Montgomery County Council backs light rail

En gringolandia, en el Estado de Maryland, en los ultimos años ha habido una batalla fuerte sobre la necesidad de crear un corredor de transportes de carril segregado, ya sea BRT(BTR=Buses articulados) o Light Train(ligh rail=Metro ligero), finalmente el Metro Ligero gano la partida, no crean que los probuses solo existen en Lima con el alcalde Castañeda a la cabeza, con sus hinchas en las Municipalidades de Arequipa y Trujillo. La gente Pro-Buses tambien existe en la tierra del Tio Sam.

En fin aqui les dejo la nota, para el que flaquea con el Ingles, ya saben se van al google, pegan el enlace y alli se los traduce gratis.

********************************************************************

The Montgomery County Council supports light rail for the 14-mile Corridor Cities Transitway, the group decided Tuesday.

Proponents of bus rapid transit — Council President Phil Andrews, Vice President Roger Berliner and Councilmember Marc Elrich — rehashed their arguments, but were ultimately overruled by their colleagues.

“It’s very difficult for us to make the decision that we should spend more just because of the perception that one is train and one is buses. It’s playing on the fear that we’d be getting traditional buses,” Elrich said.

“Dollars aren’t insignificant here,” Berliner said.

Councilmembers Mike Knapp, Nancy Floreen, Valerie Ervin, Nancy Navarro, George Leventhal and Duchy Trachtenberg voted in favor of light rail.

“I think a commitment to building the full length transitway is something we all need to be engaged in and I think the light rail alternative is the only way we can show a real commitment to and a real vision for the I-270 corridor,” Floreen said.

The council will send a joint letter with County Executive Isiah Leggett to the state voicing the county’s preference for light rail, though several council members in favor of light rail said they would not be disappointed if the state only chose to fund a bus system for the Corridor Cites Transitway (CCT).

A bus rapid transit (BRT) system would cost an estimated $532.6 million while light rail could cost as much as $999 million, according to a Nov. 5 study by the Maryland Transit Administration.

The CCT will compete against the Purple Line connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and Baltimore’s Red Line for funding.

Andrews suggested the council hold off on selecting an alignment for the light rail system, but all other members of the board voted for the original master plan alignment with shifts that serve the Kentlands, the Life Sciences Center and Crown Farm areas. This alignment would also relocate a station originally planned for the Danac site.

A light rail along this alignment would see 34,000 to 42,000 boardings, according to the MTA study.

The board also voted unanimously in favor of two reversible lanes for the expansion of I-270.

The new lanes would be high occupancy toll lanes that would be free to carpools, vans and buses and use congestion-priced tolling for single riders.

Despite voting in favor of the lanes, Elrich warned that the council should not oversell its decision since the reversible lanes would only run to Maryland 121.

“This has the possibility of backing up traffic into areas we think we are relieving. It will provide some upper benefit, but not in the lower part of the road,” he said.

Washington Business Journal