MDOT head Pete Rahn was hostile to transit. Will his replacement be better? – Greater Greater Washington

Pete Rahn by Maryland GovPics licensed under Creative Commons.

Maryland State Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn suddenly resigned on Monday, leaving behind a legacy on transit which includes cancelling Baltimores Red Line and axing Montgomery Countys Corridor Cities Transitway. Rahn is heading back to his native New Mexico, where hes been commuting from since Governor Larry Hogan tapped him to lead the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) in 2015.

During his almost five years in office, Rahn did garner praise from local and state politicians for helping to push through the Maryland Transit Administrations (MTA) Purple Line and securing funds for the expansion of the Howard Street Tunnel including important beneficiary, the Port of Baltimore. Yet like the Hogan administration, Rahn has mostly been actively hostile to transit.

Throughout his tenure, Rahn slashed transit while expanding highways and pushing more auto-centric roads, and sustained heavy criticism from many of those same legislators and transportation advocates. Most recently, he cut transit funding in Marylands transportation budget by $1.1 billion, from his penultimate edition in 2018 to his final annual budget in 2019. In his unofficial exit interview with the Washington Post, Rahn stated, I believe we still have a disproportionate share of the trust fund going to transit.

Rahns replacement, Gregory Slater, comes to the position from heading up the State Highway Administration, one of the agencies most directly involved in the highly controversial plans to install toll lanes on the Capital Beltway and I-270. Nonetheless, many Maryland lawmakers regard him more highly than Rahn. As one transportation sector expert told the Post, Greg [Slater] is much more careful with what he says. Hes very diplomatic.

Whether he was being praised or criticized, Rahn tended to galvanize public opinion in Maryland to an extent rare for any state cabinet secretary. That pattern didnt stop with his resignation this week. Heres what a few Maryland state and local politicians had to say about Rahns departure, his legacy, and their advice for Slater on replacing Rahn.

Delegate Vaughn Stewart, 19th District (Montgomery County), says:

Secretary Rahn championed asphalt and executed the hit on the Red Line at a time of climate crisis. With the planet burning, Rahn will be remembered as one of the last of his kinda state transportation secretary who cared about moving cars above all else.

Delegate Kirill Reznik, 39th District (Montgomery County):

Pete Rahn is clearly a very intelligent guy who believes in what he is selling. Its why Governor Hogan hired him in the first place. That being said, what he is selling are 20th century solutions to 21st century problems. And he was so convinced of these ideas, that he never bothered to check in with the Legislators who represent the people directly affected or other stakeholders that might hold a different opinion. He never chose to be a partner with us, rather felt the need to tell us how things will be. I have every reason to believe that Greg Slater will be a very different Transportation Secretary. Having spent over 20 years working for the Department in Maryland, he knows the process and the stakeholders well, and has a history of working with us, not in spite of us. Ultimately, he, like Rahn, will still answer to Governor Hogan, but I have every reason to believe that he will be a reasonable and moderating force in this relationship.

Delegate Brooke Lierman, 46th District (Baltimore City):

I was consistently disappointed in Sec. Rahns myopic approach to transportation policy in Maryland. He never fully appreciated that he was not the highway administrator, but instead was responsible for crafting a multi-modal strategy for all Marylanders. We have serious transportation challenges in this state and he was not up for meeting them. Despite clear data on the need for transit to support economic development, he seemed to view spending money on transit as charity rather than investment. If we are truly open for business in Maryland, we must fully embrace a complete multi-modal transportation policy. I hope that the new Secretary will understand that because Sec. Rahn never did.

Councilmember Ryan Dorsey, 3rd District (Baltimore City):

Though so much damage has already been done by him, Pete Rahn leaving is a very good thing for Maryland. At the end of the day, Governor Hogan is still the man behind the curtain, and so its likely that Rahn is nothing more than a mercenary, willing to be a figurehead following orders from a sprawl developer Governor. I would be delighted to be proven wrong by whatever happens next and see that a forward-thinking MDOT secretary would meaningfully demote cars and promote transit.

Readers: What do you think Rahns resignation and the new MDOT secretary will mean for Maryland?

Alex Holt is a New York state native, Maryland transplant, and freelance writer. He lives in Mt. Washington in Baltimore and enjoys geeking out about all things transit, sports, politics, and comics, not necessarily in that order.

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MDOT head Pete Rahn was hostile to transit. Will his replacement be better? - Greater Greater Washington