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O'Malley says Md. has 'no more room' for road expansions

By: Hayley Peterson Examiner Staff

Governor blasts Ehrlich for opposing Purple Line

Gov. Martin O'Malley is asking Marylanders to brace for the delays, crowding and derailings that come with mass transit, because the state has "no more room" for roads.

"We have to figure out better ways to grow as a people and get from point A to point B," O'Malley said on NPR, in support of Maryland's proposed 16-mile light rail line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, dubbed the Purple Line.

"There is no more room to build more roads, and I don't see where we have a reasonable choice other than to dial up mass transit," he said.
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China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under (video)

by Richard Lai
Seriously, this is the future that China's envisioning: huge friggin' buses engulfing smaller cars on the road. Despite the silly picture and the eccentric "3D Express Coach" branding, this cunning project by Shenzhen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment actually makes sense. The idea is to make use of the space between regular-size cars and bridges, thus saving construction costs as well as minimizing congestion impact by allowing cars to drive underneath these jumbo buses. Fancy hitching a ride? You better start planning your move to Beijing's Mentougou district, which is where Huashi will commence building its first 186km of track at year's end. For now, enjoy the Chinese demo video after the break (translation text at source link).

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How fast is your bus? WMATA maps bus speeds

This would be cool for Baltimore as well. Greater Greater Washington has this recolored "thumbnail" that shows the bus speeds from green (fastest) through cyan to dark blue (slowest) because the original color choices were bad.
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The sad bit for me is the average speed of the buses, which I'll redefine as walking, casual bike riding, intermediate bike riding and bike racing speeds. I believe that if alternate transportation was better thought out and supported, biking and walking could (mostly) take over having to have slow bus routes, leaving more buses to be faster and more of a competition for fast convenient travel.

Or stated a bit differently, if you are in decent shape getting around DC (and most likely Baltimore as well) is faster by bike then by bus, and I find that rather sad.

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Q and A with Anna Ricklin

By Mark Brown

| Tags: Biking, MTA, Q and A | 1 Comment and 0 Reactions

I asked Anna Ricklin, Baltimore Department of Transportation’s Health and Environmental Specialist, about her experience living without a car in Baltimore. Here’s what she had to say:

How long have you lived without a car in Baltimore?

I have been in Baltimore for nearly three years and, actually, I have never owned a car. The only time I have had (mostly) unrestricted access to a car was when I was living with my parents.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being without a car in this city?

Definitely the lack of well-connect public transit. Before I moved to Baltimore, I figured getting around via public transport would be easy—like it had been in Washington, DC and Portland, OR, where I lived before. Alas, despite being an avid cyclist and trying my best to use the bus, I really only take transit when it’s either pouring down rain or I need to get to the airport. Because of the unreliable—and sometimes scary—public transit, not having a car sometimes makes it so I have to rely on friends for rides, which doesn’t always feel good. And when it’s a beautiful summer day and all I want to do is go on a hike or swim in the countryside? That can be frustrating, too.

What do you think have been the greatest benefits of not owning a car?

Well, it’s funny. Sometimes I borrow cars, and when I do I tend to drive around a lot to get lots of errands done. Usually, by the end of a day like that I am more than reminded of the pitfalls of having a car and more than happy to return the thing. Not owning a car means I am rarely at the whim of traffic (thank you bicycle), don’t have to pay a few thousand dollars per year in car insurance, maintenance and gas, and of course I don’t have to build in an extra 10 minutes parking time as yet another factor adding to me being late.

What’s the single most important thing the city can do to support alternate transportation modes?

Wow, this is a tall order—so much needs to be done. But I think the single mort important thing the city can do is work with MTA to significantly improve transit service. I don’t just mean pressure MTA to have cleaner buses or change a couple of routes. I mean the city needs to create a downtown car-free zone accessible only for buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. They need to subsidize transit passes for all city employees, create incentive programs for businesses to do the same, and massively hike parking fees. It’s ridiculously cheap to park downtown ($2 per hour?!) and the city could be making a lot more money from what is essentially rented street space. Nearly ¼ of the city’s land is used for streets or surface parking (24%). We need to change that if we are ever going to have a more livable—and peaceful—urban environment not dominated by car traffic.

