More News

The Montgomery County Council appears poised to recommend a light-rail transit system for its Corridor Cities Transitway over a less costly Bus Rapid Transit system.

The majority of council members also prefer adding two reversible lanes on Interstate 270 instead of four lanes, which the state originally proposed, according a straw poll taken Tuesday.

The state will make a decision before the end of the year on whether to proceed with 14 miles of light rail or Bus Rapid Transit to link Clarksburg, Germantown, Gaithersburg and Rockville with the Shady Grove Metro.

The council will vote on its official recommendations Tuesday.

The preliminary decision to recommend two reversible lanes on I-270 from Shady Grove Road to Frederick County generated little discussion during the County Council meeting Tuesday.

The majority of the council supports the two-lane option — relieving congestion southbound in the morning and northbound in the evening. The new lanes would be restricted to carpools, buses, motorcycles and drivers paying a congestion-priced toll — an amount that has not yet been determined.

The decision on light rail over Bus Rapid Transit was more divisive, with three council members — Council President Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg, Council Vice President Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac and Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park — in favor of Bus Rapid Transit.

Supporters say the buses and the light-rail streetcars would carry roughly the same number of passengers and operate at about the same cost, but the BRT system would cost about half as much to construct — between $450 million and $533 million.

Estimates on construction of a light-rail system were between $778 million and $1 billion.

There is no fixed date on when either transit system could be complete, but supporters say the BRT system could be in place long before a light-rail system because of the cost difference.

Light-rail supporters say that is irrelevant because there is little public support for buses.

Councilmen George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park and Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown say their constituents are unlikely to ride buses and would prefer light-rail streetcars.

"My constituents feel that streetcars are desirable and buses are undesirable," Leventhal said. "We're not hearing from people who say, ‘I love to ride the bus.'"

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) also supports light rail for the CCT.

Knapp said council members who said BRT is a better choice because of cost are mistaken. Any savings realized by choosing BRT over light rail would not mean the county had access to extra funds for other projects, he said.

However, Elrich said that choosing the less-costly BRT might be the best chance Montgomery County has as at completing a transit system soon.

The federal government already is helping to fund the Red Line in Baltimore and the Purple Line connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton. Elrich said it's unlikely they would pay for a third Maryland project, and with state money drying up, much of the burden of the county's transit system likely would fall to the county, he said.

Elrich has his own plan to proceed with a 100-plus-mile BRT system throughout the county. He said he will proceed with his plan regardless of the state's recommendation for the CCT.

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring, who favors light rail, said it was important to consider the long-term economic development that would stem from light rail rather than the immediate savings in construction.

Knapp agreed and said the construction costs of BRT over light rail are not important to the council's recommendation. Both are under $1 billion and considered "cost-effective" when considering transit projects nationwide, he said.