Why can't light rail handle Ravens crowds?
After nearly three weeks of total detachment from Maryland transportation issues, I returned from a European vacation today to be greeted by an Aug. 30 email from readers Sean Jester and Stuart Grey raising some very good questions about the Maryland Transit Administration's light rail system. Here's what Jester and Grey had to say:
I try to use the MTA to get downtown whenever possible. I've purchased the MTA season pass for all Ravens home games and overall I enjoy the freedom from having to drive downtown for sporting events and paying to park. I support the MTA in building the red line and hope that someday the LR and metro subway will be expanded to give Baltimore the comprehensive mass transit system it deserves.
But this last Saturday during the Ravens game two overall minor setbacks just reinforced my belief that the MTA still cannot provide efficient transportation to and from Ravens games.
Usually, getting to a Ravens game on the LR from the Nursery Road station is cinch. Trains are scattered close enough together that I usually never wait longer than 10 mins for a train. The trains may be crowded, but it doesn't bother me. I just want to get down to the game as fast as possible so squeezing onto a crowded train with hundreds of other Ravens fans is a minor inconvenience.
However, last Saturday (Aug. 28), the train I boarded was on the heels of another train, which meant my train had to wait at each station longer than usual to create space between the two trains. Overall, it was a 10 minute delay, which got me to the game later than I would have liked, but in the grand scheme of things it was a minor delay.
But getting home from Ravens games has proved to be a time-wasting and frustrating experience time and time again.
In order to avoid the massive crowds at the Hamburg Station following Ravens games, I walk up to the Camden Yards station where the crowds are smaller and you are guaranteed a spot on the next train. And on very rare occurrences, I am able to run to catch a train as it pulls to the CY station, and make it back to my car in as little as 15 mins. But when I miss that train, it's always 20-30 mins until the next one arrives.
This is exactly what happened last Saturday night. I missed the train as it pulled out of the Camden Yards station at 9:52. The MTA LR schedule says the next train was to arrive at 10:08 p.m. It either never arrived or was delayed to 10:23, which is when the next train was scheduled. So all said and done, the wait was 30 mins and I got to my car an the Nursery Road station about an hour after I left the game. And that to me is just unacceptable.
Now I know this is a small inconvenience compared to some of the delays the MARC trains have been having this summer and the LR troubles that happened during Artscape, but I still don't understand why the MTA cannot get a better grasp on Ravens games. The team has been in downtown Baltimore since 1998, and still the MTA forces fans to wait for 20 and 30 mins for the next train.
What I also don't understand is why the police directing traffic at Howard and Conway force the LR to wait for pedestrians and cars. Is it just me or should mass transit always get the right of way over everything?
So that's it. Sorry for the rant. I know my frustrations are minor compared to some of the other issues the MTA is having, but when you take into account the amount of years the Ravens have been in Baltimore, you'd think that the MTA would have this down to an exact science by now, and they are still light years away from that.
Until I hear they seriously address these issues, I will be taking my chances with the #40 QuickBus.
Well, MTA, it's your turn: Why, after all these years of practice, can't the light rail system deliver better service to Ravens fans? We look forward to hearing the answer.
Comments
Because it is light rail, as I've mentioned on numerous occasions. This is one of the many reasons why the Red Line will not work as planned. Light rail cannot handle large crowds. It doesn't have the capacity.
Posted by: N. Payer | September 15, 2010 1:38 PM
I'm sure that when we get the answer it will be as dodgey and beat-around-the-bush as always!
Posted by: CB | September 15, 2010 1:59 PM
I rode the light rail to the ravens game exactly once.
It was the singular worst mass transit experience I've ever had. Overloaded trains getting down to the game were the least of my problems.
Getting back to the Timonium station literally took 2 hours as there were a woefully inadequate number of trains heading north.
It would seem a simple solution to just increase the number of trains on game days... but I'm sure there's some really succint bureaucratic answer to that suggestion.
Posted by: bryanintowson | September 15, 2010 3:56 PM
It seem the simple solution to alleviate the southbound problem would simply be to use the middle track at Camden Yards to have a train wait until the platform at Hamburg fills and then go. You could keep a second back-up train at the North Ave station to head to Camden once the first one leaves and Penn train as well. Unfortunately there is no pocket track south of Hamburg, but the Camden train could take turn continuing south or headed back north.
To accomplish this while minimizing the extra cost utilize the Camden-Penn Shuttle, just cancel it for an hour or so except when it comes as a backup. Its not like if the people can't walk two blocks, and its farther to do that on a normal day than wait for the shuttle (especially if you are headed north)!
Posted by: Richard | September 15, 2010 4:58 PM
Pedestrians should ALWAYS get the right of way, even over public transportation! The account above is just another example why Baltimore NEEDS to expand its Metro subway system instead of further investing in a heavily flawed light rail. Saying that the former is too cost-prohibitive is just an excuse I can no longer accept. It's about time that our elected officials started making sacrifices to substantially improve the status quo. After all, isn't that what real leaders do?
Posted by: Attila the Hon | September 15, 2010 10:33 PM
That Penn Station light rail spur was a terrible concept. Considering the distance between Mt. Royal and Penn Station (0.2 mi), an automated "People Mover" should have been considered instead of a manned LRV which probably only transports less than a dozen people an hour.
Posted by: The Commuter | September 16, 2010 12:26 PM