Transportation is the biggest impediment to Maryland's continued economic growth and prosperity, economic and technology experts said yesterday.
Maryland has a large labor pool in some communities and plenty of available jobs in others, but the two aren't connecting because of a lack of transportation, said Anirban Basu, senior economist and director of applied research at RESI, an economic research center at Towson University.
West Baltimore is a perfect example, he said. "It's incredible that they are surrounded by growing prosperity and yet not participating in it. Why is it? Because they are landlocked. Transportation doesn't connect them to where the jobs are."
He contrasted West Baltimore with Howard County, which he called the "heartland of growing prosperity in Maryland."
"They are pretty close together geographically, but economically they might as well be a million miles apart," said Basu, who advocates more inexpensive, reliable rail transportation.
Transportation was a major topic yesterday during the Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce's economic outlook conference at Fort Meade, where Basu and others spoke.
Maryland Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari talked about the $1.8 billion expansion of Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the state's goal of doubling in the next 20 years the number of people using mass transit to alleviate road congestion.
Stephen T. Walker, whose Glenwood company, Steve Walker & Associates, invests in Internet start-ups, discussed his hopes to build a regional helicopter system or "air taxi" to reduce traffic and save time.
Walker, who said in an interview that he has three helicopters that are used for charter flights, said he expects next year to set up a "helistop" at Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia where passengers can be picked up and dropped off.
He said he also has scouted four or five potential sites near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for another helistop and hopes to have a 20-minute shuttle flying from the harbor to Tysons Corner next year.
"A lot of the business people are eager for it to happen," Walker said. "There are an awful lot of people who go back and forth every day and who spend 2.5 to three hours commuting."
The air taxi would cater to executives who need to get somewhere in a hurry. Fares wouldn't be cheap. Walker said he hopes to keep ticket prices below $200 for a one-way trip.
Walker added that he would not set up a helistop in areas where residents object.
On the economic outlook, Basu told the group that next year will be another good one for Maryland, which has fared better than other parts of the country after a series of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve to slow down the economy.
The state benefits from a pool of talented workers and growth in high-tech jobs, he said.
