According to the Post, Maryland officials are nervous that the Federal (not-so-excited-about-)Transit Administration will reject the Purple Line or the Corridor Cities Transitway (along I-270) as it did (or at least delayed) the Silver Line to Dulles, even though the Purple Line will cost significantly less. Maryland already delayed the Purple Line application process one year to collect more data to boost their case.

At the New Partners conference, I attended a generally unexciting panel on BRT. During the Q&A period, a man who works for Prince George’s County expressed frustration that FTA won’t support new transit unless there is high density and ridership, and only wants to expand existing modes. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem, he argued, because there isn’t enough density and ridership until there is transit. Also, putting in BRT as a precursor to light rail may enable transit-oriented development that would generate density and ridership, but then the FTA would argue that replacing the BRT with light rail is not cost-effective.

Everyone in the planning community, from local officials to Congressman Earl Blumenauer, basically seem to be holding their breath until January 2009 and hoping that the next President isn’t John McCain.

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Tagged: fta, maryland, politics, purple line, silver line, transit, virginia

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.