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Maryland MTA/Red Line gets new impetus from Freddie Grey death


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#1 Sloan

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Posted 22 June 2015 - 08:34 AM

 

 

Baltimore light rail project gets new impetus after Freddie Gray death, riots

Backers say the proposed Red Line light rail project could speed city residents to jobs and help end the isolation of poor neighborhoods, some of which still bear the scars of race riots in the 1960s.

http://www.reuters.c...N0OX1E720150617

 

This was history repeating itself.  Perfect example was Los Angeles.  Once the Pacific Electric interurban line to Watts from downtown Los Angeles ended in 1963, LA MTA, successor operator, provided replacement bus service which was infrequent and inconvenient.  With the community shut off from employment and city services, a resentment began to build which resulted in crime and rioting.

 

Perhaps the Red Line will be the catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.

 

Sloan



#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 June 2015 - 09:51 AM

 

Opponent Marty Taylor, president of the Right Rail Coalition, said the line should run through an existing subway tunnel. It then could connect to Johns Hopkins hospitals in east Baltimore, with the changes saving $1 billion.

The problem with doing this, is that the existing tunnel is Metro Subway, heavy rail.  The Red Line whose funding they are worrying about has already been downgraded from a heavy rail line, which could have been partially interlined with the existing Metro, to a light rail line -- which more than likely can't coexist with Metro for a number of reasons.

 

Baltimore has notoriously been infamous for poor planning --- from the building of the Metro subway at a different gauge than Washington's Metro, to building the light rail lines with just one track limiting capacity and frequency.  They have hopefully also learned how poor the existing light rail line's performance is while moving up and down Howard Street in the downtown core.... evidenced by the plans to build the downtown section of the Red Line in a new tunnel (aside from the one used by Metro).

 

Mention of Los Angeles evokes memories of the LACMTA Blue Line, which while surely functional in moving people between Los Angeles and Long Beach, it has to also pass through some very depressed areas like South Central, Watts, and Compton.  I can recall encountering numerous vagrants, panhandlers, and others aboard the train turning the trip into a scary experience.  Hopefully Baltimore learns from that as well and takes measures to make their future line safer and more comfortable.



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#3 Sloan

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Posted 24 December 2015 - 08:54 AM

O Scale Trolley Modelers provided this link.

 

 

 

NAACP, ACLU challenge Hogan administration over scrapping Red Line

http://www.baltimore...1221-story.html

 

Both sides have valid points.  A recent issue of The Atlantic Monthly had a feature article about the Freddie Grey situation.  Neighborhood drug peddlers explained to the writer that a dearth of transportation cuts them off from good-paying legitimate jobs.  

 

Governor Hogan's policy people have concerns that the proposed LRT is over-designed.  Maybe......but to say that expanded bus service is a better use of mass transportation dollars is "pollyanish."  Baltimore's street layout is not conducive to  good traffic flow; consequently, people commuting to work on a lurching bus bouncing over potholes will not have a reliable schedule which will in turn irritate employers who want workers to arrive on time.  Light rail in proper infrastructure (boulevard running or private right-of-way) can do the job.

 

Sloan


Edited by Sloan, 24 December 2015 - 08:54 AM.


#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 01 January 2016 - 07:55 PM

Baltimore, MD Sun, 12/22/15:

 


Red Line and race

 

Few things put otherwise reasonable people in a fighting mood like an accusation of racism. So it's safe to assume Gov. Larry Hogan and his advisers were none too happy to hear that the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU of Maryland have filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Department of Transportation alleging that the decision to kill the Red Line was part of a racially discriminatory pattern of transportation decisions in Maryland.

Story



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#5 Sloan

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Posted 03 April 2016 - 04:45 PM

 

 

Transportation bill advances in Annapolis

Maybe the Red Line ain't dead yet.

 

Video and text here:

 

http://www.wbaltv.co...apolis/38767520



#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 03 April 2016 - 06:26 PM

The Washington Post, 4/1:
 

Hogan vetoes transportation bill, setting up fight with legislature

 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a bill Friday that would create a new method for deciding which transportation projects are funded, setting the stage for a veto-override battle with the Democratic-controlled General Assembly in the final days of the three-month legislative session.

 

The measure was one of several bills presented to Hogan ® on Friday as part of an effort to force the governor to decide on vetoes in time for Democratic lawmakers to override them before the legislature adjourns April 11.

 

SNIP

 

Overturning a veto requires the approval of three-fifths of both the 141-member House of Delegates and the 47-member Senate. Neither chamber passed the bill with a veto-proof majority, but several Democratic lawmakers were absent the day of the vote.

 

There are 91 Democrats in the House, six more than are needed for an override, and 33 Democrats in the Senate, four more than needed.

 

More here.



#7 Sloan

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 07:42 AM

 

 

New bus system revives anger, frustration over lost light-rail in Baltimore  
Samuel Jordan stood in the front row at a recent rally in downtown Silver Spring, waiting for his moment as about 100 transit advocates celebrated new federal money to build a light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs. When the speeches ended and the politicians prepared to leave, Jordan shouted, “What about the Red Line?”
 

https://www.washingt...m=.245a4193437f

The Red Line, IMO, would be a positive community enhancer.  Right now, according last week's edition of The Economist, Baltimore ranks among the top five cities in the nation for homicides. The absence of major employers in the city breeds despair which morphs into crime.  With light rail stimulating economic development, murder and other crimes would diminish.

Sloan 






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