Killing the Purple Line is the prudent economic decision - despite billions spent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding? Bethesda to UMD? We want it. Thousands of college students, university profs and employees are eagerly waiting for it.

Don't be stupid.

oh yes, all those UMD students commuting from downtown Bethesda..

Driving, even with traffic, will be faster

No it won't be - the Purple Line which will have it's own right of way for most of the route will take 9 minutes to go from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

There is no way even at 2AM to cover that distance today in 9 minutes.

Also left out of this discussion is that the project will extend the Capital Crescent Trail (the most used multi-use trail in the country) from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

You won't be taking metro at 2AM either. And while it might take 9 minutes, the trains don't run every minute.

Expected headways are 7.5 minutes during rush hour and 10 minutes the rest of the time.

Can you currently get from Bethesda to Silver Spring in 20 minutes using any other form or transportation at any time of day?

Yes. East-West Highway.

Not when there are lots of other people trying to do the same thing in their cars at the same time as you in your car. Plus unfortunately the people who are in buses get stuck amongst the people who are in cars. One bus full of people, surrounded by lots of cars, each with 1 person. I am thrilled about the Purple Line (9 minutes between Bethesda and Silver Spring) and also about the Capital Crescent Trail.

I'm on that road almost every day. None of those issues occur. I also support the purple line.

[Anonymous]

Connecting Bethesda to SS is a no brainer. Still think they should have started with that and build from there, but understand why that wouldn't have been cool for residents left off the first stage.

A faster, more direct (more expensive) route across the country to New Carrollton would have been ideal for riders, but I understand the $$$ tradeoffs.

On a practical level, hope Maryland takes fare enforcement seriously and keep these trains on schedule. If service or safety starts to spiral quickly, that's kills off a lot of demand, and people stick w their cars.

[Anonymous]

*County not country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Connecting Bethesda to SS is a no brainer. Still think they should have started with that and build from there, but understand why that wouldn't have been cool for residents left off the first stage.

It would have cost a whole lot less to use the same land, but make it a BRT, like a specialized long bus driving along asphalt put in where the tracks are going in. However, this is ineligible for federal funding, since they only fund "permanent" public transit projects, and I guess the specialized bus could be repurposed elsewhere. That's why it's using the more expensive rail option (albeit light rail trains).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding? Bethesda to UMD? We want it. Thousands of college students, university profs and employees are eagerly waiting for it.

Don't be stupid.

oh yes, all those UMD students commuting from downtown Bethesda..

Driving, even with traffic, will be faster

No it won't be - the Purple Line which will have it's own right of way for most of the route will take 9 minutes to go from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

There is no way even at 2AM to cover that distance today in 9 minutes.

Also left out of this discussion is that the project will extend the Capital Crescent Trail (the most used multi-use trail in the country) from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

You won't be taking metro at 2AM either. And while it might take 9 minutes, the trains don't run every minute.

Expected headways are 7.5 minutes during rush hour and 10 minutes the rest of the time.

Can you currently get from Bethesda to Silver Spring in 20 minutes using any other form or transportation at any time of day?

Yes. East-West Highway.

Not when there are lots of other people trying to do the same thing in their cars at the same time as you in your car. Plus unfortunately the people who are in buses get stuck amongst the people who are in cars. One bus full of people, surrounded by lots of cars, each with 1 person. I am thrilled about the Purple Line (9 minutes between Bethesda and Silver Spring) and also about the Capital Crescent Trail.

I'm on that road almost every day. None of those issues occur. I also support the purple line.

You are saying that East-West Highway between Silver Spring and Bethesda is never gridlocked?

[Anonymous]

Metro rates during rush hour are way to expensive for the low to average paid worker. They are mis-managing their money and expecting continuous rate hikes to make up for their ineptitude. How can building of the purple line go this extremely bad for this long?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding? Bethesda to UMD? We want it. Thousands of college students, university profs and employees are eagerly waiting for it.

Don't be stupid.

oh yes, all those UMD students commuting from downtown Bethesda..

Driving, even with traffic, will be faster

No it won't be - the Purple Line which will have it's own right of way for most of the route will take 9 minutes to go from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

There is no way even at 2AM to cover that distance today in 9 minutes.

Also left out of this discussion is that the project will extend the Capital Crescent Trail (the most used multi-use trail in the country) from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

You won't be taking metro at 2AM either. And while it might take 9 minutes, the trains don't run every minute.

Expected headways are 7.5 minutes during rush hour and 10 minutes the rest of the time.

Can you currently get from Bethesda to Silver Spring in 20 minutes using any other form or transportation at any time of day?

Yes. East-West Highway.

Not when there are lots of other people trying to do the same thing in their cars at the same time as you in your car. Plus unfortunately the people who are in buses get stuck amongst the people who are in cars. One bus full of people, surrounded by lots of cars, each with 1 person. I am thrilled about the Purple Line (9 minutes between Bethesda and Silver Spring) and also about the Capital Crescent Trail.

I'm on that road almost every day. None of those issues occur. I also support the purple line.

You are saying that East-West Highway between Silver Spring and Bethesda is never gridlocked?

There's a problem getting onto E-W in Bethesda because of the ridiculous decision to get rid of an entrance lane and in Takoma Park where it's a single lane but otherwise it is suprisingly and consistently free flowing. I've also never seen buses stuck.

I find the desire to exaggerate and exacerbate traffic issues wrongheaded and short sighted.

