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WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE | Public Transport

242K views 699 replies 119 participants last post by  Jim856796 
#1 ·
Washington D.C. Metro Unveils New Plan For Buses

If Metro CEO Richard White has his way, the transit company's bus service is about to get a facelift.

Board members, including D.C. City Councilman Jim Graham, have long criticized the transit system for having a bus service that takes a back seat to the rail service.

White's proposal calls for spending $829 million to improve bus service. And $600 million will be used to purchase 450 new buses, including 250 that run on natural gas, which will arrive by next spring.

Right now, the average age of a Metro bus is 11 years. White said the new buses would help bring that down to about six years.

Other improvements outlined in the plan include outfitting busier bus stops with real-time information by June 2006, letting riders know precisely what time the next bus will arrive.
 
#209 ·
How successful do you feel that TOD will be when the line will run down the centre of a highway? I would feel that TOD won't work when it is based around a highway even if there is a metro station there.

An example of this would be the Mandurah line in Perth, Australia. TOD isn't particularly forthcoming around that railway line despite its good frequencies and fast speed.
 
#214 ·
Actually when I first saw that picture of the Anacostia light rail, I too thought it looked like they built it in the middle of a sidewalk. I hadn't seen concrete used for a rail line that was not actually in a roadway, until this one.

@ BoulderGrad - yes, the Silver Line through Tysons is already being built on an elevated alignment. If you go to Nexis #171, third image, you can see a mostly completed structure on the north side of VA-123 between the Dulles Access Road and a point between the two shopping centers, and you can see the median strip of VA-7 being cleared and widened for the structure there.

I would have preferred a subway too, but money is tight.

Great pictures, Nexis, thanks.
 
#215 ·
I've had a lot of experience with Tyson's Corner. The area is unreal. It's a chaotic mess of shopping malls, office parks, and roads that appear out of pure suburban sprawl. With its cheap land, road connections, and proximity to DC, I can see why a number of businesses (large and small) ignored its flaws and set up shop there anyway. I hope the Silver Line steers the area in a more urban direction, and looking at some of the proposed development, that seems to happening. But the area is as car-oriented as a place can get. Tyson's planners will definitely have their work cut out for them to get commuters out of there cars.
 
#216 ·
#221 ·
Baltimore Full Build Transit plan.... , Station by Station

Current / Proposed lines

Red line - East - West Corridor

Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services
Security Square Mall
Social Security Administration
I-70 Park and Ride
Edmondson Village
Allendale Street
Rosemont

West Baltimore MARC
Harlem Park
Poppleton

University Center
Charles Center
Government Center/Inner Harbor
Inner Harbor East
Fells Point
Canton
Canton Crossing
Highlandtown/Greektown
Bayview MARC
Bayview Campus
O Donnell Heights
Holabird Heights
Dundalk
Turners Point


Yellow line - North - South Corridor

Columbia Town Center
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Owen Brown
Broken Land
Columbia Gateway
Guilford
Waterloo
Meadowridge
Dorsey Station (MARC)
Arundel Mills Mall
Baltimore Commons
BWI Amtrak/MARC

BWI Business District (Connects with Blue Line)
BWI Airport
Linthicum
North Linthicum
Nursery Road
Baltimore Highlands
Patapsco
Cherry Hill
Westport
Hamburg Street
Camden Yards (MARC)
Inner Harbor
Charles Center (Red & Green Lines)
Mt. Vernon
Pennsylvania Station (Amtrak/MARC)
25th Street
Johns Hopkins University
Waverly
Cold Spring
Govans
Belvedere Square
Rodgers Forge
Towson University/Medical Center
Towson
Beltway North

Lutherville
Timonium Business Park
Timonium
Texas
Warren Road
Gilroy Road
McCormick Road
Pepper Road
Hunt Valley

Green line - North - South Corridor

Owings Mills
Old Court
Milford Mill
Reisterstown Plaza
Rogers Avenue
West Coldspring
Mondawmin
Penn-North
Upton / Avenue Market
State
Lexington Market
Charles Center
Shot Tower / Market Place
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Madison Square MARC
East North Avenue
Cold Stream
33rd Street
Northwood
Morgan State University
Hamilton
Northern Parkway
Overlea
Fullerton
Perry Hall
White Marsh
I-95 Park and Ride
Middle River
Martin State Airport MARC


