Baltimore/Washington Transit News & Proposals

[TheGlobalizer]

Less bus, more rail. IMHO.

[vivo]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

happy bday, jeremai!!

um he's not the author. he's a guy. unless it's really his bday

[BrooksAct]

Originally Posted by TheGlobalizer

Less bus, more rail. IMHO.

Agreed. I really don't know why it's so difficult to get rail built here.

[StevenW]

HRT, LRT and BRT. In that order.

[LtBk]

I wonder if Baltimore will ever build a decent metro system.

[StevenW]

In our lifetime? Maybe not. The Red Line is the next and biggest thing for Baltimore now. All the other ones proposed are probably way off in the future.

[LtBk]

Baltimore did had a chance to build a metro back in the 60s.

[Dr. Remington]

it's frustrating to think that like many other cities, baltimore had better rail transit (streetcars) in the 1890's then now.

[Northern]

------------------------------------------------
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Friday, September 26, 2008

Contact:
Danyell Diggs
Red Line Coordinator
443-984-4097

Community Leaders Visit West Coast Light Rail Projects

Group Departs Sunday Seeking Lessons for Baltimore's Red Line
BALTIMORE, MD (September 26, 2008) - Sixty neighborhood activists, elected leaders, developers and City officials are traveling to Portland, Phoenix, Seattle and Los Angeles this weekend to learn more about light rail projects similar to Baltimore's proposed Red Line.

The four groups will depart Sunday from BWI Airport to tour mass-transit projects under construction or near completion. As Baltimore's Red Line Project moves closer to construction in 2012, decision makers are seeking to understand more about transit-oriented development, economic opportunities and construction mitigation techniques. The tours are jointly sponsored by the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, Baltimore City, the Citizens Planning and Housing Association and the Maryland Transit Administration.

"I appreciate the time that Baltimore's community leaders are giving to learn more about the opportunities that await us with the Red Line," said Mayor Sheila Dixon. Representatives of the Mayor's Office, Department of Transportation, Baltimore Development Corporation, Housing Authority, and Minority/Women's Business Development Office are participating in the tour.

"The Red Line can add value for residents and businesses. We're excited about the chance to learn from examples beyond our borders," said Otis Rolley III, President/CEO of Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.

"I'm very supportive of the Red Line Transit Project but I also have a lot of questions about how we can make it work for Fells Point. This trip is a great opportunity to see how another city has tackled their transit challenges," said Victor Corbin, President of the Fells Prospect Community Organization.

For area residents who would like to follow the tours and receive real-time updates, the group will be regularly posting information on Twitter, the new micro-blogging service that allows its users to provide 140-character updates via the Internet. To receive the updates, you must have a free Twitter account and follow the Baltimore Red Line account, "@GoRedLine."

Sponsors are encouraging everyone to be a part of the West Coast transit tours by following along at http://twitter.com/GoRedline.

Four years ago, CPHA and the Greater Baltimore Committee sponsored similar trips to transit projects around the country. Out of that came the Red Line Community Compact signed on September 12th by Mayor Dixon, Maryland DOT Secretary John Porcari and more than 65 community, business, environmental and civic organizations.
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[PeterSmith]

I'm glad they're being active about the Red Line, but they already took this trip. they've already sent community leaders and government officials out to the West Coast. It seems like every article on the Red Line has the same go-no where optimism. They just talk about the community benefits it will bring and how Fells Point is skeptical.

They really need to take the Fells Point community leaders to Boston, Philadelphia and every major and medium-sized European city to show them once and for all that their concerns are unfounded.

[BrooksAct]

Seems like they're making this Red Line project more complicated than it has to be.

What exactly is Fells Point concerned about regarding the transit line, anyway?

[scando]

Originally Posted by Dr. Remington

it's frustrating to think that like many other cities, baltimore had better rail transit (streetcars) in the 1890's then now.

Better is dubious. They certainly had more miles of rail, but it was slow and small. The old Baltimore streetcars (smaller and slower than MTA buses) ran down the middle of the street and discharged passengers right into whatever traffic typified the age. It's not surprising that the rise of the auto age brought that to an end. We need more miles of rail than we have now, but we also need to think it out better and build so that it can co-exist with the massive traffic we have in this era.

[scando]

Originally Posted by PeterSmith

I'm glad they're being active about the Red Line, but they already took this trip. they've already sent community leaders and government officials out to the West Coast. It seems like every article on the Red Line has the same go-no where optimism. They just talk about the community benefits it will bring and how Fells Point is skeptical.

They really need to take the Fells Point community leaders to Boston, Philadelphia and every major and medium-sized European city to show them once and for all that their concerns are unfounded.

I can't see Fells Point getting anything other than benefits from it. The streets there are choked with parked cars now and that restricts the number of people that can eat and shop in the neighborhood. A usable and expeditious transit line would be a huge benefit and would really take Fells Point to another level.

