Nothin' cooking in Md.
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, both of whom might run for Governor, criticized Gov. Bobby "Intercounty Connector or Bust" Ehrlich for doing nothing to improve transit in the state.
"Ehrlich's transportation secretary, Robert L. Flanagan, defended the administration's commitment to mass transit but flatly ruled out additional subway construction beyond an extension of the Green Line in the city. Flanagan said such an expensive endeavor could not compete for federal dollars with other transit plans around the country."
What the hell is the Green Line? Oh, that's right - it's what they're calling the existing Baltimore Metro in the
Baltimore Regional Transit Plan. Right now, there is no need to name the line, since it's the only one and nobody uses it - mostly because it runs along existing rights-of-way surrounded by industrial wasteland.
Transit in Baltimore is worth looking into, even if the city is shrinking and nobody uses existing service. If I had my way, I'd tear down the light rail north of Penn Station - it's a bigtime money loser and a sunk cost - re-routing it up Charles Street past the colleges up through Towson. I'd also think seriously about at least one new line going crosstown, linking up the city along an axis not covered by limited-access highway and opening up new neighborhoods to development.
But that's expensive and the city and state are broke.
MTA should first speed up MARC service betwen Baltimore and Washington by elevating platforms at West Baltimore and Halethorpe, where stops take longer as conductors lower the stairs.
The problem with getting money for all of this is that Baltimore City doesn't really have a traffic problem. Building viable transit in Baltimore is simply a test of whether it is practical, politically and economically, to turn a down-on-its-heels manufacturing and port town into a growing modern city by making it easier to get around.
An idea: Grant condemned property around proposed stations (of which there is plenty) to builders on a 99-year lease on the condition they build and operate the line. It would generate development and ridership, but is there any company willing to shell out $1 billion or more to build the line and millions more on construction on the bet the real estate will pan out?
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rj3 | 11:41 AM |
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OK, I just checked out the baltimore transit plan map. Now I'm a proponent of mass transit, but what the hell is this? Are they trying to give every Baltimore area resident their own personal rail station? Jesus, does the DC metro have that many stops?
What about an attempt at connecting the Green/blue/yellow line in Baltimore with the DC metro using express trains, or running the MARC system on the weekends?
There's a plan to connect DC's Union Station with Baltimore's Camden Station (which is on the light rail -- excuse me, red line -- with a maglev train. Read more here:
http://www.bwmaglev.com
Well, to be more specific, the purple line is really the existing MARC line, with one or two more stations (not gonna happen) and the lines through the center of the city are light rail on street grade, which of course means more stops. It's the green line extension and the creation of a crosstown route that will do the most good.
