GOP: MoCo Should Pay for the Purple Line

The Examiner reports:

Maryland Republican senators say taxpayers in the Washington suburbs should pay for the planned Purple Line instead of sharing the costs with rural counties.

"If people in Montgomery County want a Purple Line, let them pay for it," said state Senate Minority Whip E.J. Pipkin, of the Eastern Shore.

The planned 16-mile light rail, which would connect New Carollton to Bethesda, would cost the state roughly $1.6 billion. A $1.8 billion high-speed rail -- the "Red Line" -- is planned for Baltimore.

Pipkin and Sen. David R. Brinkley, R-Frederick County, are drafting legislation that would create an independent taxing authority to collect revenues for the rails.

The State has yet to specify how it intends to pay for its share of the cost related to either the Purple Line or the Red Line.