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Montgomery County riders of the MARC train protested this week the state's plan to eliminate the 1:45 p.m. Brunswick Line train out of Washington except on Fridays, curtail rail service on holidays and eliminate the 10-trip tickets favored by frequent commuters to Washington, D.C.
Maryland Transit Administration officials say the reductions are necessary due to the state budget problems.
But riders at a public hearing Monday night in Rockville on the proposed cuts called the reductions misguided and said they would cost MARC and the state more in the long run.
The state projects a $115 million shortfall in projected revenues for transit.
Several of the residents who spoke were part of a grass-roots coalition that mobilized two years ago to keep the MARC train stations in Boyds and Dickerson open. About 40 people attended the hearing.
When gas prices soared earlier this year, commuters began driving less, carpooling more and riding mass transit, state officials said. That meant an overall loss in revenue from gas and motor vehicle taxes that help subsidize MARC commuter trains, even as ridership increased by 10 percent over last year.
Del. Alfred Carr (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said he would seek new sources of funding for MARC, including studying how other states fund their transit systems.
Carr also asked for the state to postpone any decision and hold an additional hearing because the wrong address was published for Monday night's hearing.
Ben Ross, president of the Action Committee for Transit in Bethesda, said there hasn't been a gas tax increase since 1993, while commuters have seen numerous fare increases for MARC since then.
The solution is not to cut service and put more people back on the highways because building new roads is more expensive and damaging to the environment.
"People are shifting from roads to transit," he said. "This is the time to increase service."
MARC commuter Miriam Schoenbaum of Boyds agreed.
"We understand MARC is short of money, but cutting service is not the solution," she said.
Eliminating the 10-trip fare tickets, which give flexibility for commuters at a reduced fare from the single ticket price, amounts to a fare increase, Schoenbaum said.
MARC officials said the tickets had to be eliminated because riders on the Penn Line from Baltimore to Washington often managed to avoid getting their tickets punched by the conductors because of crowded conditions on the trains. Maryland Transit Administration officials said they did not know how much revenue was lost as a result or how much they would save by reducing service.
Other proposed changes, which would take effect Jan. 12 or sooner for holiday service, include eliminating some commuter bus lines from Baltimore to the outer suburbs; reducing or eliminating MARC service on and around some holidays, and eliminating the last two evening round-trip trains on the Penn Line.
In addition, the last train from Union Station to Martinsburg, W.Va., the 883 on the Brunswick Line, would terminate at Brunswick.
MARC rider William Mattison of Gaithersburg said cutting service on holidays and the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas is going to hurt workers who don't get the days off.
"We all have to work those days," he said.
Susan Lender of Silver Spring, another commuter, said cutting service, including the first train from Union Station on the Brunswick Line, will discourage people from using MARC service because it will be less reliable and give riders fewer options.
"Once you start alienating riders, they'll find other ways to get to where they want to go," she said.
Those unable to attend the Maryland Transit Administration's public hearing on Monday night in Rockville can send written comments to Glenn Litsinger, MTA Office of Customer Information, 6 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21202. E-mail comments by 5 p.m. Dec. 26 with "Hearing Comments" in the subject line to commuterbus@mtamaryland.com or marc@mtamaryland.com.
