BMC Board Calls for Strategic Plan for MARC
Focus on Improved Service, Potential for New StationsBaltimore, MD June 20, 2007 In anticipation of growth related to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), the elected executives of the Baltimore region sent a letter to Governor O'Malley asking the state to collaborate with the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) in developing a strategic plan for MARC commuter rail service in the Baltimore- Washington corridor. While economic expansion, new jobs and new residents will bring greater prosperity to the region, they threaten to strain public infrastructure, especially transportation facilities.
"MARC is the only existing mass transit facility that serves both Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade, as well as major activity centers in the greater Baltimore-Washington corridor," said Harford County Executive David R. Craig, the BMC Chair. "BRAC will contribute to the general growth projected to occur over the next thirty years, as the Baltimore region becomes more connected with both the Washington region and regions to the north. We need a frank assessment of where we stand today and where we need to be in the future with regional commuter rail."
In the last decade, annual ridership on MARC has increased by more than 54 percent on the Penn Line and more than 60 percent on the Camden Line. Yet MARC continues to be plagued with capacity, reliability and service issues related to MARC's reliance on Amtrak and CSX.
The BMC Board is proposing a three-part approach:
1. Immediately begin a comprehensive corridor study of the MARC Camden and Penn lines from Delaware to the District of Columbia. Identify ways to address current capacity issues and look for ways to increase service in the future - especially to both military installations and other major employment centers. The study should be modeled after a 2004 Strategic Plan produced by Virginia Railway Express, northern Virginia's commuter rail system.
2. Examine the feasibility of:
Relocating and improving the Aberdeen Station
Constructing a new East Baltimore Station
Relocating and improving the Middle River Station
Constructing new parking facilities at the Odenton Station
3. Invest in local transit to support MARC by:
Planning and constructing the Central Maryland Transit Operations Center
Replacing aging LOTS buses
Creating suburb-to-suburb transit options to new employment opportunities
"The BMC Board believes that MARC can play an important role in managing growth-related congestion," Executive Craig concluded. "BRAC provides an impetus to refocus, work cooperatively with the state, and make real progress on difficult challenges related to MARC that have gone unmet for too long."
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
Working to improve the quality of life and economic vitality in the Baltimore region.
<a href="http://www.baltometro.org">http://www.baltometro.org</a>;
For more information:
Barbara Herron
Communications Officer
email: bherron@baltometro.org
phone: 410-732-9564
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