More riders are expected to hop the Purple Line mass-transit project than previously thought, a rep for the state’s transit administration announced.
The fresh numbers, revealed to Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board Monday night, add up to 20,000 trips to guesstimates released in December.
“Our ridership numbers compare very well with other projects,” said Mike Madden, project manager for the transit administration. “We have a good shot — a cost-effective project and one that’s competitive for the limited funds the feds hand out.”
According to Madden, Purple Line ridership could look like this if a bus rapid-transit system is chosen to make the trip from Bethesda, through downtown and east Silver Spring, to New Carrollton:
| Bus rapid transit* options | Apr ‘08 estimate | Dec ‘07 estimate |
| Low-investment: shared lanes, no tunnels | 37K – 40K | 29K – 35K |
| Medium-investment: some shared lanes, no tunnels | 49K – 52K | 38K – 41K |
| High-investment: dedicated lanes, some tunnels | 56K – 59K | 42K – 45K |
* “Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a branded bus service that can use standard transit vehicles or advanced technology vehicles, and operates on existing roads and/or exclusive running ways. BRT typically reduces bus travel times, improves service reliability, increases the convenience of users and ultimately increases bus ridership, possibly at a lower construction cost than rail infrastructure.” — Maryland Transit Authority
If the state decides later this year to go with a light-rail system, things could roll like this:
| Light-rail transit** options | Apr ‘08 estimate | Dec ‘07 estimate |
| Low-investment: shared lanes, no tunnels | 57K – 59.5K | 38K – 41K |
| Medium-investment: some shared lanes, no tunnels | 60K – 63K | 42K – 45K |
| High-investment: dedicated lanes, some tunnels | 65K – 68K | 44K – 47K |
** “Light-rail transit is an electric railway system that operates single cars or short trains along rights-of-way at ground level, on aerial structures, and in tunnels. Light rail can also operate in the street mixed with vehicular traffic, in the median of a roadway or on a separate right-of-way.” — Maryland Transit Administration
Why the bump? Peg it on passengers who roll mostly on Metro and MARC rail, but who might transfer onto the Purple Line for part of the trip, Madden explained. Those passengers were not included in earlier ridership projections, he said.
Ridership estimates will go through the ringer again in December, when the state decides whether to go with bus rapid transit or light rail, Madden added.
Photo: (lead) An example of bus rapid transit in cloudy Los Angeles. Courtesy of Flickr user LA Wad.
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We need better regular bus service: Metrobus and Ride-On, as well as Prince George’s The Bus. We need crosswalks that make drivers actually stop when pedestrians have the right-of-way. We need better taxi service, which includes more money and better working conditions for the drivers.
We do NOT need the bulldozers rolling for the Purple Line. The bulldozing to build it would only be the beginning. Rezoning and more destruction would rapidly follow.
By the way, how many of the “riders” in MTA’s numbers would be displaced as the Purple Line were being built? Just look at the gentrification/displacement that has occurred near Metro stops.
The suburbs of D.C. are growing rapidly from Bethesda-Silver Spring-Hyattsville/new carollton. So the purple line is neccessary for the new influx of people who don’t even need to go to D.C. because they work in Bethesda and live in P.G. county. The purple line is needed. It does not make any sense that you have to go all the way into the city and back into maryland to get from bethesda to silver spring and vice versa.
Agree w/ Isayaah. More buses and taxi improvements would just add to the greater existing problems of gridlocked roads (I’m definitely for better crosswalks though). We need to get people that can (and would like to) take a metro trip to work into the metro so that the roads can be reserved for people who really have no other option. The more we expand metro, the more convenient it will be, and the more people will be able to get out of the car and into the metro.
A Purple Line light rail would not be ideal. Yes, tunneling would be the best option. Yes, some part of the land in ESS may end up being raized for an alignment. These are issues that will continue to be faced as the metro is expanded and improved upon. I for one, however, think the benefits of it definitely outweight the costs, and this is coming from someone that does live in ESS and does appreciate the unique asthetics of the community.
Yes Easley, we need that purple line and I agree it must not come in the form of a light rail. Anyone been to Baltimore and had to wait for that slow retarded light rail to move its ass out of the way while traffic piles up behind you? That is what will come to Silver Spring if we don’t build that damn tunnel! That video is sad, it really furthers our fears that it will only further the already existent gridlock that is Wayne, Fenton, Colesville and GA ave. The area is booming and theres just too many pedestrians to ad another annoyance to the streets. We NEED the purple line to connect a bustling developing city like silver spring to the rest of the suburbs and to cut costs for many metro riders.