What grounded the last downtown shuttle in Baltimore wasn't too few riders. It was an insufficient funding source. Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration has decided to put a fleet of shuttles back on the street and pay for them through parking taxes. Commuters and tourists will have to pay slightly more to park at area garages and lots, but the free daily shuttle should provide a quicker, less harried way to get from midtown to the Inner Harbor and across to East Baltimore. The real payoff should come in energy savings and reduced traffic.
Just think, the downtown worker who has a doctor's appointment at Johns Hopkins Hospital can leave his car in his commuter lot and hop a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes. Have a lunch date in Fells Point? Take the shuttle. For the Washington commuter whose husband works downtown, she can park at the train station while he rides the shuttle.
There are any number of combinations that would benefit visitors, tourists and downtown commuters. The shuttle service will be operated by a private contractor and should begin next July.
The new parking tax, which the City Council approved this week, revamps the current two-tiered rate that computed the tax differently for daily and monthly parking. Now, there will be a single 16 percent tax on parking. That may sound stiff, but compared with Pittsburgh, where the parking tax exceeds 30 percent, Baltimore's change is a reasonable way to ensure a steady stream of funding for a needed shuttle. The revised tax is expected to generate about $4.5 million that will be dedicated to the system of energy-efficient buses.
A downtown shuttle operating under the acronym DASH debuted in 2002. Conceived as an interim measure to address a shortage of downtown parking, the shuttle attracted about 920 riders a month. A limited state grant and contributions from area businesses financed 10 buses; the project ended in 2005.
But now, with gasoline prices at record highs and downtown Baltimore expanding eastward, a shuttle system should appeal to even more riders, offer a convenient way to travel to Mount Vernon, promote restaurants and businesses in Fells Point and produce energy savings. A reliable source of funding should ensure its success.
