Overview 

Every year we talk with our committee members and key stakeholders about what needs there are and what we want to invest in next. 

We take everyone’s feedback and come up with a list of projects and how much it will cost. Then, we share that list with the community and ask for your feedback. 

Last year we shared a full list of our ongoing planning work with a list of initiatives. This year we are continuing our work and adding funds for some new tasks. Take a look below and let us know what you think! 

Initiatives for FY 2025 

This coming year we are looking at funding the following:

Studies 

• Envisioning what’s next - In 2023, we wrapped up a planning process for our Resilience 2050 long range transportation plan, a $74 billion package of transportation investments for the next 25 years. Based on committee and community feedback, we plan to invest $250,000 in scenario planning for our next long-range plan. This scenario planning exercise is to prepare for uncertainty by looking at multiple possible futures, with an emphasis on how those futures affect all people. 
• Transportation Needs Assessment - In the coming year, we plan to spend $250,000 to identify and evaluate needs, priorities and barriers for transportation system users in the Baltimore region, with a focus on the needs of equity emphasis populations.
• Looking at how we score bicycle and pedestrian projects - A methodology is needed to score bicycle and pedestrian projects to compete for funds in the long-range transportation plan. Establishing the methodology is anticipated to cost $250,000. 

Projects 

• Patapsco Regional Greenway - Since 2017, we’ve been busy working with local communities to design the various parts of the PRG. Next year, we’ll be looking at a 1.7-mile stretch from the Patapsco Light Rail Station to Cherry Hill in Baltimore. $300,000 will go towards funding technical assistance on trail design and support for community engagement efforts. 
• Safety Outreach - Did you know one out of every four people killed in Maryland in a traffic crash was a pedestrian? We are working with partners around the state to get us to zero deaths on our roadways. One of the key initiatives is our Look Alive safety outreach campaign. We’ll be investing $100,000 to let people who walk, bike and drive know how they can share the road and keep each other safe. 

Training, Grants and Support  

• Staying on top of monitoring regional building permits and developing travel forecasts is essential to planning ahead. We’ll be investing $230,000 in updating these tools. 
• Due to staff turnover and new requirements, this project will support training programs focusing on metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes up to $120,000.
• We’ve set aside $20,000 to encourage greater coordination, communication and cooperation between emergency response personnel from all jurisdictions and agencies in the region, as well as to stress safety on the job.
• New federal funds require a lot of documentation and reporting. This task will provide $250,000 in resources for BRTB members to pursue and manage discretionary grants. 
• Members will set aside $200,000 for staff to establish a pipeline of projects eligible for Carbon Reduction and Resilient Programs funding. 
• We are offering Transportation & Land Use Connection Grants to area government agencies in the region who are seeking to implement changes to the built environment that reduce traffic on roads and enable more people to easily walk, bike and use transit. Grants up to $200,000 can be awarded.
• To support staff working with Locally Operated Transit Systems, BMC will work with the Transportation Association of Maryland to fund training up to $50,000.
• Here, the goal is to identify methods to improve local capital project development and delivery with better planning, design, building and tracking. This is anticipated to cost $250,000.

Interested in digging deeper? Check out the full planning budget for FY 2025 (also known as the Unified Planning Work Program). 

Download the FY 2025 Planning Budget (pdf)