The purple line is a good idea and should have been done decades ago. The lack of east west mass transit routes in MD (and VA) is the major problem with our subway system. Buses are not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding? Bethesda to UMD? We want it. Thousands of college students, university profs and employees are eagerly waiting for it.

Don't be stupid.

oh yes, all those UMD students commuting from downtown Bethesda..

Driving, even with traffic, will be faster

No it won't be - the Purple Line which will have it's own right of way for most of the route will take 9 minutes to go from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

There is no way even at 2AM to cover that distance today in 9 minutes.

Also left out of this discussion is that the project will extend the Capital Crescent Trail (the most used multi-use trail in the country) from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

You won't be taking metro at 2AM either. And while it might take 9 minutes, the trains don't run every minute.

Expected headways are 7.5 minutes during rush hour and 10 minutes the rest of the time.

Can you currently get from Bethesda to Silver Spring in 20 minutes using any other form or transportation at any time of day?

Yes. East-West Highway.

Not when there are lots of other people trying to do the same thing in their cars at the same time as you in your car. Plus unfortunately the people who are in buses get stuck amongst the people who are in cars. One bus full of people, surrounded by lots of cars, each with 1 person. I am thrilled about the Purple Line (9 minutes between Bethesda and Silver Spring) and also about the Capital Crescent Trail.

I'm on that road almost every day. None of those issues occur. I also support the purple line.

You're saying traffic doesn't back up on East-West Highway? Great news!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Metro rates during rush hour are way to expensive for the low to average paid worker. They are mis-managing their money and expecting continuous rate hikes to make up for their ineptitude. How can building of the purple line go this extremely bad for this long?

Yes, you're right. Fares are too high. That's because Metro doesn't have a dedicated funding source. The solution is for Metro to have a dedicated funding source. This has been well known since at least the mid-1970s.

The Purple Line is not a Metro project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecting Bethesda to SS is a no brainer. Still think they should have started with that and build from there, but understand why that wouldn't have been cool for residents left off the first stage.

It would have cost a whole lot less to use the same land, but make it a BRT, like a specialized long bus driving along asphalt put in where the tracks are going in. However, this is ineligible for federal funding, since they only fund "permanent" public transit projects, and I guess the specialized bus could be repurposed elsewhere. That's why it's using the more expensive rail option (albeit light rail trains).

Operating costs would have been higher, and maintenance costs would have been higher, and the rider experience would have been worse, but yes, initial construction costs would have been lower...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just fire all of the employees and hire non union workers. Pension liabilities and outrageous salaries are killing the metro.

Metro workers get paid way, wayyy too much.. Those clowns in the booths are do nothing lazy bums who allow fare evasion. They act so onery and pissed off whenever you simply ask them for help because they might have to stop using their phones for 2 minutes. They get paid way too much money to do nothing. Fire them all and save the metro.

They contracted out bus operations from one of the bus garages to a private company. It didn’t go so well. Our area is liberal and pro union. Wmata management are not miracle workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just fire all of the employees and hire non union workers. Pension liabilities and outrageous salaries are killing the metro.

Metro workers get paid way, wayyy too much.. Those clowns in the booths are do nothing lazy bums who allow fare evasion. They act so onery and pissed off whenever you simply ask them for help because they might have to stop using their phones for 2 minutes. They get paid way too much money to do nothing. Fire them all and save the metro.

They contracted out bus operations from one of the bus garages to a private company. It didn’t go so well. Our area is liberal and pro union. Wmata management are not miracle workers.

. There are a bunch of articles in 2018 and 2019 about wmata attempting to privatize some operations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just fire all of the employees and hire non union workers. Pension liabilities and outrageous salaries are killing the metro.

Metro workers get paid way, wayyy too much.. Those clowns in the booths are do nothing lazy bums who allow fare evasion. They act so onery and pissed off whenever you simply ask them for help because they might have to stop using their phones for 2 minutes. They get paid way too much money to do nothing. Fire them all and save the metro.

They contracted out bus operations from one of the bus garages to a private company. It didn’t go so well. Our area is liberal and pro union. Wmata management are not miracle workers.

This area is not alone in out-of-control government spending. At some point people will realize the impact it has on housing affordability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just fire all of the employees and hire non union workers. Pension liabilities and outrageous salaries are killing the metro.

Metro workers get paid way, wayyy too much.. Those clowns in the booths are do nothing lazy bums who allow fare evasion. They act so onery and pissed off whenever you simply ask them for help because they might have to stop using their phones for 2 minutes. They get paid way too much money to do nothing. Fire them all and save the metro.

They contracted out bus operations from one of the bus garages to a private company. It didn’t go so well. Our area is liberal and pro union. Wmata management are not miracle workers.

This area is not alone in out-of-control government spending. At some point people will realize the impact it has on housing affordability.

Housing costs are high because WMATA workers get paid too much? Huh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just fire all of the employees and hire non union workers. Pension liabilities and outrageous salaries are killing the metro.

Metro workers get paid way, wayyy too much.. Those clowns in the booths are do nothing lazy bums who allow fare evasion. They act so onery and pissed off whenever you simply ask them for help because they might have to stop using their phones for 2 minutes. They get paid way too much money to do nothing. Fire them all and save the metro.

They contracted out bus operations from one of the bus garages to a private company. It didn’t go so well. Our area is liberal and pro union. Wmata management are not miracle workers.

This area is not alone in out-of-control government spending. At some point people will realize the impact it has on housing affordability.

The area is out of control in wealthy litigants that make the cost of everything development-related skyrocket. Too many lawyers, too much money going to law firms to fight things. People have too many rights and too muc bc ability to give “input”