed only 71 had them. The fact that MdTA tipped off the General Assembly to our PIA request – a step that was not required to answer us – may have something to do with it.
Second, the fact that MdTA was in contact with the General Assembly’s leadership suggests that damage control was one of its priorities. The public image of the state legislature should not be an appropriate topic of concern for the state’s toll authority.
Third, MdTA’s lack of historical records on free E-ZPasses means that the program was subject to abuse. The agency had no way to make sure that the passes were used only for official business and, more importantly, had no way to make sure that former state legislators did not have them.
And fourth, the fact that MdTA had to respond to two PIA requests to release the names of state legislators with free E-ZPasses when it could have easily emailed the information back in August says something about the agency’s regard for disclosure. So does its claim that it is not covered by the state’s Public Information Act and was responding out of courtesy. Agencies that depend on public funds, including taxes and tolls, are subordinate to the citizenry. Responding to our requests for data about the use of our resources is a basic part of any state agency’s duties.
But things could be worse. Other public officials have far less respect for the concept of open government than does MdTA. If Duchy Trachtenberg was in charge of MdTA, we would have received no response to our information request other than a press conference accusing us of having joined the KGB!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
MdTA Releases More Documents on Free E-ZPasses for Legislators
Monday, October 19, 2009
E-ZPolitics
The Maryland Senate Republican Caucus has sent out two letters to the Governor and the state’s chief judge seeking to capitalize on the free E-ZPass issue. But the GOP’s cheap shot reeks of both myopia and hypocrisy.
The caucus website contains this letter from Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (R-9):October 2, 2009
Kittleman sent an identical letter to Chief Judge Robert M. Bell.
Dear Governor O’Malley:
I am enclosing a letter sent to Senate and House Members from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and Speaker Michael Busch dated September 29, 2009 regarding non-revenue E-ZPass accounts. The presiding officers have decided to terminate the non-revenue E-ZPass program for the legislative branch.
According to an article in Thursday’s Baltimore Sun, about 15,000 of these non-revenue E-ZPass accounts exist for government employees, including the executive and judicial branches. Does the executive branch also have plans to terminate the non-revenue program?
Respectfully,
Allan H. Kittleman
Senate Minority Leader
Let’s remember exactly what the free E-ZPass story was about: a minor, but unjustified and annoying, perk for politicians. Let’s also remember who has them besides state legislators. The Maryland Transportation Authority told us that recipients include police officers, fire fighters, ambulance drivers and highway maintenance employees. What reasonable person would suggest that an ambulance driver responding to an emergency call should have to stop at a toll booth on the way there? That seems to be exactly what Senator Kittleman is suggesting.
And the Senator conveniently omits the fact that we caught fifteen Republicans with free E-ZPasses, including one member of the GOP Caucus (Senator J. Lowell Stoltzfus) and House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell. This is truly a perk without a party, and any attempt by Republicans to grandstand on the issue is drenched in the oozing muck of hypocrisy.
If the Republicans really want to get serious, they should make a list of the remaining perks for legislators, give them all up and challenge the Democrats to do the same. Failing that, they should stand down and save the drivel for next year.
Monday, October 05, 2009
E-ZTip-Off?
One of the lingering questions from the free E-ZPass investigation is why the number of legislators who had them mysteriously dropped in a month. Consider that MdTA told us in August that 128 had them, but then claimed that only 71 had them as of September 30. Why did 57 legislators vanish from the rolls in a month?
Could it be because MdTA tipped them off?
Here’s the timeline:
On August 24, we reported that MdTA admitted that 128 state legislators had free E-ZPasses. However, MdTA refused to tell us their names out of “privacy and security concerns.”
That prompted our August 26 Public Information Act request asking for the names and further details of the program. MdTA received the request on September 1.
On Friday, we learned that on September 23, MdTA sent the following letter to all state legislators possessing free E-ZPasses. The letter notified the legislators that a public information request had been filed and they even named this blog. Note the cc to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.
On September 25, the Senate President and the Speaker announced that they were asking MdTA to terminate the perk.
On September 30, MdTA responded to our information request. This is at the very outer limit of the 30-day response time required by state law. They reported that as of September 30, only 71 legislators had the free E-ZPasses – far below the 128 they reported as having them in August.
The above timing sequence gave the legislators a week to bail out of the program prior to being outed by our information request. And the legislators had that opportunity because MdTA tipped them off.
