Adam Pagnucco has written a well researched, astute story examining the numbers the MTA has used to justify the cost of building the Red Line. The story details four critical assumptions behind the MTA’s sudden 28% jump in ridership numbers, which just happened to put the project under the cost threshold required to get federal funding.
You can read the complete story here, on the Maryland Politics Watch blog.
A politics post in the Baltimore Examiner looks at why Business has such a large say in the route of the Red Line, and sheds a bit of light on why regular citizen’s concerns are being dismissed. According to the Examiner, a lot of it seems a lot of the reason comes down to the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Donald Fry.
Donald C. Fry is the President of the Greater Baltimore Committee. He is a resident of Harford County and he holds no elected political office in the region. When a controversial Baltimore City issue like the Red Line is brought up his opinion is always mentioned prominently by the media. Mr. Fry has not been elected by the citizens of Baltimore to represent them though. He is in charge of the GBC:
It goes onto point out that what is best for the fat cats of the GBC isn’t always in the best interest of the citizens.
Read more…
It seems that the Red Line misinformation continues to gain currency. Here on the site called Boh’s and O’s, a blogger demonstrates the complete lack of understanding surrounding this expensive, poorly planned project. So have a look at what Baltimoreans only exposed to the Red Lines propaganda think, and take the opportunity to leave a polite, informative response. Let it also serve as a reminder that we need to spread our knowledge beyond the boundaries of Canton when you have a chance. We all want what is best for Baltimore, but the Red Line isn’t it.
We’ve just implemented a small policy change on our site. Due to large amounts of spam emails from webcrawlers, we are now requiring users to register to post comments. All you need is a valid email address, and it takes no more than 30 seconds. Thanks everyone!
In a response to one of our posts, a Red Line supporter questioned how a BRLU correspondent was qualified to question the wisdom of the MTA’s Professional Planners and Engineers.
It seems our correspondants know what they are talking about, engineering degrees or no. We know this because their observations are supported by a blog post from Gerald Neily a former Transportation Planner for the Baltimore City, who participated in the planning of the Red Line, which, “follows a long tradition of inefficiency and well-known problems,” reads the blog.
You can read all of the reasons that a credentialed former planner with intimate knowledge of the project thinks the Red Line is a bad idea on Baltimore’s Indypendant Reader.
You can read more about the Red Line from Gerald Neily at Baltimore Brew.
Did they fudge it?
MTA uses math tricks to fudge the federal formula.
Governor O’Malley completed the state’s expected pantomime Tuesday, choosing the $1.6 billion-plus Red Line Alternative 4C as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). It was chosen partially because it’s the most “viable,” meaning that it’s closest to meeting preferred cost standards for Federal money. Their numbers have improved 24% since than the last time the project was formally evaluated.
But you have to wonder – what did the MTA do to 4C to approach that preferred standard?
One way was to cut corners on the project. Making a single-track “Death Trap tunnel” under Cooks Lane is reckoned to save perhaps $70 million. But single tracking is an option the MTA rejected before because it causes, in their own words, “Longer travel times – this is due to the need to wait for trains in the opposing direction; Less frequent service – resulting in a less convenient, attractive service; Lower passenger capacity due to less frequent service, not allowing for future ridership growth, and overall operational and maintenance flexibility.”
What all that means is that the system is less reliable and slower. The end-to-end travel time has now increased to a sluggish 44 minutes, an average speed of 19mph.
Read more…
The very savvy blog Maryland Politics Watch has dug up a delicious double scoop of hypocrisy from the MTA.
The very organization that is pushing the death trap single track tunnel for the Red Line had rejected single track (without a tunnel, mind you) for the Purple line because it makes the trains slower, causes longer waits between trains, they can carry fewer passengers, it restricts future growth, and makes the rail system harder to maintain. Their words!
How can it be so bad for one rail line and yet the right solution for a nearly identical line?
All of the details and an in-depth summary (and PDF files of the MTA’s case against single tracking) can be found at Maryland Politics Watch. it’s a juicy read.
Opposition to Controversial Red Line Project Voiced — Loudly
Jon Hyman, Canton resident, and other members of the Canton and Edmondson communities protest the surface rail portions of the proposed Red Line at Tuesday announcement. Photo – The Daily Record.
Press Release [pdf]: Governor O’Malley’s support for a surface train line through Baltimore neighborhoods was loudly shouted down by Baltimore residents at his Tuesday Press Event held at the West Baltimore MARC station.
“The Governor has ignored our concerns about this project, if this is the only way to get him to hear us, this is what we will have to do,” said Jon Hyman, a member of the West-East Coalition, a volunteer citizen group supporting a properly designed mass transit system.
In his speech, the Governor spoke of jobs and Federal money the project would bring, but failed to mention that $1 billion would have to come from the state itself.
Read more…
We recently received a copy of Senator George Della’s recent letter to Governor O’Malley. Click here to read and enjoy. Senator Della – thank you for being a staunch and honest supporter of the community.
For those who prefer to read it in plain text, it’s copied below. Read more…
More than 1500 signed cards tell Governor O’Malley what real residents want.
Canton Residents Deliver 1350 signed cards to Governor O'Malley's Office
Press Release [pdf]: The Canton contingent of the West-East Coalition against Red Line Alternative 4C presented Governor O’Malley’s office with 1350 signed cards opposing surface trains through Canton’s residential neighborhoods. Hundreds more have been collected since.
The cards were delivered to Governor O’Malley’s Executive Director for Community Initiatives Izzy Patoka on Friday 7/31 in response to a campaign carried out by a marketing organization posing as a grassroots group in Canton.
The sham group was hired by the Central Maryland Transit Alliance (CMTA), a spin-off from the Greater Baltimore Council, which supports Alternative 4C.
Canton volunteers working part-time collected twice as many postcards as the hired marketers in half the time.
“We wanted the Governor to hear the real opinion of Canton residents on the Red Line, not a marketing campaign paid for by business interests,” said Canton Community Association President Darryl Jurkiewicz. “Canton residents support responsible, effective mass transit, but Alternative 4C isn’t it. Alternative 4C is expensive, slow, and low capacity, without a connection to existing systems.”
Read more…