Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist
Let's dispel the myths:
-- There's no rule that the federal government can fund only one major transit initiative in a state at any given time. Rather, federal officials will fund projects based on cost-effectiveness per rider. The Purple Line and Baltimore's Red Line both are worthy candidates. It doesn't hurt that former Maryland transportation secretary John D. Porcari, a long-time champion of the Purple Line, is now deputy secretary of transportation for the Obama administration.
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Well, this one is extremely misleading. Each and every transit project requires a state match, and it's doubtful whether
Maryland can fund even one project, let alone two, regardless of
Federal approval. The approval of one will greatly diminish the chances of the other. Baltimore residents have every right to be upset about the Purple Line usurping their light-rail funding.
Also: Maryland has politicians who undoubtedly favor one project over the other. Since FTA approval is often based on political pressure just as much as cost-effectiveness, a bunch of politicians supporting the Purple Line at the expense of Baltimore's Red Line will play a serious role in whether the Baltimore project gets Federal approval.
Finally, there are social-justice issues to contend with. The Purple Line, in its initial segment, will run almost exclusively through wealthy and middle-class areas of Montgomery and western PG, areas where residents presumably have a greater amount of choice as to housing location (relative to workplaces) and greater access to autos. Baltimore's Red Line, while it serves mostly yuppies in Canton on the east end, serves many underprivileged, poor neighborhoods to the west. Since an explicit goal of transit policy is to provide mobility to those who cannot afford widespread auto ownership, and possibly cannot afford to move to areas within walking or transit distance of their workplaces, the government has an imperative to fund transit improvements to poor areas. This is not done as a form of welfare but as an improvement to these neighborhoods that allows access to jobs, to encourage the poor to support themselves.
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I'm not against the Purple Line. It's a great idea, especially for DC's planning system of dense, Metro-oriented town centers. Circumferential rail lines probably wouldn't succeed in any other American city. Even in NYC, America's transit capital, the G remains the lowest-utilized of all subway lines because it only connects outer boroughs.
But to represent the Purple Line as a slam dunk, and as the first transportation priority of the entire state of Maryland, is just wrong.