This morning, for reasons that had nothing whatsoever to do with Earth Day, I decided to leave my car at the BWI Business District station and take the light rail into Baltimore.

It had been a few months since I'd taken the light rail into town, so what jumped out at me was the progress being made in clearing the waterfront at Westport for future development. The old eyesores that had blighted the area are gone, and the ground is smoothed-over and apparently ready for construction.

If I rode the light rail regularly, I would probably be tuning out the view from the window. But as an occasional rider, I always enjoy the perspective the light rail ride gives on Baltimore. There's an excellent view of the Hanover Street Bridge, an architectural gem, and the harbor crossing offers glimpses of both the city's industrial underbelly and what remains of the natural shoreline that greeted John Smith.

Anyway, it was an uneventful ride from BWI to Centre Street. There were plenty of free parking spaces. The ticket machines were working. The train was on time. The cars were clean. The wheels stayed on. Riders had plenty of room. Only one fellow rider was talking to himself out loud. The Maryland Transit Administration wasn't screwing up anything that I could see.

Sometimes this much-maligned system works just fine. Let's see how it works out tonight.