"The $1.5 billion project also balances out politically with Baltimore's $1.6 billion Red Line aspirations. "

The cost to build it right is the cost to build it right. This logic is really forcing some kind of false parity that is destructive.

All projects have different costs and sometimes one transportation project of a certain length will naturally not cost as much to be built appropriately as another of similar length, regardless of whether the projects are planned and constructed contemporaneously.

Nate Payer
TRAC

Nate:
You just can't pass up a chance to get in a Red Line dig, can you?

You know what I mean: The rough parity in costs helps keep either line from becoming a subject of Baltimore-Washington rivalry. It's a simple observation that any student of Maryland politics will understand. It's not a judgment about the merits of either proposal.

Mike, it wasn't meant to critique the merits of either proposal. I'm criticizing the logic that projects between the Baltimore and Washington areas should be straight-jacketed in parallel expenditure levels. I don't think Maryland citizens are so sensitive to be offended by a cost differential if both projects were well-designed and succeeded in their intended purpose.

Insofar as the I-270 costs (a huge Washington area cost), I think more people wouldn't mind it so much if both Baltimore and Washington area transit projects could get fully funded w/o penny pinching.

I'm tentatively against the I-270 expansion more because I believe increasing transit is superior than expanding our already extensive highway network.

Should Washington are get upset if they don't get a $5.6 billion CSX mainline freight re-routing under the Patapsco? No, because they don't have that expensive problem.

Nate Payer
TRAC

To put this in perspective, remember that MTA also has a plan for the MARC Penn Line. It will provide mass transit-like frequency of MARC trains between Baltimore and Washington. The effect, if built in tandem with the Purple Line, will be to make the New Carrollton connection of the Purple Line much more valuable for commuters from the Baltimore area.

It does cost another $2 billion over 25 years, but it comes in stages and each stage makes service better. The final, and most expensive, stages include new tunnels through Baltimore north and south of Penn Station and a new bridge over the Susquehanna. But the earlier stages offer quite a bit of improvement without those big expenditures

Mike - I agree with Nate, your logic doesn't make much sense. I don't see how the purple line does anything but help kill the red line. The state will have to shell out almost a billion dollars for each, and that's money it doesn't have. The purple line (while it also has its problems) is a much better plan than the red line and is more cost effective. I think the only thing the purple line does is give the feds somewhere better to put their money

As someone who takes the train from BWI to the Ballston station in Arlington everyday, I support more transit options like the purple/red lines. However, this and even widening I-270 isn't going to help the overall congestion going into the DC area.

In my humble opinion, the best way to stop congestion is to get less cars/people on the roads. This can occur with a large govenment initiative to have "work from home" programs. I'm not suggesting that we have 75% of all DC workers sit in front of the TV everyday while glancing at their laptop once every 10 minutes, but having a program where a person can work from home 1-2 days a week. This would not only help with traffic but also with the environment.