This is the second time that MdTA has aided the Lords of Annapolis. Our information request was necessitated by their refusal to release the names back in August on grounds of “privacy and security.” MdTA should be focused on administering its toll-road responsibilities and complying with its disclosure requirements under state law rather than helping state legislators escape scrutiny into their use of public resources.
MdTA’s actions may be a far more compelling story than the distribution of the free E-ZPasses themselves. And we are going to get to the bottom of this.
Friday, October 02, 2009
E-ZAnswers, Part Two
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) tried to protect the state legislators who carry the free E-ZPasses. They warned us of “privacy and security issues” when they refused to release the names back in August. But they have honored our Public Information Act request and have allowed the sunlight to shine through on one of the statehouse’s biggest perks.
Here is the List!
And here is an update from MdTA removing one Senator:
Geez Louise! Where do we begin? Here’s what jumps out at us.
Delegate Ben Kramer (D-19)
Kramer is a millionaire developer who has dumped $220,450 of his own money into his last two political campaigns. Does he really need a free E-ZPass?
Labor Delegates
Six Delegates are union members or have worked for unions: Cheryl Glenn (D-45), who works for a regional council of the Carpenters; Tom Hucker (D-20), who founded Progressive Maryland and has worked for the Laborers; Kris Valderrama (D-26), who works for AFSCME; Veronica Turner (D-26), who is President of SEIU local 63; Gerron Levi (D-23A), who works for the AFL-CIO; and Brian McHale (D-46), who is an International Longshoreman’s Association member. All except Turner have free E-ZPasses. (Disclosure: your author has worked in the labor movement for 15 years and does not have a free E-ZPass.)
“Champions” of the Poor
According to data from the 2000 Census, only two state legislative districts in Maryland had 1999 median household incomes lower than $30,000: District 44 ($21,378) and District 40 ($25,641), both in Baltimore. These districts were the hardest hit by the state sales tax increase of two years ago. Four of their eight state legislators carry free E-ZPasses: Senator Verna Jones (D-44) and Delegates Frank Conaway (D-40), Ruth Kirk (D-44) and Shawn Tarrant (D-40). How can they justify their perks to the state’s poorest residents?
MoCo
One of our Senators and thirteen of our twenty-four Delegates drive toll-free, including some of our most liberal members. We get no moral high ground this time.
Republicans
Fifteen of the fifty Republicans in the General Assembly carry free E-ZPasses: Senator J. Lowell Stoltzfus (R-38) and Delegates Joe Boteler (R-8), Don Dwyer (R-31), Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (R-37B), Richard Impallaria (R-7), Susan Krebs (R-9B), Susan McComas (R-35B), Patrick McDonough (R-7), Wayne Norman (R-35A), Donna Stifler (R-35A), Nancy Stocksdale (R-5A), Paul Stull (R-4A), Tanya Thornton Shewell (R-5A), Mary Roe Walkup (R-36) and the House Minority Leader, Tony O’Donnell (R-29C).
This is the worst hypocrisy of all. Over and over again, the Republicans have called for big spending cuts while jealously guarding their E-ZPerks. Here is O’Donnell on the House GOP website thundering, “There are some simple, obvious places to look for the true reductions in state spending that we have repeatedly called for…” Oh yeah? Like how about your own taxpayer-funded goodies? And if that’s not enough, O’Donnell had the gall to complain about toll hikes last January. Why complain if you don’t have to pay them?
This perk reflects poorly on state legislators of both parties and we commend the Senate President and Speaker for ending it. But at a time when budget cutters are hacking through the bones of the state’s general fund and our most vulnerable people are suffering, the Lords of Annapolis should be re-examining all of the creature comforts of their thrones.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
E-ZPress
NBC 4 interviewed your author for the following story on free E-ZPasses for state legislators. MPW thanks Chris Gordon for the coverage.
E-ZAnswers, Part One
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) has answered our Public Information Act request about state legislators who receive free E-ZPasses. Now it is time for the revelations to begin!
First, a bit of strangeness. On August 24, we reported that MdTA told us that 128 of the 188 state legislators carried free E-ZPasses. Today, the Sun reported that MdTA said that 137 state legislators had them in Fiscal Year 2008 (7/1/07-6/30/08). But in its letter to us, MdTA says that only 72 legislators had them as of 9/30/09. This leaves open the possibility that dozens of state legislators dropped their free E-ZPasses after we broke the story in August.
