Thursday, May 16, 2013
Americans are driving less, a new study found, spurred by a sharp decline in mileage by teens and 20-somethings.
For teens and 20-somethings in America, driving is much less of a daily thing than it was, say, 20 years ago. Car usage for other age groups has also declined, according to a new study by U.S. Pirg, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, which found that decisions localities make about roads and transit today will either continue the trend or reverse the effects. Here in Montgomery County, are we on the road to fewer cars, or will things stay the same? Car usage has flat-lined nationally, the study found, with Americans driving the same numer of miles today that we did in 2004. Historically, people have driven more and more miles each year since World War II, the organization's data showed. According to Pirg's study, Americans are …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Most visitors at Tuesday evening's Purple Line open house at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School were supportive of the light rail line, planners told Patch.
Turnout was strong and comments were mostly positive at an open house about the Purple Line light rail project at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Tuesday evening. When it opens for business (which is slated to happen in 2020), the Purple Line will connect Bethesda to New Carrollton (16 miles away) on a two-way, light-rail trolley track. The cost is projected to be slightly more than $2 billion—half of which is to be paid for by the federal government, and half by the state. The majority of people who attended Tuesday's open house were supportive of the light rail line, Maryland Transit Administration Purple Line Project Manager Michael Madden told Patch. Some were concerned with the environmental impacts of the project, Madden added. …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Silver Line appears on a new map, but when might the Purple Line appear?
The Maryland Transit Authority has scheduled a series of five open houses to give updates on the status of the much-discussed Purple Line, according to a Washington Post story. The Purple Line is a proposed light rail extension of the current Metro system and would run for 16 miles between Bethesda and New Carrollton, connecting with the existing Red, Orange and Green Lines. Among issues that have been discussed is how the line’s construction would be funded. A February Post article stated that for Maryland to receive federal funding, the state must demonstrate that it can pay its half ($2.15 billion) of the costs. The gas tax and public-private partnerships have been talked about as possible sources of funding, but no decisions have been …
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The proposed 16-mile light rail line would connect Bethesda to New Carrollton.
With semi-detailed plans complete for most of the proposed stations on the 16-mile light rail project, The Purple Line is inviting residents to a series of Open House meetings in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. The meetings are scheduled for: The $2.2 billion transit system will connect Bethesda to New Carrolton with 21 stations, including one in Bethesda, one in Chevy Chase and eight in Silver Spring. Preliminary engineering plans and a final environmental impact statement will wrap up this summer, state officials told Patch. With adequate funding, construction would begin in 2015 and the system would open in 2020. Currently, federal and state governments are splitting the cost of the Purple Line evenly, although money from …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Officials are readying Maryland's workforce, but funding for the light rail projects still remains uncertain.
The heads of Maryland’s transit administration and labor department say they’ll work together to prepare the state’s workforce for nearly 7,000 construction jobs that could be generated by the planned Purple Line and Baltimore's Red Line light rail systems. Funding for Maryland’s transportation projects has been a key issue in this year’s legislative session. A gas tax bill introduced by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley this month would raise more than $3.4 billion over the next five years, some of which would go towards the 16-mile Purple Line, which, like many other state transit projects, is not yet fully funded. Following the introduction of the legislation, Maryland Transit Administrator Ralign T. Wells and Maryland Labor Secretary …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Square footage and building heights scrutinized; others praise the plan's transit-oriented nature.
Residents took concerns about the size of the “Town Center” portion of the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan to the Montgomery County Council at a public hearing Tuesday night. Nearly 40 people testified before the council about the plan recommended by the county Planning Board. Many took issue with the size of the “Town Center” portion of the plan, particularly the number of square feet the board recommended be built before the Purple Line is constructed. The Purple Line, a proposed 16-mile light rail line from Bethesda to NewCarrollton, would have a station in Chevy Chase Lake. The board recommended that the old Chevy Chase Lake Shopping Center (on the east side of Connecticut Avenue at Manor Road) be built up to 790,000 square feet of mixed-…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
County planners still are determining the details of just how the Purple Line would cut across the region, but the biggest issue of all is funding.
County planning staff are slated to update the planning board about the Purple Line, Capital Crescent Trail and Silver Spring Green Trail projects at the planning board's meeting on Thursday at 2 p.m. A variety of issues still remain in the Purple Line planning process: planning the rail's connections to the Red Line's east and west branches, its connections to the MARC train and the Capital Crescent Trail, its crossing over Connecticut Avenue, the landscaping along the rail—but one of the biggest issues is how it will be funded, according to a memo from county planning staff to county planning board members. The preliminary engineering phase of the Purple Line is expected to be completed this summer, after which the Federal Transit …
Friday, February 22, 2013
The tower would be used in emergencies to clear the Purple Line tunnel of smoke, according to a planning staff memo.
The Maryland Transit Administration is proposing a 92-foot ventilation tower be placed in popular Woodmont Plaza as part of an emergency ventilation system for the planned Purple Line, according to a county planning staff memo. The memo provides a series of updates on how the planned, 16-mile light rail and re-constructed Capital Crescent Trail would mesh with surrounding communities in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Silver Spring. The memo was prepared for a Montgomery County Planning Board briefing set for Feb. 28. The $2.2 billion project is in early design stages, but not yet fully funded. The proposed location of the tower in the heavily used public plaza is "not ideal," planning staff wrote, though there are "many ways that MTA can …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
'Get Maryland Moving' is calling on the Maryland General Assembly to fund state transportation projects.
A new coalition is advocating for dollars for state transportation projects, including the planned 16-mile Purple Line light rail that would connect Bethesda with New Carrollton, The Washington Post reported. Get Maryland Moving—a coalition of groups, including the Montgomery County and Bethesda-Chevy Chase chambers of commerce, Purple Line Now, Action Committee for Transit and the League of Women Voters of Maryland—is pushing for state legislators to make new revenue for transportation projects a top priority this legislative session, according to the group’s website. Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has proposed a 3-cent gas tax that would raise about $300 million for transportation …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
'Get Maryland Moving' is calling on the Maryland General Assembly to fund state transportation projects.
A new coalition is advocating for dollars for state transportation projects, including the planned 16-mile Purple Line light rail that would connect Bethesda with New Carrollton, The Washington Post reports. Get Maryland Moving, a coalition of groups, including the Montgomery County and Bethesda-Chevy Chase chambers of commerce, Purple Line Now, Action Committee for Transit, and the League of Women Voters of Maryland, is pushing for state legislators to make new revenue for transportation projects a top priority this legislative session, according to the group’s website. Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has proposed a 3-cent gas tax that would raise about $300 million for transportation …
Native
2:40 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Driving in this area has gotten so much worse over the years it's no surprise people try to avoid it, including me. The traffic is terrible. Many drivers are sloppy and rude. Gas is expensive. Parking is scarce, expensive, and enforcement is brutal. Speed cameras, tag readers, and red light cameras are metastasizing. State fees and insurance keep going up. And to top it off, many of the road … more ›