Rethink College Park

Key Links
> Most recent RethinkCollegePark Purple Line news
> Official project website
> Purple Line Now! (Advocacy Group)

The Purple Line is a proposed light-rail transit line planned run from Bethesda New Carrollton passing through Silver Spring and College Park along the route. Unlike the Metro (known as “heavy rail”), the Purple Line will run along streets and occasionally along its own exclusive track. Though the state, especially during the Ehrlich years, has been slow to commit to the project, many local officials and citizens groups have been demanding the project for years. The following post by the Washington Post shows the proposed route being considered.

Map courtesy of the Washington Post

The Purple Line is currently undergoing an extensive planning review that will examine environmental, community, noise, and historical impacts. The state’s project timeline expects construction to begin in 2012 and the transitway (or pieces of it) to begin thereafter: DEIS Public Hearings (Winter - Spring 2008), Selection of Locally Preferred Alternative (Spring - Summer 2008), Application for Federal Funding (2008), Construction (Spring 2012 - Summer 2015). The Maryland Transit Administration runs a detailed project website with much more information.

After the Purple Line and the Virginia Silver Line are built the region’s Metrorail system will resemble this map, created by Rethink College Park contributor Eric Fidler.

In College Park, a debate has emerged regarding the best location for the Purple Line on campus. The Maryland Transit Administration has proposed locating the line on Campus Drive with a station near where most Shuttle-UM buses stop near the student union. (The renderings above and below show this location) However, University administrators have advocated an alternative Stadium Drive alignment that the MTA has agreed to study.

Here are some key articles related to the Purple Line on campus:

4/25/07: Student Leaders condemn UMD’s ill-fated demands for a tunnel under campus
5/13/07: Washington Post covers Student Letter
10/25/07: Dr. Mote announces support for at-grade Purple Line, proposes the Stadium Drive alignment
10/29/07: RethinkCollegePark Editors Critique Stadium Drive alignment
10/30/07: Diamondback covers important MTA Focus Group meeting
10/30/07: Diamondback staff editorial critiques the Stadium Drive alignment
11/06/07: UMD Student Danny Rogers supports Campus Drive alignment
11/9/07: RCP Editor Rob Goodspeed analyzes MTA data supporting Campus Drive alignment
11/19/07: Graduate Student Government unanimously passes resolution supporting Campus Drive (PDF)

We strongly believe the Campus Drive alignment to be superior and have launched a petition. The petition text reads:

We, the undersigned, strongly support the Purple Line at the University of Maryland campus. It will take thousands of private automobiles and buses off our campus and enhance access to campus by thousands of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and Terps fans.

We support the route decided through a multi-year public input process involving numerous public meetings and thousands of citizens, as well as the Maryland Transit Administration’s engineers.

This route, known as the Campus Drive Alignment, would maximize the Purple Line’s benefit to both the university and the region.

The Campus Drive location would:
1. Bring riders to the heart of campus, close to where most will want to go. Most classroom space remains concentrated at the heart of the campus, adjacent Campus Drive. A station at the Student Union is convenient for students and visitors alike.

2. Move passengers through campus in an efficient manner. The Campus Drive Alignment is a direct route through campus, enhancing the effectiveness of the overall system. It minimizes turns and grades on campus, making for a pleasant ride and minimal impact on the vehicles over their lifetime.

3. It will enhance safety and efficiency of Campus Drive. According to a MTA study, while the majority of vehicles on campus drive are private vehicles the majority of riders are already on transit - various buses. Furthermore, today 17% of the traffic on the road are just passing through campus. Closing Campus Drive to private vehicles would take cars off campus while preserving access by transit users.

4. The project will bring millions of dollars of streetscaping improvements to the heart of our campus with potentially new lights, sidewalks, and landscaping. Modern systems like the Purple Line are beautiful and have a minimal visual impact on the environment.

5. Help the university do its part to combat global warming. This alignment would maximize ridership, maximizing the number of CO2 emitting private vehicles on the road.

Dozens of university donors, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members have already signed. Click here to add your name. We are optimistic the university will be able to seize the opportunity to undo the mistake of locating the Metrorail station so far away and truly become a pedestrian-oriented campus.