MdTA says no former state legislators retain free E-ZPasses because their accounts are shut down once they leave office. They stated that the legislators’ free passes were used 2,300 times in FY 2008. That’s a lot of driving! Was it all on state business? Interestingly, MdTA has no idea how much the free E-ZPasses cost taxpayers, instead providing a range from $920 to $11,500. And there were no controls on their use. MdTA told us, “The Authority does not scrutinize the individual charges or query legislators on the use of their account. The Authority also does not send legislators records on their utilization.”
One more thing: free E-ZPasses are distributed far and wide. Many of their holders are police officers, fire department employees, ambulance operators or highway maintenance workers. No one can dispute the propriety of these employees holding the cards. But other holders include “vehicles of officials and employees of the executive, legislative and judicial departments of the State while they are in the discharge of their official duties...” That casts a VERY wide net, and as we see from this letter, MdTA has no way to control the use of free E-ZPasses for personal purposes. Are the MACO drunks eligible for free E-ZBooze Cruises?
Following are pages 1 and 2 of MdTA’s response.
What did you just say? You want to know who has the free E-ZPasses? Sorry to do this to you, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow for that!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Big Daddy, Busch: No More Free E-ZPasses (Updated)
Angry state legislators are marking this blog for deletion after one of their most cherished perks has been pulled by their masters: free E-ZPasses. Here’s the E-ZScoop.
Early this year, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) voted to impose fees on E-ZPass holders, prompting a mass switch to cards issued by other states. Last month, your author found out that state legislators could get free E-ZPasses, and 128 out of 188 took advantage of the opportunity. But MdTA refused to tell us who held the passes, citing “privacy and security issues.”
So we filed the following Public Information Act request in the first week of September:Honorable Beverley K. Swaim-Staley
MdTA has not yet responded to this request.
Acting Chairwoman, Maryland Transportation Authority
2310 Broening Highway, Suite 150
Baltimore, MD 21224
Dear Chairwoman Swaim-Staley:
This is a request under the Maryland Public Information Act, State Government Article § § 10-611 to 628. I wish to inspect all records in your custody and control pertaining to the following:
1. A complete list of all state legislators, both current and former, with “non-revenue,” i.e. free, E-ZPass accounts.
2. A list of any former state legislators who continue to possess non-revenue E-ZPass accounts after leaving office.
3. The total amount of toll revenues the state would have collected if these accounts had been revenue-generating for each account.
4. The legal authority used by the Maryland Transportation Authority as a basis for distributing non-revenue accounts to state legislators.
5. A description of the accounting controls used by the Maryland Transportation Authority to ensure that the non-revenue accounts possessed by state legislators are used only for official business.
If all or any part of this request is denied, I request that I be provided with a written statement of the grounds for the denial. If you determine that some portions of the requested records are exempt from disclosure, please provide me with the portions that can be disclosed.
I also anticipate that I will want copies of some or all of the records sought. Therefore, please advise me as to the cost, if any, for obtaining a copy of the records and the total cost, if any, for all the records described above. If you have adopted a fee schedule for obtaining copies of records and other rules or regulations implementing the Act, please send me a copy.
I look forward to receiving disclosable records promptly and, in any event, to a decision about all of the requested records within 30 days. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions regarding this request, please telephone me at 301-XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
Adam Pagnucco
Author, Maryland Politics Watch
On September 25, Senate President Mike “Big Daddy” Miller and House Speaker Mike Busch sent this letter to the members of the General Assembly revoking their free E-ZPasses. We apologize for the poor quality of the copy, but our sources probably smuggled it out of Annapolis under cover of darkness. Clearly, you were not supposed to know about this.
As you can imagine, this is not going down real well. One legislator texted your author immediately upon receipt of the letter, saying, “Congratulations Adam ‘Recession’ Pagnucco!” This comes on top of grumbling over giving up pay to match furloughed state employees. After we posted a press release from the District 15 Delegation announcing their giveback of eight days’ pay, several legislators contacted us to complain that they were giving up that amount or more with no fanfare. “I’m not putting out a press release just because I’m doing the right thing!” one fumed.
But the Hypocrites of the Week award belongs to the Maryland Senate Republican Caucus, who have made great hay over the E-ZPass fee uprising by accusing the Governor of breaking his promise not to “nickel and dime” Marylanders. How many Senate Republicans were carrying free E-ZPasses at the time of that attack?
We’ll find out. Because while we congratulate Big Daddy and the Speaker for revoking a needless perk, our Public Information Act request is still pending. The answers are coming.
