Rethink College Park

The Post is reporting today that other road projects are taking a back seat to the Purple Line. Money that would have been used to widen other roads will instead be allocated to the Purple Line.

Maryland officials laid out their Purple Line plans — particularly how they intend to pay for the line — as part of the pitch they will make before the regional planning board today requesting that the project be included in its 20-year funding plan.

Another interesting tidbit is that the state documents refer to the Purple Line as light-rail only and make no mention of the bus  rapid transit option. So hopefully that controversy has been put to bed.

Md. Road Projects Lose Out to Purple Line as Costs Rise - washingtonpost.com.

This is a great little film from StreetFilms detailing Seattle’s South Lake Union Streetcar. Since there really is not anything new to report on the Purple Line front take a peek at this movie and just picture what it could mean for College Park.

This system surpassed ridership projections in its first year. I’m sure the Purple Line will have the same result.

I laughed, I cried, It was much better than Cats.

The struggles of a few loyal riders on a Purple Line platform in 2014 is the setting for a new play called “Tracks” by Paul Stregevsky from Poolsville Maryland. Stregevsky hopes that by winning a contest he can secure a one day spot at the Strathmore Music Center during the 2009-2010 season. Why stop there? I would love to see the play at the Clarice Smith Center for Performing Arts. Maybe even someday I can ride the Purple Line to see the play about the Purple Line.

“Tracks” is set in 2014 when the Purple Line, a 16-mile proposed light rail project running from Bethesda and New Carrollton via Silver Spring, has supposedly been completed. Most of the action and the 23 musical numbers take place on the platform of an isolated station at the extreme end of the line. The transit authority has announced that unless at least 18 riders use the station every day, it will close.

Close? CLOSE? Lets get the darn thing open first!

Gazette

The Following reports were sent to Campus Members regarding the EMI concerns of the Purple Line.

I have yet to even open them. So Enjoy!

These are all PDF files.

08-1006-umd-final-text-r3

20081014-umd-ambients-final

20081209-umdpredictions-1

After attending the Rally to Improve Route 1 Wednesday morning you might as well head over to campus at lunch for a Purple Line event held by Maryland Secretary of Transportation, John Porcari and other campus leaders. This will be an overview of the project and a chance to make your voice heard. The presentation is 12:30-1:30pm at the multi-purpose room in the Nyumburu Cultural Center.

The Maryland Mass Transit Administration has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Purple Line. The document, sprawling across 251 pages offers a comprehensive look at the alternatives proposed for the transitway.

Running approximately 16 miles from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, the line will be either Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or Light Rail and will cost between $386 million and $1.6 billion depending on the selected alternative.

The DEIS does not make for light reading, but it does cover a variety of important topics, from environmental justice to watershed impacts. Ridership and cost projections are also included, and this document is an important step in getting federal money to complete the project.

The project will play a vital role in connecting the region. Even the lowest investment BRT alternative is expected to garner 40,000 daily boardings by 2030. The high investment light rail line would draw over 68,000 riders by 2030.

Two alignments are currently being studied for the College Park/UM Segment. MTA clearly prefers a campus drive alignment, but at the behest of the University are also studying a right-of-way which would travel further south, passing between LeFrak Hall and the South Campus Dining Hall.

The DEIS does not identify a locally preferred alternative (LPA). The decision about which mode and alignment will be made after public comment on the DEIS. According to the document:

After consideration of comments received the State of Maryland will select a Locally Preferred Alternative in consultation with county and local jurisdiction officials and elected officials. The selection will be based on consideration of, and trade off among benefits, costs, environmental impacts, and affordability of the alternatives. The Locally Preferred Alternative could include project implementation phasing that involves an initial implementation phase, referred to as a minimum operable segment, and a plan and schedule for subsequent implementation phases.
(DEIS, page 13)

Selection of an LPA would allow the MTA to undertake the engineering required for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) which is the last major step before requesting a record of decision from the Federal Transit Administration.

The DEIS can be accessed here (warning, large PDF).
Other documents are available on the Purple Line website.

Meetings are being held around the region soon. Make sure to get your comments heard.

