Purple Line (Washington Metro)

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This article or section contains information about a proposed, planned, or expected public transportation infrastructure in the United States. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

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The Purple Line, previously designated as the Bi-County Transitway, is a proposed 16-mile (25 km) transit line ^[1] to link the Red, Green and Orange lines of the Washington Metrorail transportation system in Washington, D.C..

Contents 1 History 2 Mode of transport 2.1 The case for a rapid bus line 2.2 The case for a train line 3 Route and station locations 4 Community support and opposition 4.1 Support for rail 4.2 Support for bus 4.3 Opposition 5 Other mass transit linking lines 6 References 7 External links 7.1 State government 7.2 County government 7.3 Purple Line maps 7.4 Rail advocates 7.5 Rail or bus advocates 7.6 Opposition

[edit] History

The Purple Line was conceived as a rail line from New Carrollton to Silver Spring. Maryland's Glendening administration (which included John Porcari as Secretary of Transportation) removed the heavy rail option from planning discussion because it was felt that the cost was greater than the need. Robert Flanagan, the Maryland State Secretary of Transportation under governor Robert Ehrlich, merged the Purple Line with another transportation project, Georgetown Branch Light Rail Transit (GBLRT). The GBLRT was proposed as a light rail transit line from Silver Spring westward, following the former Georgetown Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (now a short CSX siding and the Capital Crescent Trail) to Bethesda.

Both Governor Ehrlich and Secretary Flanagan introduced an alternative mode — bus rapid transit — that might be utilized in lieu of light rail transit. To reflect this possibility, the administration changed the name of the project to the "Bi-County Transitway" in March 2003. Another reason that "the Purple Line" was discouraged by the Ehrlich administration was that its associations with the other color-oriented names of the Washington Metro system (which consists of heavy rail) might lead the public to expect a heavy rail option. The new name did not catch on, however, as several media outlets and most citizens continued to refer to the project as the Purple Line. As a result, Governor Martin O'Malley and Secretary of Transportation John Porcari opted to revert to "Purple Line".

In January 2008, the O'Malley administration allocated $100 million within a six-year capital budget to complete design documents for state approval and funding of the Purple Line.^[2] In May 2008, it was reported that the Purple Line could carry about 68,000 daily trips.^[3]

[edit] Mode of transport

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Currently, the state government is performing studies to weigh the pros and cons of bus and rail.

[edit] The case for a rapid bus line

• Because the Federal Transit Administration under President Bush advocates bus rapid transit and discourages the construction of new rail infrastructure, it may be easier to secure federal funds for buses than for trains.
• Although high labor costs for driving and maintaining fleets of buses means that the expenses of maintaining bus rapid transit and light rail systems are similar, initially bus routes are cheaper than train lines to develop and construct.
• Buses make it possible to operate routes that utilize the transitway for a portion of their route, but deviate into neighborhoods or continue in other directions beyond the transitway's terminus, thus making the transitway a trunk line for several bus routes. Rail service would be confined to the transitway.
• Buses can modify the regular route or take an alternate routes should the need arise, such as changes in demand or an incident along the main transitway.

[edit] The case for a train line

• Regardless of how many features separate rapid from ordinary buses, there is a feeling that current drivers will not stop using their cars to ride a bus, because buses suffer from an "image" problem that trains do not. One source of the image problem is that drivers consider their own cars faster and more dependable than buses.
• For communities interested in smart growth, rail has been shown to have a much greater impact on surrounding development than buses. For example, downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring are large, urban activity centers due in no small part to their Metro stations. If the Red Line were a bus route instead of a subway, it is not likely that Bethesda and Silver Spring would be as successful as they are.
• Rail can accommodate higher ridership more efficiently than buses, since buses cannot be coupled together to form sets.
• Rail, while not pollution-free, produces less pollution than buses.
• Rail offers a smoother, more comfortable ride compared to the often bumpy and jerky motion of buses.