And any legislators who have been criticizing spending and perks while pocketing a free E-ZPass should beware.
Update: NBC4 and the Post have picked up the story and have generously credited this blog. The Sun also wrote about it but does not mention us.
Monday, August 24, 2009
State Legislators Get Free E-ZPasses
Yesterday, the Post reported that 4,990 Maryland E-ZPass holders canceled their accounts due to the new fees levied by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA). We’ll bet that none of the canceled accounts belong to members of the General Assembly. Why?
Because they can get E-ZPasses for free.
We confirmed with MdTA spokeswoman Teri Moss last week that 128 of the 188 state legislators in Maryland have “non-revenue accounts,” or free E-ZPasses. She told us, “They are allowed per our trust agreement to have non-revenue accounts to provide free passage while they are on official business.” However, she refused to provide the names of the state legislators who had the free passes due to “privacy and security issues.” We were unable to obtain any information on the legal authority by which the legislators are entitled to the free passes, the total amount in toll revenues lost as a result of their use, or the accounting controls, if any, employed on the passes.
Do the state legislators really need free E-ZPasses for official business? Of course not, for the following reasons:
1. Members of the General Assembly already receive mileage reimbursements plus a $600 annual lump-sum distribution for official travel.
2. If the above expenses were not enough, consider the locations of Maryland’s primary in-state toll facilities: I-95 between the Baltimore Beltway and the Delaware state border, the Baltimore interstate tunnels and the Bay Bridge. Only commuters from seven legislative districts (7, 8, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38) would have to travel through those routes to get to Annapolis. So twenty-eight legislators might have a plausible claim to free E-ZPasses. What about the one hundred others who have them?
3. Many state legislators expense hotel rooms in Annapolis during session, including at least one Delegate from Anne Arundel County. Why should taxpayers subsidize both prospective commuting costs and capital hotel rooms?
4. The principal reasons many legislators travel around the state are private business trips, vacations and attendance at fundraisers. The latter is especially true for leadership and committee chairs, who are expected to criss-cross the state to help backbenchers raise money. We have no evidence that E-ZPass technology can differentiate between official business and these private trips. That’s why legislators should fill out expense reports rather than assume that all their travel should be free.
A bigger issue than the free E-ZPasses themselves is MdTA’s refusal to release information about them. We find no merit in their “privacy and security issues.” Elected officials are not entitled to any privacy when they spend public funds. As for security, we hardly believe that Osama bin Laden will launch a terror attack once he learns that Delegates X, Y and Z have free E-ZPasses. Legislators’ office expenses are available for public inspection in Annapolis (although they are unfortunately not online). Why should the use of free E-ZPasses be any different from other expenses? We also wonder if any former state legislators continue to benefit from free passes after leaving office. MdTA is begging for a Public Information request, which - of course - we are in the process of drafting.
This is just one more legislative perk to join the others, some of which include:
1. Special General Assembly license plates designed to deter speeding and parking tickets.
2. Lobbyist parties, including events held on state property.
3. Lobbyist-provided meals for General Assembly committees and county delegations.
Last year, we related an old legend about a state legislator who gained 100 pounds during a single session due to gorging and gluttony. Insiders (including some in the mainstream media) mostly shrugged off the MACO Moment because they regarded it as typical of the capital’s ancient booze-drenched culture. And the truth is that any legislator can receive a lobbyist-purchased lobster no matter how incompetent or disinterested he or she is because, after all, a vote is a vote.
And so taxes are up. Spending will be cut again and again. Budgets tighten and pain spreads. The vulnerable have taken to the streets.
Why should the perks of the powerful alone be spared?
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Saving Money on EZ-Pass
By Rocky Lopes.
This is a reminder that effective July 1, 2009, holders of Maryland E-ZPass toll transponders will be assessed $1.50 per month "cost recovery fee" per account, regardless of usage. For an explanation about this poor decision by the Maryland Transportation Authority, see the earlier post on this blog.
Casual users may find that paying $18/year for the privilege of having transponders from Maryland not to be worth the cost, when you can get transponders from other EZPass participating entities for free or lower cost. A list of providing entities and a cost comparison is here.
I just got mine from another provider, for free. There is no account maintenance charge, either. I am sending back my Maryland transponders to the state with a letter of explanation (the address is: PO Box 17600, Baltimore, MD 21297.) I have asked that they close my Maryland account and refund the remaining balance to me.
