Maryland Race Could Put Transit Projects On The Line

(Washington, DC — Todd Zwillich, Transportation Nation) Funding for some high-profile public transit projects could be on the line in Maryland's upcoming race for governor.

Now that former governor Bob Ehrlich has defeated Tea Party favorite Brian Murphy for the GOP nomination, battle lines may forming around transit projects in Baltimore and in the Maryland suburbs around Washington, DC.

O'Malley and Ehrlich have already come down on opposite sides of Baltimore's proposed Red Line transit project, with O'Malley favoring light rail to power the project and Ehrlich favoring less expensive buses. As it now stands, the proposed line connects several large federal employment centers in the western part of the city with downtown transit hubs. It moves through the Inner Harbor tourist center and terminates at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus in the East.

The project is slated for 14.5 miles total, including 9.8 miles on the surface and 3.9 miles through tunnels. It was projected to cost $1.8 billion in 2009.

Also on the block is the Maryland Purple Line Metro Project, a 16-mile, 21-station light rail proposal to connect Maryland's DC suburbs in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The line is set to run from Bethesda in Montgomery County, Md., through the suburbs of Chevy Chase and Takoma, around the top of the District of Columbia, and finally terminating at the New Carrollton Metro Station in Prince George's County, Md. The project has made it past the environmental impact phase but is awaiting a green-light from the Federal Transit Administration to begin engineering, and construction could begin as early as 2013, "if funding is available," according to the Purple Line's Web site.

And that could be a big "if".

Ehrlich reportedly told a roundtable in June that he would tank both the Red and Purple Line projects in favor of expanded bus service along similar routes. The move seemed to ingratiate Ehrlich to rural voters with little interest in spending on transit projects. But it also apparently annoyed Maryland and Washington business leaders who view the project as a boon.

O'Malley has cast both projects in terms of jobs and economic growth, both guaranteed to drive the Maryland governor's race and probably every other race in the country in November. We'll be watching.