[PeterSmith]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...,1950253.story

Officials voice support for east-west light rail line

By Michael Dresser | michael.dresser@baltsun.com | Baltimore Sun reporter
3:44 PM EDT, October 29, 2008

Leaders of Baltimore's medical institutions, colleges and universities rallied today in support of a proposed east-west light rail line from Bayview to Woodlawn, calling it an essential part of a robust urban transit system.

Representatives of such institutions as Mercy Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Sojourner-Douglass College gathered at the UMB Biopark at an event organized by the Greater Baltimore Committee to show support for its preferred version of the so-called Red Line.

The GBC has endorsed a version of the 14.6-mile line that would run from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the Hopkins Bayview campus in Southeast Baltimore, using one tunnel to avoid surface roads downtown and in Fells Point and another to go under Cooks Lane in West Baltimore.

Gregory F. Schaffer, president of Bayview, said that as a former resident of New York and Boston he's used to a "terrific" public transit system.

"That's something that's a real strategic disadvantage for Baltimore," he said.

Schaffer said competing proposals for a subway system like the existing Metro would be too expensive to qualify for federal funding.

"The Red Line really is the best fit,' he said.

The Maryland Transit Administration will begin holding hearings Thursday on a series of alternatives for the Red Line – including light rail and dedicated bus lanes but not a subway. The series of four hearings will continue though Nov. 13. The MTA will make a final choice early next year and submit it to the federal government to compete for funding with other project proposals around the country.

The GBC contends that the light rail option it favors offers the best balance of costs and benefits of the options on the table – a key criteria for winning federal approval.

Donald C. Fry, president of the GBC, said the Red Line alternative his group favors would bear little resemblance to the existing north-south light rail system that runs along Howard Street. He said it would represent a new generation of light rail technology – "more sleek, lower to the ground."

[rockin'.baltimorean]

the red line is definitely a MUST. extending the green line to white marsh is also needed. the other lines can wait until the funds are available.

[Eerik]

Originally Posted by Dr. Remington

it's frustrating to think that like many other cities, baltimore had better rail transit (streetcars) in the 1890's then now.

Problem with Baltimore service in the late 1800's was all the streetcar lines were owned and operated by different companies. So in essence, until consolidation, you pretty much had a condition similar to what we have now: mass transit in different colors and flavors.

Plus, it wasn't only the automobile that doomed streetcars: the cost to run the lines were astronomical. And in Baltimore's case, we suffered in large part from the park tax levied against the system. The Baltimore system almost faced bankruptcy several times.

The last big hurrah for streetcar systems was World War II when the gas, rubber, and steel rationing coupled with the influx of factory workers into industrial cities caused transit ridership to skyrocket.

The pipedream of making heavy rail happen has more to do with the never ending obligation to maintain and sustain the system, than just the astronomical sum to fund construction. Unfortunately it had been proven for these systems to work, major ongoing subsides are required, since fare box collection alone isn't enough. So it's not just the cost of construction that's a deterrent, it's the dollar amount each year that will be required to be budgeted to keep the system running. I don't think the state has the guts or the coffers deep enough to make such a commitment.

[urbanaturalist]

The pipedream of making heavy rail happen has more to do with the never ending obligation to maintain and sustain the system, than just the astronomical sum to fund construction. Unfortunately it had been proven for these systems to work, major ongoing subsides are required, since fare box collection alone isn't enough. So it's not just the cost of construction that's a deterrent, it's the dollar amount each year that will be required to be budgeted to keep the system running. I don't think the state has the guts or the coffers deep enough to make such a commitment.[/QUOTE]



And now that a bunch of transit agencies are supposedly owing some of the Wall Street companies for loans, it gets more cumbersome to even get started I would think.

[Balmurfan]

Planners and business leaders endorse a route, but local opposition could yet stall the project

By Michael Dresser
November 23, 2008

After six years of planning and a recent round of public hearings, a clear consensus has emerged among civic and business leaders about what a long-debated east-west transit line through Baltimore would look like - if it is ever built in the face of determined community opposition.

While a half-dozen alternatives for building the so-called Red Line remain on the table, most of them have been practically eliminated either as a result of excessive cost or lagging support.

Supporters say the Red Line - which would serve some of the area's largest employers and intersect the north-south Central Light Rail Line - fills a glaring gap in Baltimore's transportation network. If the project can make it through the federal approval process and avoid the pitfalls of racial politics surrounding it, the line could open as early as 2012.

The favored alternative, openly supported by the Greater Baltimore Committee and tacitly backed by Mayor Sheila Dixon, is the one that the Maryland Transit Administration calls 4-C.

It would be a $1.6 billion, 14.6-mile light rail line from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center to the Medicare-Medicaid complex in Woodlawn. Another possibility, a bus system that would run in dedicated lanes, received scant attention during the recent public hearings.

The 4-C line would serve such employment centers as the Social Security Administration, Bayview and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. By connecting with the existing north-south light rail line and the Metro subway, it would greatly expand the reach of rail transit in the Baltimore region. It would run underground in two tunnels - one along Cooks Lane in West Baltimore and the other though downtown, Inner Harbor East and Fells Point - and have surface sections as well.