New Carrollton
Saturday, November 15
10:30AM-3:00PM
New Carrollton Municipal Center
6016 Princess Garden Parkway
New Carrollton, MD 20784

Chevy Chase
Tuesday, November 18
4:30PM-9:00PM
National 4-H Youth Conference Center
7100 Connecticut Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

College Park
Wednesday, November 19
4:30PM-9:00PM
Ritchie Coliseum, University of Maryland
Route 1 across from Rossborough Inn
College Park, MD 20742

Takoma Park/Silver Spring
Saturday, November 22
12:30PM-5:00PM
Montgomery College,
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus
Falcon Hall
7600 Takoma Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912

Maryland’s Mass Transit Administration, the agency in charge of building the Purple Line project will be holding a series of public meetings next month. Make sure you come out to voice your support for this transportation project.

Meetings are scheduled for:

College Park
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
5-9PM
UMD Ritchie Coliseum
Rossborough Lane & Route 1

Chevy Chase
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
5-9PM
National 4H Conference Center
7100 Connecticut Avenue

New Carrollton
Saturday, November 15, 2008
11AM-3PM
New Carrollton Municipal Center
6016 Princess Garden Parkway

Silver Spring/Takoma Park
Saturday, November 22, 2008
1-5PM
Montgomery College, Falcon Hall
7600 Takoma Avenue, Takoma Park

The Purple Line is a proposed light rail or bus rapid transit line which will link Bethesda to New Carrollton by way of Silver Spring, Langley Park, the University of Maryland, and College Park.

I would think that a fairly obvious aspect of transportation planning is that as convenience increases, so does use. Unfortunately, this lesson is one that apparently needs to be added to the syllabus. As I said last week, the University of Maryland has been fighting the Purple Line for a while. Other universities are making similar arguments against rail plans in their areas.

The Overhead Wire reported late last week that Norfolk State University in Virginia has been successful in getting the NSU station on Norfolk’s light rail system, which is currently under construction, moved away from campus. According to the Hampton Roads Pilot Online, university officials were worried that a stop so close to campus would be a security issue.

Moving the station will add $1.45 million to the cost of the project and will locate the station on the opposite side of Brambleton Avenue. Light rail patrons traveling to the Norfolk State Campus will now have to cross a 5-lane arterial. Of course, this is likely to reduce both the number of criminals and students using the train. The crucial question is which group will be more determined to get across the highway.

While the administration of UMD has decided to partake in a civil discussion regarding the Purple Line, history shows that they haven’t always been so accomodating. Not only did they try and get the Purple Line stop moved away from the center of campus, they were instrumental in the 1970s in getting the Green Line station located far from campus, on the far side of College Park. One WMATA proposal put the Green Line stop under Route 1 at its intersection with College Avenue. This stop would have been adjacent to campus, but the University feared that it would increase crime. As a result, students, faculty, staff, and visitors have to endure a long walk or bus ride to campus.

UM’s arguments against the Purple Line tended to be more along the lines of objections due to safety rather than crime. Of course, if the University is so concerned that light rail vehicles will be a danger to pedestrians, I challenge them to remove all cars from Campus Drive regardless of the fate of the Purple Line, after all, cars are far more dangerous to pedestrians. Rethink College Park further challenged the UM’s arguments by asking, among other things, why all the campus buses didn’t serve the the University’s proposed station location on Stadium Drive. Hopefully, the university’s fears won’t result in another inconvenient station location.

Another university that fought light rail is the University of Minnesota. They objected to the Central Corridor which would connect Minneapolis and Saint Paul on similar grounds as the University of Maryland. Fearing, vibration, traffic disruption, and pedestrian safety, they insisted on a subway route through campus. When that proved too expensive, they insisted on a lenghty detour around the northern side of campus. That route would have drawn too few riders, however. Finally, not wanting to be the last obstacle to the line, they wisely backed down.

These Universities, although they would benefit greatly from the increased mobility, have fought projects which would reduce their need to provide parking, increase their environmental friendliness, and make their institutions a more integrated part of the urban fabric. At long last, some are beginning to wise up. Still, these objections are likely to continue to crop up as transit officials continue to try to expand transit into new areas. Hopefully, in these debates, mobility will be the victor.