If you haven't ordered yours from another provider yet, it's time to do so because it takes several weeks to get them. Do it now, and return your Maryland transponder(s) to the address above. Tell 'em by doing so that they can extract their "E-Z Tax" from people who don't read this blog.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The New E-Z Tax
By Rocky Lopes.
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) governing board voted on January 29, 2009, to impose cost-recovery fees for the Maryland E-ZPass system and increased tolls for certain classes of vehicles. As a casual user of E-ZPass, this caused me and many other Marylanders to become upset. The main issue that bothered many of us is that Maryland has now imposed the highest fees of any state that participates in the E-ZPass compact: $1.50 “account maintenance charge” assessed each month ($18/year), whether or not you use it, starting on July 1. (A state-by-state comparison is here).
The themes that many who are angry about this decision seem to agree on include:
1) The MdTA is an independent agency, governed by nine people appointed by the Governor; the Maryland General Assembly has no authority over any decisions made.
2) The MdTA had a comment period open about the new fee structure, but it was not widely publicized and seemed already to be a “done-deal” since I received a pre-written email defending their decision before the governing body met to formally consider it.
3) The word “fee” is just the same as another three-letter word, “tax.” Charge a fee or charge a tax; regardless, it comes out of the pockets of the taxpayers. But because it is a “fee,” the MdTA can impose it without legislative review. To many, this is a sneaky way to impose a tax.
Comments on articles written in several newspapers in the Baltimore and Washington Metro areas, as well as Red Maryland, indicate many Marylanders feel the same way.
E-ZPass offers a convenient way to bypass lines to pay tolls by cash in 13 states. Quoting from the Maryland’s EZ-Pass page, “with E-ZPass, you don’t need to worry about finding correct change for tolls or waiting in traffic! This convenient technology lets drivers pay their fees in advance and bypass toll station bottlenecks.”
Not only does E-ZPass offer a convenient method to get through toll plazas quickly, I have heard many elected officials in our state extol the virtues that using electronic toll collection methods reduces air pollution because cars aren’t idling in long lines wasting fuel.
The MdTA states on its website that the Chairman and eight Members of the Authority approved a cost-recovery initiative expected to generate approximately $60 million annually. It does not seem to be that the MdTA’s Governing Board really had a clue about how many of us will return our E-ZPass transponders to the state and close our accounts to avoid paying a nuisance tax, when we can get the same service from another participating state for free or for a far lower cost. I firmly believe this decision will backfire on them and our state, and not produce the projected revenues that they envisioned. I know that I am not alone in planning to return my Maryland E-ZPasses before the fees kick in on July 1.
The following is from an email that I received from someone at the MdTA writing for Ron Freeland, the MdTA’s Executive Secretary:You should know that monthly costs must still be paid by the Authority to the contractor who administers our E-ZPass system for each account, whether or not the account holder makes any trips. Even if the $1.50 charge per account is approved, we still will pay our contractor about $.25 more per account monthly that will not be passed along to our customers. Please be assured that we are not making money on this proposal, but rather attempting to recover the costs of operating the E-ZPass system.
It seems to me that the MdTA got itself into a rotten contract that is bilking them for a lot of money to operate the Maryland portion of the E-ZPass System, and that is why they are imposing the $1.50 monthly account maintenance charge.
My counter-proposal: since the Maryland General Assembly has not yet passed this year’s state budget, ask them to cut the budget for the Maryland Department of Transportation by a like amount - $60 Million. I suggest that they direct the funds be placed into a reserve to fund costs that the entire State of Maryland will incur from the Obama Administration's Environmental Protection Agency, which will get on our state's case about air pollution. We're already not doing so well in that regard – and many anticipate that the new Administration will be much more regulatory than the last one. Thus, I anticipate that our state will incur greater costs to combat pollution from vehicles - which E-ZPass decreases simply because vehicles don’t have to wait in long lines.
Mr. Freeland stated in an additional email message to me, “E-ZPass will still continue to offer convenient pre-paid tolling, significant time savings … and vehicle emissions reductions.” The irony here is incredible.
I offer my counter-proposal because I seriously think that the MdTA’s Governing Board, chaired by Transportation Secretary John Pocari, is being penny-wise and pound foolish – setting our state up for yet another disaster compounded by poor decision-making with anticipated revenues that will not nearly be met. When that happens, I’m certain we will see more “fees” imposed or increased, thus spiraling the problem into worse conditions.
Rocky Lopes is President of the Layhill Alliance and is a long-term civic activist in Montgomery County.