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Easter Seals Project ACTION seeks better youth mobility

"For years we've viewed education and employment as integral to a successful transition to independent living in adulthood. But it's transportation that literally links students with disabilities to schools, the workplace, and every other destination in community life. If they don't have access to transportation, independent living becomes impossible, and this list is a road map to improve that access."

* Share information about transportation resources with youth.
* Train youth to use public transportation.
* Expand limited public transportation service on nights and weekends.
* Include student and school transportation issues in local transportation planning.
* Help planners learn about the family of transportation services, eligibility criteria, and funding streams available.

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Ehrlich says no to light rail

from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

Regardless of issues about the Red Line in Baltimore (advocates want heavy rail, which I understand in terms of extending the subway network there, but not in terms of the cost given the likely level of ridership--heavy rail is cost effective when you have multiple hours with 20,000+ riders/hour) in terms of the type of vehicle (heavy vs. light rail vs. streetcar) and alignment, Robert Ehrlich proves the point that with regard to transit anyway, who you elect makes a big difference.

Michael Dresser of the Sun reports, in "Ehrlich's transit stand risks backlash: Position irks business but could attract light rail foes," about how Ehrlich's position on developing the Purple Line in the suburban Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's, and the Red Line in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, may be at odds with the traditional business leadership types who would normally prefer a "big business" candidate like Ehrlich.

From the article:

Taking a hard-line stand against proposed light rail projects in Baltimore and the Washington suburbs, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. might have driven a wedge between himself and business leaders in regions where he needs to collect votes.

At a recent round table in Montgomery County, Ehrlich said he would scuttle Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's plans for light rail on Baltimore's Red Line and Washington's suburban Purple Line — possibly but not necessarily replacing them with dedicated bus lanes.

The Republican's move could endear him to transit skeptics and core constituencies in rural and outer suburban Maryland who use roads heavily and who give little thought to bus and rail systems.

But he runs the risk of alienating traditionally Republican-friendly business leaders who favor both projects, largely because they believe light rail would spur development and job growth along the lines.

In particular, Ehrlich's opposition to the Purple Line plan has put him at odds with Washington-area business groups who were among his staunchest allies in the fight to build the Intercounty Connector, a cause that helped propel him to victory in 2002.

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Ehrlich would scrap Red Line, Purple Line light rail

by Michael Dresser

The Sun's Julie Bykowicz reports from former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s small business round table in Montgomery County that the presumptive Republican challenger to Gov. Martin O"Malley would scrap the incumbent's proposals for light rail lines in Baltimore and the Washington suburbs.

Ehrlich told the group he go back to his plan for high-speed buses on the Purple Line in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and be "open to ideas" about Baltimore's Red Line. He said he would prefer to spend the money on the MARC commuter rail system and the Washington Metro -- not on these new light rail lines.
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Transit is in crisis: tell Congress to act!

[B' Spokes: Across the nation there is a mode shift from cars to mass transit (even bikes) but it seems the funding emphases is the exact opposite, lets take even more money from other things and give it to cars.]
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Transit agencies across the country are facing budget problems. While transit ridership is stronger than ever, entire routes are at risk, workers are being laid off, and fares are going up. The problem goes beyond local budgets and politics: it's a crisis of national proportions.

Send a letter to your representatives by using the form below. You can share a link to our transit funding crisis map and call for Congress to act quickly to save transit.

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Thoughts on waiting for the bus in the rain

I've only hated one thing more than the MTA, and really wishes I didn't have to rely on these rude, lying pieces of garbage to get to work on time.

If a bus passes my stop 10 minutes early, I shouldn't have to wait on hold for 15 minutes to be told that "they're not reporting anything wrong with the 8:15 bus" and that the "bus should be there any minute." Seriously getting my day off to a rotten start sitting on a damp wooden bench waiting for the next bus to come in a half-hour leaving me to wallow in my fury.

- Overheard
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New Report Tracks Urban Transit Emissions — Where Does Your City Rank?

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The emissions numbers get worse in less trafficked rail networks, such as the Baltimore Metro (0.919 pounds of CO2 per passenger mile, an average comparable to a car) and Cleveland's rapid rail transit (0.805 pounds of CO2/passenger mile).
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[B' Spokes: Seriously lets start thinking about "rubber rail" so we can put rapid transit where it makes sense rather then just where we have room for it.]

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