Council's T&E Committee Receives Purple Line Update Tomorrow, Thursday, September 28 at 10:30 a.m.

Tomorrow I join my colleagues, Council President Roger Berliner and Councilmember Tom Hucker at a Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (T&E) Committee meeting for a Purple Line Project update from officials at the Maryland Transportation Administration (MTA), and the Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP). Here's the press release:
ROCKVILLE, Md., September 27, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (T&E) Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 28 to receive an update from Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) and the Metro Transit Authority (MTA). PLTP and MTA will answer questions gathered by Council staff from civic groups and residents who live along the Purple Line right-of-way.
The T&E Committee, which is chaired by Council President Berliner and includes Councilmembers Floreen and Hucker, will meet in the Third Floor Council Hearing Room.
The main purpose of the meeting is to enable MTA and PLTP, the consortium responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the Purple Line, to respond to the many questions raised by community organizations, the Planning Board, and Council staff, as well as any brought up by Councilmembers.
Council President Berliner, who also chairs the T&E Committee, asked the MTA and PLTP to introduce the key individuals who will direct the implementation of the Purple Line and related projects including the Capital Crescent Trail, the Silver Spring Green Trail, and the Bethesda Metro Station Southern Entrance. The T&E Committee also invited individuals with whom the public can be in direct communication during the construction period.
The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda to New Carrollton. It will provide a direct connection to the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton. Twenty-one Purple Line stations are planned. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, Amtrak and local bus services.

The staff report can be viewed at:
http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=7419&meta_id=143545

Purple Line Presentation and Informational Open House

Here's the flier and the full press release:

The public is invited to attend a presentation by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) regarding recent scope changes to the Purple Line project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 17 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring. The Purple Line is a proposed light rail line that will run from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County. The presentation by MTA will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and will be followed by an open house, during which attendees will have an opportunity to discuss project changes with staff.

Adjustments to the Purple Line scope were made after a thorough review to identify ways to reduce project costs. As a result, some requirements have been reduced to provide more flexibility, encourage greater innovation and achieve cost savings. A detailed list of the scope changes can be found at www.purplelinemd.com. The revised approach will help deliver a more cost-efficient light rail system while still providing quality service and honoring commitments made to the Purple Line communities.


Sign language interpreter services will be provided, upon request, by emailing Karen.Falcon@montgomerycountymd.gov no later than September 14.

Radio America Interview -- What's In and What's Out for 2015

Julie Rios Little and I sat down to talk about what's in and what's out for 2015 for En Sintonía on Radio America. Here's our list:

Electronic cigarettes are OUT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEOjc4um4KQ&index=1&list=PLvk-7RcdeRpS2sAMCbiJiaIwyEL-K8c_5

Measles are OUT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEBCCe197O4&index=2&list=PLvk-7RcdeRpS2sAMCbiJiaIwyEL-K8c_5

Purple Line is IN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdxHHG2s0Wg&index=3&list=PLvk-7RcdeRpS2sAMCbiJiaIwyEL-K8c_5

Aspen Hill is IN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79dlRwKi56s

Appearing at the American Highway Users Alliance

Tomorrow I will participate in a panel discussion titled “The Surface Transportation Authorization Bill: Consequences of Current Failures and Opportunities to Change the Dynamic” at the American Highway Users Alliance Quarterly Meeting in Washington, DC.

I will join panelists from the Maryland Department of Transportation and the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Our discussion will focus on the stalled bill’s importance to local governments, particularly as it affects planning, programming and the ability of counties to respond to transportation needs. We need all hands on deck to move our transportation agenda forward. Federal, state and local governments must work together, and I’m glad to be a part of these important conversations.

Several projects in Montgomery County which are planned to be constructed by the Maryland Department of Transportation cannot proceed to construction due to lack of funding. They include the Purple Line; the Corridor Cities Transitway; the widening of the western portion of the Beltway over the American Legion Bridge; and the addition of reversible high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on I-270. This year the Council decided to use local dollars to fund one such project—a $60 million segment of the Montrose Parkway.

In addition to chairing the Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, I also serve as Vice-Chair for Transit for the National Association of Counties’ Transportation Steering Committee.

Endorsing Light Rail for Purple Line

Yesterday I joined Governor Martin O’Malley and other stakeholders to endorse light rail as the mode of transit for the Purple Line, which I'm sure you know is a proposed 16-mile extended east-west link to the Metrorail system from the Bethesda to the New Carrollton stations. The light rail supporters gathered yesterday morning at the New Carrollton Metrorail Station.

The Purple Line would connect the four branches of the Metrorail system, three MARC commuter rail routes and several inside-the-Beltway activity centers (including Bethesda, Silver Spring, Langley Park, the University of Maryland’s College Park campus, Riverdale and New Carrollton). The estimated cost of the project is between $1.2 and $1.3 billion. Planners from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) hope construction can begin in 2012.

In January, the County Council unanimously recommended light rail be selected for the Purple Line. That followed a similar recommendation from the Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, which I chair.

I am glad that Governor O’Malley has decided that the Purple Line is right for Montgomery County and light rail is right for the Purple Line. Ridership on the Purple Line is projected as high as about 63,000 daily for a light rail system, including approximately 20,000 new riders to mass transit. The other projected riders would be those who already use a form of mass transit, but would find their commutes greatly enhanced through shorter, more reliable trips.

It is estimated that final design of the Purple Line would be ready by Fall 2011.