The money is being provided through Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements. When Measure M was renewed by voters in 2006, it included a funding program for cities to develop and implement shuttles and bus trolleys.
The call-in feature is part of a local program with PSTA that will grant publicly-subsidized Uber rides to low-income residents who do not have cars or easy access to the area’s bus-based public transit system.
The agency will keep its operating budget essentially flat and reduce spending on construction projects by $416 million. The agency plans to spend $2.111 billion on operations in fiscal year 2017, which is $4.5 million less than this year.
Every year U.S. public transportation use saves 37 million metric tons of carbon emissions and 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline.
The reliable supply of power is essential to Baltimore, which is the eighth busiest station in Amtrak’s national network, serving approximately three million passengers in fiscal year 2015.
The lawsuit had tied up access to financing and officials said nearly 500 appraisals for land along the route became outdated during that time.
The departure from previous plans to pick the preferred route and move forward with just one environmental study comes after the FTA suggested the move.
The $140 million project is on schedule to begin moving passengers on the 3.3-mile route next spring.