Upcounty needs world-class transit to support needs

Like most elected officials from upper Montgomery County, I am a strong advocate for the CCT. I also believe that a light-rail line is a far superior solution than a bus route.

Numerous studies demonstrate that light-rail may be more expensive upfront but is far more effective than express bus routes. More high quality economic development occurs near light-rail versus bus transit. People are far likelier to switch from cars to trains rather than buses. Light-rail is more scalable because as demand increases, cars can be added without paying more operators. Light-rail is perceived as more permanent and, once in place, operational funding is more secure. Travel-times tend to be more predictable because rail is routed along dedicated rights-of-way. Such predictability is crucial for passengers planning their journey with confidence.

I urge members of the Planning Board and Transportation Secretary John Porcari to provide the upcounty with a world-class solution to our transportation problems. That means a light-rail line along the route of the CCT.

Saqib Ali, North Potomac

The writer, a Democrat, represents District 39 in the House of Delegates.

The Maryland Department of Transportation seems headed toward a big mistake by selecting bus rapid transit for the future Corridor Cities Transitway. They seem to want to play Baltimore's Red Line, the Bethesda-New Carrollton Purple Line and the CCT (the Gold Line? the Turquoise Line?) against one another.

The logical places for Bus Rapid Transit are corridors like Route 29 and Route 50, which are relatively populous, but not dense, and which have clear beginning and endpoints.

The Baltimore Red Line, the Purple Line and the CCT all serve dense and relatively dense and well-populated areas. The Baltimore Red Line route is fairly to very dense. Bethesda and Silver Spring are already pretty dense, but the rest of the territory that the Purple Line will traverse is NOT terribly dense.

The initial phase of the CCT will, when it is built, serve a route that is generally more dense, more thickly settled and more populated with jobs. This will be even more true after King Farm and Kentlands are fully built out according to approved city plans, after the New Urbanist/Smart Growth Crown Farm and Watkins Mill Town Center projects are built in accordance with approved plans, and after the Johns Hopkins/Shady Grove West Research Center is under way. BRT won't support the density in these projects, nor will BRT vehicles be able to penetrate them.

MDOT should recognize that BRT simply does not bring with it the kind of economic development that Montgomery County is looking for. BRT will result in huge and empty vehicles whizzing by (not through) these heavily developed areas. BRT would be an expensive disaster.

Richard Arkin, Gaithersburg