"For the first time, we have the beginning of a true transit system rather than mere transit lines," GBC President Donald C. Fry said at a public hearing.

Where the alternative runs into fierce opposition is where it emerges from the ground.

The 4-C line would run on the surface along Edmondson Avenue (U.S. 40) through the neighborhoods of Edmondson Village and Allendale. The MTA has signaled that an alternative with a tunnel along Edmondson Avenue would cost far too much to give it any chance of being approved by the Federal Transit Administration, which will weigh the costs and benefits of the MTA's Red Line proposal against competing projects around the country.

Many residents of these and other nearby low-income, mostly African-American neighborhoods, see surface light rail as not only a threat to their way of life but also a form of racial discrimination. Recently, several hundred local residents attended a raucous public hearing at Edmondson High School in the heart of the Red Line corridor to cheer lustily as opponents voiced their suspicions about the project.

Minority and low-income neighborhoods are getting all the surface track, while white and affluent neighborhoods are getting tunneled under, thundered Don Sherrod, president of the Rognel Heights Civic Association.

"The white people protested, and they're getting it underground," he said.

In fact, the 4-C alternative would tunnel under the largely African-American neighborhoods along Cooks Lane, while the surface portions would include such majority-white neighborhoods as Canton and Highlandtown.

Defenders of the 4-C option say there are valid engineering reasons for tunneling under the narrow streets of Fells Point and though the constricted, residential Cooks Lane corridor, but Sherrod's argument still resonates in West Baltimore.

Many residents there have unhappy memories of being displaced in the 1960s and 1970s by white decision-makers intent on extending Interstate 70 into the heart of Baltimore.

Those plans were thwarted, but not until many lost homes and saw neighborhoods cut in half by the infamous Road to Nowhere - the truncated interstate now part of U.S. 40.

Gertude D. Hack, president of the Allendale Community Association, said she polled residents of her neighborhood and found them opposed to surface light rail. "If you cannot go underground, they say no-build," she said.

"No build," is in fact one of the alternatives. While that is favored by many in the community, building nothing is a course with a serious downside.

One of the main reasons for the Red Line is that congestion on U.S. 40 in the west and along Eastern Ave. and other East Baltimore streets has increased in recent decades and is projected to get worse. In Edmondson Village, for instance, U.S. 40 turns into a busy commuter route every weekday morning and evening as three lanes of traffic speed through West Baltimore with drivers from destinations such as Ellicott City and Catonsville - leaving behind little but their exhaust fumes.

City planners have a different vision for the neighborhood. By converting a lane in each direction to transit use and slowing traffic, planners say they could make U.S. 40 a less attractive commuter route and induce many suburbanites to leave their cars at a park-and-ride and take the train downtown.

Some of the resistance to surface light rail flows from Baltimoreans' experience with the north-south line that opened in the early 1990s. Part of an early generation of light rail lines around the country, the line has had numerous operational problems over the years and has been blamed by some as a contributing factor in the decline of Howard Street.

Jamie Kendrick, deputy director of the city's Department of Transportation, said any new light rail system would represent a newer generation of technology - operating more quietly, more smoothly and lower to the ground.

"We have the opportunity to do this totally differently."

Some opponents of the limited-tunneling plan say the proposal doesn't differ enough from the current system. They want to force the MTA to go back to the drawing board, even at the cost of a delayed start to construction, to study a heavy-rail system such as the Metro subway.

The MTA recently made an informal examination of heavy rail but concluded that it was too expensive.

Edward Cohen, founder and past president of the Transit Riders Action Council, contends that the agency judged heavy and light rail by different standards. "The MTA rigged the heavy rail examination," said Cohen, whose group says the higher speeds of a subway would attract more ridership.

The Red Line also faces lingering opposition in East Baltimore, where some residents of the Canton waterfront share the same concerns as their West Baltimore counterparts about a surface rail line.

Gov. Martin O'Malley will decide what is called the "locally preferred alternative" early next year after receiving the MTA's recommendation. There is little in his record to suggest he wouldn't go along with the GBC and the city administration.

But neighborhood groups and transit advocates are unlikely to concede the last word to the governor. They are already threatening to take the matter to court and to the General Assembly.

Kendrick said it would be unfortunate if their opposition prevailed. "If we miss this opportunity right now, we could miss it for a generation."

[rockin'.baltimorean]

the folks in canton are complaining just as much as the folks in edmondson village about the light rail being above ground, so my thing is why are the rognell heights/allendale community associations making this racial?

[BrooksAct]

I was surprised to see such opposition to a surface light rail. The 4-C plan, while not optimal, is a much better alternative to the "no build" option. And I don't see how residents can view the prioritized tunneling as racist--the plan simply calls for tunneling where absolutely necessary. Another thing to note is that the Metro Subway goes in-tunnel at Mondawmin and travels to Hopkins through several predominantly African-American neighborhoods, so there isn't even a historical pattern of suspect race-motivated policies regarding the region's rail lines. The opposition is disappointing.