Thursday, March 01, 2007

Post: Purple Line Delayed

The Washington Post finally reported the widely known news on the Purple Line:

Maryland officials said yesterday that three major transit projects, two of them aimed at using light rail or express buses to ease traffic in the Washington suburbs, will likely be delayed about a year because of a flawed study that underestimated the number of riders.

State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said Metro's proposed Purple Line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, a transit link between Shady Grove and Clarksburg and the Red Line in Baltimore have been shelved while Maryland and its consultants work on new projections.

Porcari said that the state had planned to hold public hearings on draft environmental studies of the projects this spring but that they will likely be pushed to 2008. "Ridership numbers were wrong, and people were reluctant to face up to that," Porcari said. "I am not at all happy about this."
Shoot, even Maryland Politics Watch reported this news one week ago.