Pork-Barrel Spending on a New D.C. Metro Line Could Cost Democrats

Purple line...BRT...I don't really care. All I want is an efficient way to get from my home in Silver Spring to my work in Rockville without having to take the redline all the way into DC. Current city buses don't work because the schedule is too infrequent for the route I would need, and I would end up waiting at one bus stop for 30 minutes for the transfer bus.

Currently, I drive to work, but the drivers around here are ridiculous. Anything to get even 50 of them off the road would be a justice to Maryland.

MA of MD 11:55AM January 30, 2009

There is little doubt that Montgomery County would have benefited more if there had been a subway line built outside of the beltway, whereas Prince George's County very much wanted a subway line inside the beltway. That decision was made years ago by Glendenning from Prince George's County.

But there can be little doubt that the Washington, D.C. area has changed from one that was solely a north-south rush hour pattern, from the suburbs into Washington, D.C. to one that is increasingly north-south and east-west, hence the reason why the beltway grinds to a halt twice a day.

And it may be that dedicated bus service would accomplish much, but not all of the goals that our local experts believe a "Purple Line" or light rail service will realize.

The bottom line is that any steps we take to get people out of their cars and into mass transit alternatives would serve the greater good of fewer pollutants released into our air and less use of gasoline (imported oil).

It should surprise no one that Councilman Ehrlich is opposed to the purple line. First of all it cuts through his district in which some residents have already opposed its construction. A classic NIMBY position. Second Mr. Ehrlich was elected, along with several of his colleagues as no growth advocates who apparently believe that the problems of traffic congestion, over used roadways, local pollution and frustrated commuters can best be solved by clicking one's heels just like Dorothy.

Is this the best solution, maybe yes or maybe no, but it is far preferable to doing nothing and praying for divine intervention.

Jake of Md. of MD 4:56PM January 12, 2009

Your article is so off base I just had to respond. As a Montgomery County resident who wants better transit opportunities, the light rail Purple Line fits the bill. It is definately not a pork barrel project. It is a project promoted by the people for the people of Montgomery & Prince George's Counties.

This is the first I have heard that officials want the PL "as a kind of social engineering program." Some may, but I hope the majority support the project in response to the hundreds of residents who have advocated for the Purple Line and want it light rail, not bus.

You might be able to fault the Purple Line as a Social Justice Program. Yes, it will provide better and strealined service for folks who already "ride the bus, often [from a not so wealthy suburb] to a service job in a [NOT SO-]nearby, wealthier suburb." It will also provide me with a way to get from Gaithersburg to Silver Spring and my kids to College Park without going all the way downtown and back. Otherwise we drive (that translates to more cars on the road).

Light rail is as close to an "honest-to-god subway like the rest of the Metro lines, which have been proven to be popular with the public and actually take folks out of cars," as we are going to get. Why does a subway work? Because it is a RAIL, as in Light RAIL. Swank new buses and BRT don't come close.

Getting cars off the road is a goal of the Purple Line, whether MTA promotes that or not. That is my goal as a proponent and I am confident that it will happen, just as I am confident that ridership, including new ridership, will surpass estimates.

I am certainly disappointed with Marc Elrich, who I did vote for. We should be building a lot more transit and many of those projects could work as BRT. But he is flat wrong about the PL. BRT is not a substitute for the light rail Purple Line.

CS of MD 11:08PM January 11, 2009

Try as you may, this is not a partisan issue, nor is it an economic justice issue. Plain and simple, the Purple Line will divert thousands of people from gas-guzzling/polluting cars to mass transit. Though some are dissatisfied with how many people would abandon their cars, the projected ridership numbers for the Purple Line are among the highest of any light rail project in the nation.

I know that is not as sexy a blog-angle to Mr. Farrell, but to those of us who would use the rail line, it is very important. This is all notwithstanding the fact that the cost-effectiveness formula you allude to is designed by pro-automobile lobbyists to steer critical federal transportation dollars to cars and roads instead of mass transit, buses and light rail.

Yes, many people are thrilled that light rail would induce economic development and create jobs. Others yet are excited by the environmental benefits of light rail. But these are all residual benefits to the central goal of mass transit -- to move people efficiently, safely, and with minimal impact on communities. On these measures, the Purple Line soars - regardless of your party affiliation or ideological bent.

Sheesh -- find some other project to kick. This one has been in the works for two decades -- and while we're used to "not in my backyard" activism, yours is instead a "not during this economy" argument. Unfortunately, the public input and environmental review process is ending in the midst of a budget crisis -- but that unfortunate timing should not impact a decision that we in the region will have to live with for many decades.

If you really want to get partisan about it, you should go back and blame the Republicans who held up the Purple Line project in Maryland, and their federal counterparts who starved states of mass transit funding. This thing could've been built years ago during a robust economy - but we shouldn't be holding the bag for your friends' collusion.

Rider in DC Metro of DC 8:39PM January 08, 2009