Two ideas:
1.) Move the trolley off of Charles street and onto Calvert/St Paul, that will provide access further east.
or
2.) Instead of eliminating the Purple route, shift it south so it runs between Fort McHenry-Federal Hill, and loop it around downtown.

Just a thought.

Forget a trolly. The yellow line should run up through there as a light rail or metro system.

I agree with the idea that the Trolley should not terminate at the Inner Harbor and should extend, at the VERY least into Federal Hill, but I do not agree that the entire plan should be scrapped. While the Circulator is fabulous for what it is, it should be viewed as an "incubator" for increasing interest/participation in transit ridership. It is, after all, a bus and is by no means a permanent solution to Baltimore's mass transit woes. Investing in the infrastructure for something like the Trolley and the Red Line shows a commitment to something more permanent.
What the Trolley should NOT do is run only from Penn Station to Charles Village as a "spur". We already have too many disparate transit systems in our city.

Portland started out with about 4k riders a day on their streetcar, eventually rising to about 11-13k daily riders at present.

I think a streetcar from CV down to Fed Hill or all the way through Port Covington or Fort McHenry would be fantastic.

Another from Penn Station area up the PA Ave Corridor to Druid Hill Park, and yet another duplicating the Circulator Orange Route in some way would be even better.

I know it's back and forth in DC, but they have some pretty audacious streetcar plans. Where's the MTA and Baltimore City with some big thinking?

I'm a firm believer that the rails in the ground bring increased usage and investment in areas. They can't just disappear like a bus.

The Trolley should run between Charles Village and Fed Hill. Both the Trolley and the Circulator are kernels of good ideas, but both are incomplete. The Circulator hits Fed Hill but not CV; the Trolley, vice versa. For once, can we do something right and not half-a$$ it?! The Charles Street corridor, between FH and CV, is Baltimore's traditional urban Main Street, and could really benefit from a trolley tying together its disparate parts.

Charles Street is too narrow to support a dedicated lane or a split-use lane for a trolley, especially in the Central Business District. Charles widens briefly from Conway to Fayette Street, and again from Mt. Royal to Penn Station - otherwise it's a two lane road with two parking lanes. And I doubt very much that anyone in Federal Hill, Mt. Vernon or Charles Village would be willing to part with any parking spaces. Add that current driving behaviors would not mix well with trolley operation (it's so refreshing to see that everyone took BPD's request not to block the box to heart), and I'd have to agree, this is a non-starter.

Why not just invest in a real rail system in Baltimore? This town will never progress because of such small scale thinking. I give up! Maybe there really is no hope for this town. I will always remain second rate and backwards.

Extending the planned Charles Street Trolley route down to West Street in Federal Hill would add just one mile to the total route (for a total of 8.5 miles). The key is finalizing a route that is short enough to be manageable, simple enough to be easy to remember, and connects lots of great destinations.

The Circulator provides a great way to test out route options before making the capital investment in tracks that provides the permanence which can draw greater investment & ridership.

Having just a short rail spur would be a mistake. It would force riders going to or from the northern section to transfer before getting to the biggest destinations, fatally limiting the ridership.

What we need is a clear commitment from the City and State to move forward with the design & construction of the Charles St. route and to simultaneously think bigger about what other corridors would be appropriate for streetcars and to plan for connections and expansion. The Circulators make it easy for us to test out different corridors to work out the kinks in the system.