[edit] Route and station locations

The planned rail or rapid bus line will connect the existing Metro stations at:

• Bethesda (Red Line)
• Silver Spring (Red Line)
• College Park (Green Line)
• New Carrollton (Orange Line)

New stations are planned at:

• Chevy Chase Lake
• West Silver Spring
• The Woodside community in Silver Spring
• The Long Branch section of Takoma Park and Silver Spring
• The border between Takoma Park and Langley Park (New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard)
• The main commercial zone in Langley Park (Riggs Road and University Boulevard)
• College Park/University of Maryland (possibly additional stations to existing)
• Riverdale

[edit] Community support and opposition

[edit] Support for rail

• The Washington Post advocates construction of the Purple Line light rail option.
• After the 2006 election, the members-elect of the Montgomery County Council and Prince George's County were unanimously in favor of the Purple Line light rail option.
• Other officials elected by the community (including Governor O'Malley) are also strong Purple Line advocates.
• The Sierra Club advocates a larger-scale rail system to parallel the Capital Beltway and link all existing Metro lines at their peripheries. This environmental group advocates rail transit over car use because carbon emissions are a major risk factor for global warming.
• Student leaders at the University of Maryland support transit alternatives to campus.^[4][5]

[edit] Support for bus

• Several political leaders support this option due to its reduced sunk cost and the ability to easily modify its routing should such a need arise.
• There are few indications of support for the rapid bus option among residents of Montgomery and Prince George's counties, as evidenced by the lack of endorsements from organizations or other prominent individuals.

[edit] Opposition

• The leading opponent of both options is the Columbia Country Club, whose golf course occupies both sides of the planned route (the Georgetown Branch rail right-of-way).^[6]
• Some Bethesda and Chevy Chase residents object, because they feel the new line would be less beautiful than the current space and could impact the value of properties adjoining the rail right-of-way. The group representing this viewpoint is called the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition; their mission statement is "To foster the creation of green space in the urban environment." The Town of Chevy Chase has independently hired Sam Schwartz Engineering — a transportation planning firm — to study the Purple Line alignment and modal alternatives.^[7]
• Some Silver Spring residents are concerned that one of the proposed routes will take houses along Thayer Avenue, cross in back of East Silver Spring Elementary School, take over an acre of Sligo Creek Park, and bring noise to a residential neighborhood.
• Others^[who?] oppose the Purple Line because it will not be part of the existing Metro system, will warrant an increase in taxes to pay for it, and because there are other transportation options that should be a higher priority such as the Corridor Cities Transitway or the Intercounty Connector.
• The environmental argument against the Purple Line is that thousands of trees of various sizes would have to be removed to make room for the mass transit line.
• University of Maryland officials have raised concerns that the Purple Line could greatly disrupt both pedestrian and automobile traffic on campus.^[8]

[edit] Other mass transit linking lines

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If the Purple Line is built, the transit system of the capital of the United States will join the list of international transit systems with linking lines.

• In the Shanghai Metro, Line 4 (colored purple on the official map) is called the Circle Line. It links the red, green and yellow lines of the Shanghai subway system.
• In the Moscow Metro, the ring line (colored brown on the official map) is Koltsevaya. The Moscow ring line links all eleven of the other metro lines.
• The London Underground is so extensive that many of the lines heading towards central London are connected through linking lines.^[9]
• Madrid Metro has two circle lines: line 6 Circular, connecting most of the other lines around city center, and line 12 MetroSur, linking six neighbourhoods in the southern part of the metropolitan area.
• In the Paris Métro, lines Two and Six form a circular linking route, though the somewhat haphazard routing of the system's 16 (21 if counting the RER) lines makes it less readily apparent.
• In Tokyo, the JR East railway network's Yamanote Line connects most surface and underground routes.
• In Osaka, the JR West railway network's Osaka Loop Line connects most surface and underground routes.
• In Stockholm, the Tvärbanan (Route 22) light rail line forms a partial circumferential line around the "inner" suburbs of Sweden's capital city, crossing the tunnelbana (heavy rail subway) at three stations (the Green Line twice (at Alvik and Gullmarsplan) and the Red Line once (at Liljeholmen)).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] State government

• Maryland Transit Administration

[edit] County government

• Montgomery County Planning Department

[edit] Purple Line maps

• Washington Post Map – dated May 31, 2007, based on updated MTA proposed stops
• Sierra Club Proposed Route – full loop not actually being studied

[edit] Rail advocates

• ACT Purple Line Page
• Purple Line Now!
• Action Committee for Transit
• Prince George's Advocates for Community-based Transit
• Sierra Club proposal

[edit] Rail or bus advocates

• College Park Informational Page

[edit] Opposition

• Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition
• Silver Spring/Thayer Ave.

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