Maryland Transportation

A Virginia man who appeared to be "exhibiting suspicious behaviors" was arrested at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport this month while carrying a concealed handgun with 30 rounds of ammunition, according to the federal Transportation Security Administration. The Aug. 1 incident was not publicly announced at the time, but an account was later posted on the TSA Web site as an example of the success of its technique of screening passengers by closely observing their behavior.

WASHINGTON -- Security officials scrambled yesterday to quell public concern over a government report that warned of possible "dry runs" for a terrorist attack that would target airports, including Baltimore's. Officials played down the information in the report, which highlighted an incident at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport last year in which a couple's checked baggage contained a block of processed cheese and a charger for a DVD player, which might have substituted for bomb components.

Drivers who regularly avoid paying tolls on Maryland's roads, tunnels and bridges face a new challenge in the effort to beat the system: technology that captures their license plate numbers and alerts police to their violations. The Maryland Transportation Authority announced this week that it has stepped up its enforcement of toll violations by implementing the new system - known as LPR, for License Plate Recognition. The system is intended to crack down on chronic toll violators - such as drivers who use E-ZPass lanes without having the required transponders and accounts.

Charles Scheper got some good news yesterday. The Rosedale resident was worried after hearing reports that an overpass was going to be built near his house as part of an effort to relieve congestion on Interstate 95. "What can I do?" said Scheper, who lives on Kenwood Road. "It's a billion-dollar project." But after reviewing maps and talking with project managers, he discovered that his home would not be affected. With construction already under way near Scheper's house, the Maryland Transportation Authority gave the public the opportunity to see details of that project, as well as several others that will shape the future of I-95.

A recreational boater discovered a body floating in the water about a mile north of the Bay Bridge yesterday, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police, which is investigating the matter. Sgt. Kenneth B. Turner, a spokesman for the police agency, said the boater radioed the Coast Guard after finding the body, and the Coast Guard, in turn, alerted his agency at 11:23 a.m. "Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department responded to the scene," Turner said.

Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said yesterday that he plans to scuttle an agreement under which the Ehrlich administration promised take-home police vehicles for each of the 448 uniformed members of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. Porcari said he had only recently learned about the agreement, which calls for the state to provide cars to the officers in exchange for their union's dropping its efforts to achieve collective bargaining rights. "As of today, we are not going forward with this program," Porcari said.

Two-way traffic on the westbound span of the Bay Bridge does not appear to have been a factor in causing the seven-vehicle crash that killed three Eastern Shore residents Thursday, a top police official said yesterday. Marcus L. Brown, chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, said at a news conference yesterday that it might take two months to complete the investigation of the devastating chain-reaction accident -- set off when a trailer came unhitched from the sport utility vehicle that was pulling it. Yesterday, police identified the those killed in the crash as Randall R. Orff, 47, and his son, Jonathan R. Orff, 19, both of Millington in Kent County, and James H. Ingle, 44, of Preston in Caroline County.

Maryland has a tradition of stepping up to meet transportation challenges. The evidence is visible in such structures as the Bay Bridge, the tunnels under Baltimore Harbor and a network of well-maintained highways. It doesn't come easy or cheap. Periodically, a point comes where elected officials have to tell us to dig deeper into our pockets to ease traffic jams, keep the wheels on the bus and keep the economy humming. We're getting there again. The $27 billion in needs over a 20-year period identified by a blue-ribbon commission in 2000 has ballooned to $40 billion, driven in large part by soaring construction costs.

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday that the state would continue to host the Bay Bridge Walk, a Maryland tradition that has occasionally been scuttled in recent years by safety and traffic concerns. The walk, organized by the Maryland Transportation Authority, takes people over the 4.3-mile span of the Bay Bridge, which is normally closed to pedestrian traffic. Last year, about 20,000 people made the stroll from the Eastern to the Western Shore on a day in May that was hosted by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. This year, the event is scheduled for Sunday, May 6. "This family-friendly walk is an opportunity for young and old alike to experience the bridge and the Chesapeake Bay from a vantage point that is not usually available," O'Malley said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to name the heads of four state agencies today, including a former state legislator - the first he has tapped for a new administration full of state government veterans. O'Malley's picks stand in stark contrast to the hiring habits of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who frequently turned to current and former legislators and their spouses for top administration posts. Even his appointments secretary had been a legislator. Instead of culling the General Assembly, O'Malley has picked over the administration of former Gov. Parris N. Glendening for managers - including today's expected pick for the Department of General Services, Alvin C. Collins, who was chief of staff for Glendening.