A Prince George’s Preview of the 2024 Maryland Legislative Session

Anticipating the January 10 start of Maryland’s 2024 state legislative session, WABA and cycling advocates statewide have been working with our elected officials to win introduction of a slate of strong pro-bicycle, pro-pedestrian, pro-road safety bills.

We’d like to bring you and other Prince George’s County advocates up to speed on pending bills and brief you on the 2024 legislative calendar, the state transportation budget, and pro-cycling advocacy plans. We’ll do that via a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, 7:30 pm-8:30 pm; we’ll be joined by District 22 Del. Anne Healey. Will you join us? 

A quick run-down of key 2024 legislation:

WABA is backing Prince George’s County local bill PGC 301-24, written by Delegate Healey, to allow for Stop-sign monitoring cameras. Local bills must be enacted by the full General Assembly but apply in only one county, Prince George’s in this case.

And WABA is backing other, statewide legislation that will be introduced in the 2024 session including:

• The Great Maryland Trails Act, establishing a statewide trails office and program.
• Stop as Yield, allowing cyclists to treat a Stop sign as a Yield sign, yielding to pedestrians and to vehicles that have the intersection right of way. A NHTSA fact sheet explains how this boost bicyclist safety.
• Rebates for e-bike purchases.
• A bill on penalties for hitting a bicyclist in a bike lane.
• … and more.

Regarding the budget: The state is currently projecting a $3.3 billion Transportation Trust Fund shortfall for the next six years. New revenue sources will be brought online, but we have challenging years ahead of us. We’ll be joined during the program by Antoine Thompson, a Prince George’s resident who is a member of the Maryland Commission on Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs (the TRAIN Commission), which is making recommendations on the prioritization and funding of transportation projects.

There’s still opportunity to boost road safety and create cycling infrastructure. On the 16th, we’ll also introduce WABA’s Complete State Roads-Prince George’s County (CSR-PGC) initiative, work focused on bringing attention to the county’s most dangerous corridors.

Please join us on Tuesday, January 16, at 7:30 pm by Zoom, to learn more. We’ll also hear from Bike Maryland, a state-wide advocacy group, and we’ve invited a few Prince George’s County state legislators to take part.

Thanks for your support, and I hope to see you online on the 16th.