Blue line - North - South Corridor

BWI Business District (Connects with Blue Line)
BWI Airport
Linthicum
North Linthicum
Nursery Road
Baltimore Highlands
Patapsco
Cherry Hill
Westport
Hamburg Street
Camden Yards (MARC)
Convention Center
University Center/Baltimore St
Lexington Market
Centre Street
Cultural Center
U. of Baltimore/Mt. Royal
Baltimore Penn Station
North Avenue
Woodberry
Coldspring Lane
Mt. Washington
Lutherville
Timonium Business Park
Timonium
Texas
Warren Road
Gilroy Road
McCormick Road
Pepper Road
Hunt Valley
 
#228 ·
Indeed, but I would love for the region to also invest into a bigger and more frequent suburban rail system, a circular metro or light rail route, and more TOD in the region.
This right here.
 
#229 ·
Fairfax Times
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article...uction-at-tysons-corner&template=fairfaxTimes

Underground tunnel under construction at Tysons Corner

Tunnel part of Metro line that will take trains from Falls Church to Reston
by Fairfax County Times Staff

A 2,400-foot tunnel is under construction under Tysons Corner, as part of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. The tunnel is part of the 11.7-mile Metro line that will take trains from Falls Church to Reston by late 2013.

Tysons Corner will serve as home to four of Phase 1's first five stations.

The tunnel goes underground where Route 123 meets Route 7, and will connect the Tysons I and II metro stops.


Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times Chafik Ahbella and John Hall sort hardware used to install brackets inside a 2400-foot tunnel that will connect the Tysons I and II metro stops as part of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. The tunnel is part of the 11.7-mile first phase that will take trains from Falls Church to Reston by late 2013.


Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times Crews work at the opening of a 2,400-foot tunnel under Tysons Corner, part of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.The tunnel goes underground where Route 123 meets Route 7. The first phase of the Metro line has a strong focus on Tysons Corner, which will serve as home to four of Phase 1's first five stations.
 
#232 ·
Good News Concerning MARC (Found it late)

MARC to add 16 rail cars
Purchase will allow 3,000 more passengers per trip

By Annie Linskey, The Baltimore Sun

3:54 p.m. EDT, November 2, 2011

Maryland commuter train riders will have more seats when the state adds 16 rail cars to its busy MARC lines. But the cars won't arrive until 2013.

The purchase was approved Wednesday in a 3-0 vote by Maryland's Board of Public Works. The board agreed to buy 54 new rail cars for $153 million from Bombardier Transit Corporation, a Quebec based firm. Thirty-eight of the cars will replace old ones in the fleet.

The new rail cars will allow 3,000 additional commuters to sit per trip, Maryland Transit Administration head Ralign Wells pointed out. The new cars will hold 127 to 142 passengers, up to 30 more than those in the fleet being replaced.

"MARC riders will be so relieved," said Gov. Martin O'Malley, who chairs the public works board, which also includes state Comptroller Peter Franchot and state Treasurer Nancy Kopp.

The governor noted that the state rail lines enable "people who work in the Washington area to live in Baltimore essentially at half the cost."

MTA administrator Wells said his agency has not yet determined how the new cars will be allocated among the three MARC lines. "Everyone will notice some improvement," Wells said. MARC runs two rail lines through Baltimore, the Camden and Penn lines, as well as the Brunswick Line to the west.

Each new rail car will have two levels for seating. And each will have four doors instead of two, a change that will reduce time spent at stops since riders will be able to enter and exit more efficiently, Wells said.

Wells said he expects the cars to be delivered "mid-2013." It can take years from order to delivery of new rail cars, but Wells said these are coming faster because Maryland is buying some that were initially ordered by the New Jersey Transit Administration.

Annie.linskey@baltsun.com

http://www.twitter.com/annielinskey
 
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