Purple Line decision involved more than cost Re: “Rising cost of Purple Line reignites bus vs. rail fight,” July 23
In considering alternatives for the Purple Line, the Maryland Transit Administration thoroughly considered bus rapid transit options as well as light rail alternatives. A 2008 analysis carried out in close coordination with the Federal Transit Administration determined that the cost for three bus rapid transit alternatives varied from $390 million to $1.1 billion in 2007 dollars, not the $200 million cited in this article.
Cost is just one factor used in determining preferred alternatives. Light rail was determined to be a better option for this project for a number of critical reasons, including capacity, ridership, travel times, congestion and economic development.
Elected officials of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, as well as nearly all Maryland legislators who represent this portion of the state, strongly supported Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 2009 selection of a 16-mile light rail line operating almost entirely at street level between Bethesda and New Carrollton. It also received widespread support from environmental and bicycle/trail groups and most local municipalities along the Purple Line corridor.
MTA has worked with each of the opposition groups mentioned in the article. During the public hearing process, MTA received 1,000 comments in support of light rail compared to 100 favoring bus rapid transit. As the first east-west rapid transit system for the Washington region, the Purple Line is a long-term investment that will carry passengers faster than cars and buses and a truly transformational project for both counties.
Henry Kay
Executive director for Transit Development and Delivery
Maryland Transit Administration
Start budget cutting with airport subsidies
Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski thinks slashing subsidies to Cape Air flights out of Hagerstown airport will kill jobs and hurt “Western Maryland’s economy and the local businesses that rely on this airport.” This isn’t true.
Even Phil Ridenour, the director of Hagerstown Regional Airport, told the Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t think there will be a huge economic effect because most of the airport’s business comes from private, corporate and military flights. A little economics lesson for Sen. Mikulski: Any airport that offers an outstanding convenience like the Hagerstown airport, with free parking and short security lines, will easily sustain a competitive advantage.
Would it be more “economically efficient” to make taxpayers pay $191 each time a passenger boards a Cape Air plane like they are now? Mikulski seems to think so.
Hagerstown airport currently receives $1.2 million in subsidies. This would be a great place to start cutting the federal deficit for the benefit of our nation and Maryland taxpayers.
Elise Amyx
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Thought-provoking column ends with gratuitous slam
Re: “An officer and a gentleman,” July 26
Transgender toilets? Why this gratuitous slam after just assailing Debbie Wasserman Schultz for being less than a lady?
Fortunately, Noemie Emery has a higher self to aspire to — the one I usually read and admire, the one who challenges my thinking and so often leads me into resonance and light. Indeed, she had just finished mounting a mostly elegant and thought-provoking defense of Allen West and I was hungry for fitting closure.
Instead, she adds this irrelevant, mean-spirited swipe at transgenders — those gentle souls whose only offense is heeding their inner voice.
If transgenders are not to her taste, she need not consort with them. But it is one thing to turn a clever phrase of disparagement, and quite another to posit well-reasoned evidence.
J. Shields
Washington
