Purple line

[Anonymous]

With the problems of metro ridership, why add the purple line? Seems irresponsible to take on all this debt to add a line when insufficient funds to cover current costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the problems of metro ridership, why add the purple line? Seems irresponsible to take on all this debt to add a line when insufficient funds to cover current costs.

The line is being built by Md, not by WMATA, metrorail finances are not directly involved.

[Anonymous]

Or indirectly.

[Anonymous]

Still transit ridership is declining nation wide. Privately run systems as well as funded systems.

Traditional transit is on deaths door even with higher density around the stations. How many people did you know 10 years ago who worked form home and how many do you know today or who has a tele-work option or non traditional hours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the problems of metro ridership, why add the purple line? Seems irresponsible to take on all this debt to add a line when insufficient funds to cover current costs.

The line is being built by Md, not by WMATA, metrorail finances are not directly involved.

Uh...not exactly. MD is low on funds, not funding schools properly and Hogan does not want to give MD's fair share to metro. Yet they are funding part of the Purple Line as an economic development experiment. It will NOT take cars off the road - or maybe the cites are very negligible - like 1 or 2%. It will increase car traffic due to all the new development that will go in near Purple Line stations. And there will be NO old trees left - just a HOT bike trail - IF that gets built. Not holding my breath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the problems of metro ridership, why add the purple line? Seems irresponsible to take on all this debt to add a line when insufficient funds to cover current costs.

The line is being built by Md, not by WMATA, metrorail finances are not directly involved.

Uh...not exactly. MD is low on funds, not funding schools properly and Hogan does not want to give MD's fair share to metro. Yet they are funding part of the Purple Line as an economic development experiment. It will NOT take cars off the road - or maybe the cites are very negligible - like 1 or 2%. It will increase car traffic due to all the new development that will go in near Purple Line stations. And there will be NO old trees left - just a HOT bike trail - IF that gets built. Not holding my breath.

So exactly then!

[Anonymous]

Give it a rest folks, the war is over. Go back to your trenches and find something else to complain about.

Anyone who lives or works around Bethesda and Silver Spring supports the PL, with the understandable exception of those whose property is right on the route.

Fwiw few if any infrastructure projects ever really take traffic off the road, simply because additional lanes or new roads simply change traffic patterns. And because they are typically undertaken in areas that are growing and projected to continue growing -- so traffic by definition was on the rise with or without the project.

The Big Dig in Boston, which was at the time the most expensive project of its kind and took years as well as billions in federal money, was projected to reduce traffic minimally. But anyone who lived or travelled in Boston before and after the project would agree it's been a huge improvement in the quality of life in the city (and in my experience traffic patterns are improved.) So if what you want is fewer cars, you're using the wrong metric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still transit ridership is declining nation wide. Privately run systems as well as funded systems.

Traditional transit is on deaths door even with higher density around the stations. How many people did you know 10 years ago who worked form home and how many do you know today or who has a tele-work option or non traditional hours?

Only very slightly and that in part is because gas prices have dropped the last couple of years which most people do not think is likely to be the long term trend and it is worth adding that nationally a big chunk of the loss in ridership is attributed to drops in Metrorail ridership which is due to the all of the problems WMATA has been having the last 4-5 years.

But new transit systems are still capturing similar percentages of riders where they are built and we do live in an area with a public transit culture and high rates of usage already so it would be strange for a new transit line in those circumstances to not capture a lot of ridership.

This is a dumb subject to keep debating since it is settled question but even the most conservative ridership projections for the PL would immediately make it one of the top 5 surface rail lines in the country in terms of ridership.

[Anonymous]

Has the purple line been approved?? Is it officially moving forward? What is the timeline.

Please share reliable local news sources on this and other (e.g., Costco gas station)? I've searched and found outdated reports from 6-8 months ago. I am it clear if it is poor searching or no updates kinda thing.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has the purple line been approved?? Is it officially moving forward? What is the timeline.

Please share reliable local news sources on this and other (e.g., Costco gas station)? I've searched and found outdated reports from 6-8 months ago. I am it clear if it is poor searching or no updates kinda thing.

Thanks.

Are you being serious - its been all over the Washington Post the last 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the purple line been approved?? Is it officially moving forward? What is the timeline.

Please share reliable local news sources on this and other (e.g., Costco gas station)? I've searched and found outdated reports from 6-8 months ago. I am it clear if it is poor searching or no updates kinda thing.

Thanks.

Are you being serious - its been all over the Washington Post the last 2 weeks.

+1 LMFGTFY

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/residents-officials-complain-theyre-being-kept-in-dark-about-purple-line-construction-plans/2017/09/09/c6dfd6d0-93f3-11e7-8754-d478688d23b4_story.html?utm_term=.67c8594044ba

[Anonymous]

A complete boondoggle. A gift to developers. The swindle continues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A complete boondoggle. A gift to developers. The swindle continues.

You realize your trail used to look like this, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A complete boondoggle. A gift to developers. The swindle continues.

You realize your trail used to look like this, right?

I've never seen clouds of black pollution puffing out of cyclists. Maybe they should've just skipped the railroad phase altogether and made it a bike trail from the start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A complete boondoggle. A gift to developers. The swindle continues.

You realize your trail used to look like this, right?

I've never seen clouds of black pollution puffing out of cyclists. Maybe they should've just skipped the railroad phase altogether and made it a bike trail from the start.

They bought the freight rail line for the purposes of putting in light rail. The trail has been a stopgap that they nicely set up during the long interim.