In today's Surface Transport episode of the Venari Podcast, Gov Kandola met Gregory Slater, Secretary of Transportation for the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). They discussed the Purple Line project, a planned 16.2-mile light rail line intended to connect the Maryland suburbs and the Washington metropolitan area, while avoiding Washington, D.C.
From the start, the Purple Line received national attention, as the first US Light rail project to rely on a mix of public and private financing. For some, it is even an example of what can go wrong with a big transit public-private partnership (P3). But is that really fair? And what are the future benefits of this line, for the wider community?
As Secretary, Mr. Slater leads a transportation department with more than 10,000 employees and an operating budget of nearly $5.4 billion. He oversees every aspect of state transportation, from its highways, roadways, transit systems/services and toll facilities to motor vehicles, the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. Mr. Slater is a lifelong Marylander, a 1997 graduate of Towson University and leads many committees and efforts to strengthen the industry within the Transportation Research Board and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
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