Gunpowder Chronicle posted on June 14, 2008 8:34 PM | Rating:
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The Red Line is a walking, talking "charlie fox". The long hoped-for, long-awaited, long-dreamed-for transportation line to link the west side and easte side of the cities is too expensive, according to this article in the Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter.
Suffering from a fair amount of NIMBYism, a substantial lack of money, and horrendous lack of vision, the Red Line has been a failure from the start.
The main reason is the burgeoning unpopularity with the mass transit options in the Baltimore Area. Let's face it, the options aren't great, and they aren't safe. Light Rail -- an underfunded and underengineered white elephant from day one -- isn't reliable. Even now, due to a crack in a single out-of-service wheel, train delays are legion as the entire fleet has to be re-inspected.
Residents of Ruxton, Riderwood, Lutherville, Timonium, and Cockeysville regularly attach the derogatory "Fright Rail" name to the service due to the rash of robberies and auto thefts that occur along the corridor during the warmer months.
Buses certainly aren't safe, since the MTA has little or no interest in actually fielding an effective police force to protect riders and drivers.
And let's not even get into the Metro. The subway goes too few places, and ends up in a meaningless location, bypassing key locations -- like Fells Point, Canton, Brewer's and Butcher's Hill, and so on. It also has no direct links to other key transportation hubs -- Amtrak, MARC, Light Rail, or Greyhound.
There is little wonder that there is no enthusiasm for a major mass transit project in Baltimore, because the MTA has done such a poor job in the last thirty years in managing -- let alone promoting -- mass transit as a truly regional solution. The administrators at the MTA have never learned that they first need to get the residents of Central Maryland to buy in to the concept by proving they are capable of actually developing, deploying, and running a successful and viable project.
I would like to recommend a good starting point.
Forget about connecting Social Security with the east side. Instead, why not connect the east side Hopkins Complex with Fells Point/Canton/Brewer's Hill and the White Marsh/Aberdeen/Edgewood axis. There are a couple of ways to do this, including bring back the trolleys and streetcars of yesterday. Running trolley tracks and cantenary down Orleans Street and Broadway to the east side of the Harbor, that connect with the Hopkins Subway stop would be a great first start.
Next, extend the subway as a heavy rail above-ground line out Eastern Ave up to Martin State Aiport and out to the front gate at Aberdeen Proving Ground, terminating near the MARC stations in Edgewood and Aberdeen would be an excellent second step.
Finally, creating a second trolley line out from Martin State Airport along the MD 43 corridor, looping around at the west side of the White Marsh Mall and terminating near the IKEA would tie in a major retail and commercial office center. A "spur" line down Philadelphia Road -- or even Rt 40 -- could tie in Essex/Middle River area and Franklin Square Hospital.
This would be a great starting point, tying in key areas with the BRAC expansion in Harford County with the City, and providing greater mass transit mobility with communities along the east side of the region that are largely automobile dependent for their mobility.
It's definitely something to consider.