On March 1, 2018, Transit Choices visited the Maryland Federal Delegation on Capitol Hill to deliver 175 grassroots signatures in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. The signatures were generated from Transit Choices’ grassroots, digital campaign Saving Baltimore’s TIGERs. The campaign generated over 333,790 impressions and engaged 4,052 people around educational Facebook advertisements touting the benefits of the TIGER program to Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. In December 2017, Transit Choices announced a Local Coalition Grant award from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to fund the campaign.
The TIGER program has spent over $5 billion on surface transportation infrastructure projects in all 50 states since its inception. However, this successful transportation funding program was zeroed-out in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 spending package by the U.S. House of Representatives. House and Senate negotiators are currently deciding the program’s fate in their negotiations over the upcoming March 22nd omnibus. Without this federal funding mechanism, proposed Baltimore-area projects like the Port Covington light rail extension or the Potomac and Baltimore tunnel rehabilitation may not come to fruition.
The three-phased campaign educated Baltimore City residents on the TIGER program, Baltimore-area projects receiving funding, potential Baltimore-area projects that could receive funding in the future, and ended with a call to action to sign a petition to Members of Congress. Transit Choices delivered their signed petitions to Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD-1), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2), John Sarbanes (D-MD-3), Anthony Brown (D-MD-4), Elijah Cummings (D-MD-7) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8).
“Today, Baltimoreans united around a pro-transportation and pro-infrastructure message” said Jimmy Rouse, Co-Founder, Transit Choices. “We were honored to deliver these petitions to Congress on behalf of so many Baltimore-area residents. We are extremely thankful to APTA for this grant award and are extremely pleased at our campaign’s response.”
“APTA is pleased to support Transit Choices in extending their advocacy outreach efforts that call attention to the importance of this transportation program to Marylanders,” said APTA Acting President and CEO Richard A. White.
In Maryland, TIGER funds were awarded to the North Avenue Rising project in Baltimore and the recently opened Takoma-Langley Crossroads Transit Center in Prince Georges County.
To learn more about Transit Choices campaign, please visit: http://transitchoices.org/saving-baltimores-tigers/.
Transit Choices is a coalition of business organizations, universities, cultural institutions, developers, environmental groups, community groups, transportation planners, young entrepreneurs, and concerned individuals joined together by the vision of creating a real mass transit system in Baltimore. Our goal is to transform Baltimore into a more livable, walkable 21st century City. www.transitchoices.org.
