MTA Declares War on Chevy Chase, Part Three

The Purple Line Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) contains a set of facts that is devastating to the Town of Chevy Chase’s case against use of the Capital Crescent Trail for transit. Of the arguments made by Town consultant Sam Schwartz for bus rapid transit on Jones Bridge Road, MTA agreed with almost none.

Following are statistics directly from the DEIS comparing the six options for the Purple Line.

Travel Time, End-to-End

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 96 Minutes
Medium-Investment BRT: 73 Minutes
High-Investment BRT: 59 Minutes
Low-Investment LRT: 62 Minutes
Medium Investment LRT: 59 Minutes
High Investment LRT: 50 Minutes

Bottom Line: Compared to the alternatives, the off-trail alignment is slower because it has to navigate the Connecticut-Jones Bridge and Wisconsin-Jones Bridge intersections, two of the most congested intersections in the county. The fastest options have grade-separated alignments over Connecticut Avenue. Town consultant Sam Schwartz believes some of the Jones Bridge alignment's longer travel times can be mitigated by prioritizing buses at traffic signals, but the gap with rail is a very large gap to make up.

Average Speed

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 10 MPH
Medium-Investment BRT: 13 MPH
High-Investment BRT: 16 MPH
Low-Investment LRT: 15 MPH
Medium Investment LRT: 16 MPH
High Investment LRT: 19 MPH

Bottom Line: For the sake of comparison, the Planning Department found evening rush hour speeds on Connecticut Avenue northbound of 6.1 miles per hour and Wisconsin Avenue northbound of 6.8 miles per hour. Since the Jones Bridge alignment is not grade-separated, it has to contend with that traffic. And remember - the DEIS is assessing projected traffic conditions in 2030, which will presumably be worse than the awful traffic we see today.

Daily Purple Line Ridership in 2030

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 40,000
Medium-Investment BRT: 51,800
High-Investment BRT: 58,800
Low-Investment LRT: 59,300
Medium Investment LRT: 62,600
High Investment LRT: 68,100

Bottom Line: According to the DEIS, high-investment BRT (which runs buses on the trail) can compete with light rail in ridership, but off-trail BRT can not. The state does not believe the Jones Bridge alignment picks up net ridership by going past the Medical Center - instead, it believes there will be fewer riders because of its slow speed. That is a major disagreement with the Town, which would like to have stations at both the Medical Center and North Woodmont in Bethesda. The state did not examine a Jones Bridge alignment with a North Woodmont station.

User Minutes Saved Per Day in 2030

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 623,700
Medium-Investment BRT: 851,200
High-Investment BRT: 994,200
Low-Investment LRT: 1,033,700
Medium Investment LRT: 1,098,200
High Investment LRT: 1,211,800

Bottom Line: Higher speeds for light rail translate into more time saved for users. Only high-investment BRT on the trail can compare.

Change in Daily Vehicle Miles Traveled, 2030

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): -0.02%
Medium-Investment BRT: -0.044%
High-Investment BRT: -0.067%
Low-Investment LRT: -0.064%
Medium Investment LRT: -0.07%
High Investment LRT: -0.071%

Bottom Line: Higher speeds and more time saved for high-investment BRT and the light-rail options lead to at least three times the reduction in trips of off-trail BRT.

Potential Impact on Public Park Lands

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 2.09 acres
Medium-Investment BRT: 3.02 acres
High-Investment BRT: 2.09 acres
Low-Investment LRT: 1.98 acres
Medium Investment LRT: 2.38 acres
High Investment LRT: 1.51 acres

Bottom Line: High-investment light rail has a lower impact on public park land than any of the BRT options.

Potential Impact on Open Space at Public Schools

Low-Investment BRT (Jones Bridge): 14.46 acres
Medium-Investment BRT: 10.98 acres
High-Investment BRT: 9.58 acres
Low-Investment LRT: 11.46 acres
Medium Investment LRT: 11.40 acres
High Investment LRT: 9.96 acres

Bottom Line: Most options have a similar impact on open space at public schools, except for Jones Bridge BRT, which is significantly greater. One reason for the Jones Bridge alignment's bigger impact on open space is its seizure of acreage near North Chevy Chase Elementary School - a sore point in the surrounding neighborhood.

Tree Destruction

The DEIS does not compare the number of trees removed under each option. Instead, it says this on page 168:

Significant trees with a diameter breast height size of 30 inches or greater or with a diameter that is at least 75 percent of the state champion tree of a given species were not specifically identified within the corridor during this stage of the planning process. However, forested areas and neighborhoods with street trees that appeared to contain a number of significant trees were mapped for identification. The delineation and surveying of these significant trees will occur following the selection of a preferred alternative.

Bottom Line: Tree destruction is one of the Town's central arguments against using the trail for transit, but the DEIS does not deal with it. That is ironic for an analysis that is titled an environmental impact statement. This is classic bureaucratic warfare: dismissing an argument by refusing to acknowledge its existence.

We will continue examining the data in Part Four.