January 12, 2000
Thomas
L. Osborne
Executive
Secretary, M.T.A.
303 Authority
Drive
Baltimore,
Maryland 21222-2200
Dear
Mr. Osborne:
On
Sunday, January 9, 2000, ABATE of Maryland held our bi-monthly staff meeting.
One of the topics on our agenda was the M-Tag situation.
As you know, my associates and I are very interested in seeing the
transponder-mounting problem concerning motorcycles remedied soon.
Ideally, this should occur before the riding season starts and the number
of riders commuting on motorcycles increases.
We fear the problem will become more apparent this year due to the fact
that commuter tickets will no longer be an option.
More motorcyclists will be faced with the dilemma of where and how to
mount a transponder on a motorcycle.
We believe we have been very cooperative and understanding of your
position and that the M.T.A. is sincere in wanting to resolve this situation.
However, we question your sense of urgency in correcting this problem.
At the last meeting we attended in your office, I understood that you
would check into the feasibility of having a mounting device manufactured;
something like the example we brought with us for your examination.
I also thought your engineers were going to contact someone in the New
York area to determine if they have a working transponder mounting device
currently on the market. I spoke
with Lori Vidil just before Christmas and she informed me that no progress had
been made nor had your engineers contacted anyone at that time.
I
would like to call your attention to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century (TEA-21) in the Federal
Register.
“Section
5203. Goals and Purposes, para. (a) Goals – The goals of the intelligent
transportation system program include – … (4) accommodation of the needs of
all users of surface transportation systems, including operators of commercial
vehicles, passenger vehicles and motorcycles…”
You
mentioned that all funding for Maryland’s toll facilities, bridges and tunnels
comes from tolls collected and therefore are not subject to Federal law.
However, all roads leading to these facilities are interstate highways
and therefore receive Federal funding.
We
feel as though this problem was apparent from the beginning because of the
experiences at toll facilities in States using this system prior to Maryland.
We believe this problem should have been solved before the M-Tag
electronic toll collection system was implemented here.
We do not think there is enough attention being directed towards solving
this problem. Due to the timing
concerning our State’s legislative process, we feel we must explore a
legislative solution to this problem now.
Maryland
motorcyclists are pleased that M-Tag toll collection offers economic,
convenience, and safety advantages and we want to use these facilities with the
same ease and convenience as automobiles. We
want equal access to Maryland’s roads and we do not want to face
discrimination based on our chosen mode of transportation.
We
understand that new technology does not stop for special interest groups.
However, it is crucial to know that ABATE of Maryland represents
motorcyclists whose motorcycles are legally recognized as a mode of
transportation in Maryland. As
such, motorcycles must be considered when any new technology concerning vehicle
safety and convenience is implemented and not tacked on later as an after
thought. National organizations
that include the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) and the American
Motorcyclist Association (AMA) have been concerned and involved in monitoring
the design and implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for
several years. They are represented
on ITS panels as the voice for motorcyclists nationwide.
Both MRF and AMA have been notified by ABATE of Maryland regarding the
M-Tag issue. ABATE of Maryland has
participated with MRF and AMA in monitoring ITS implementation nationwide and we
are extremely concerned since this is the first ITS concept in Maryland that
excluded motorcycles in the planning phases.
We
would like to suggest a workable compromise.
We request that the M-Tag system allow motorcyclists with active M-Tag
accounts access to M-Tag lanes whether or not the transponder is mounted on the
motorcycle. We understand that
there is an exception handling process that allows for tolls to be deducted from
an M-Tag account using a license plate image.
We would like for M-Tag to issue a written policy statement for
motorcyclists that would assure motorcyclists would not be identified as
demonstrating a pattern of abuse for repeated failures of the system to read the
M-Tag transponder. We would also
like written assurance that toll booth operators, and law enforcement officials
are aware of this policy in order to avoid legal or procedural difficulty when
using Maryland’s toll facilities.
This
would be an interim solution until Maryland and electronic toll collection
systems nation-wide provide the same convenience and access to Maryland’s toll
facilities that are afforded to automobile drivers.
This interim solution would be effective until M-Tag provides
transponder, mounting options similar to those for automobiles.
In closing, I request an immediate response to this letter at the above address so that we can determine the most reasonable course of action.