Frequently Asked Questions
Decision-Making Process
How will the decision be made on whether to build the Red Line?
The local decision is ultimately up to the Maryland Secretary of Transportation, who is appointed by the Governor of Maryland. The decision by the Secretary will be made in consultation with many stakeholders and elected officials in the Baltimore region: legislators in the General Assembly, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and the Baltimore County Executive and County Council. These officials will base their decision on technical data from the study and input received from the public, as well as financial considerations such as whether adequate funds are available to construct and operate a Red Line transit route.
In order to build the Red Line, federal funds will be needed along with state and possibly local and private-sector funds. The federal decision-maker is the Federal Transit Administrator, who serves under the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Maryland's U.S. senators and congressmen will be consulted and asked for their recommendations, which will be affected by the availability of federal funds, the merit of the project and the intensity of local support.
Will the entire project be constructed initially?
Possibly not, depending on the cost of the project and funds available. Following the 90-day comment period for the Alternatives Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS) and the Public Hearings, MTA along with its city and county partners will know more about the constraints that could limit the project's scope. If only a portion of the project is constructed initially, it most certainly will include the Central Baltimore downtown segment.
Do state and local elected officials support the project?
Yes. Elected leaders in Baltimore City and surrounding counties have endorsed the Red Line as this region's top transit priority.
State legislators in Annapolis have approved planning and design funds for the Red Line and the Maryland Congressional Delegation has lobbied actively for the Red Line in Washington.
In 2002, the state Department of Transportation asked a 23-member Advisory Committee from throughout the Baltimore region to recommend a long-term Regional Rail System. The Red Line emerged at the top of the list. Two years later, the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board, a 10-member panel representing the Maryland Department of Transportation, the cities of Annapolis and Baltimore and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard approved a Baltimore Regional Transportation Plan called "Transportation 2030." It, too, named the Red Line as the No. 1 preferred transit investment. The Baltimore Metropolitan Council, made up of the mayor and county executives from the region, consistently has given strong support to the Red Line.
What are the roles of the State of Maryland, Baltimore City and Baltimore County?
The State of Maryland, through the Maryland Transit Administration, has jurisdiction over planning, developing, acquiring, financing and operating transit facilities, including Baltimore's various public transit modes - its buses, the Central Light Rail line, the Metro Subway, MARC commuter rail service, and future rapid transit routes such as the Red Line.
The role of local governments is advisory, but extremely important. In order to secure crucial federal transit funds for capital projects, consensus and strong support from local jurisdictions are essential. The MTA looks to the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Baltimore region - the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board - to coordinate transportation planning for capital projects such as the Red Line.
Public input is key to determining project specifics - the preferred alignment, station locations, and type of rapid transit vehicle - because local governments do not make their final recommendations known until after listening to local citizens.
That is why the outcome of public hearings on the Red Line's Alternatives Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement, scheduled for November 2008, will be important. Once local residents voice their opinions at these sessions and written comments are received by the MTA, local governments will deliver their suggestions and recommendations to the MTA.
How will the different Red Line alternatives be compared and evaluated?
Various options are evaluated in detail in the Alternatives Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS). For each alternative, forecasts are prepared to estimate the number of passengers, the cost to build and operate it and the various community and environmental impacts. Most of these evaluations are quantitative and are based on widely accepted practices. In some cases, qualitative evaluations are performed based on professional judgment and experience.
In addition to the technical analysis, public, community, and environmental agency input on the various alternatives are compared and evaluated. With all of this collective input and technical analysis, the relative benefit of each alternative is then weighed against its cost and impact. The AA/DEIS includes these comparisons and evaluations. Written comments on the AA/DEIS and comments made at the public hearing are factored in before a preferred alternative is selected. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will contain AA/DEIS comments and public hearing testimony and the documented justification for the preferred alternative.
What happens if a community/Neighborhood opposes parts of the Red Line?
Residents can express concerns to the MTA, which tries to develop projects that reflect the sensitivities of impacted communities. Sharing specific reasons why the Red Line is not desired, or concerns about a specific aspect of the proposed transit line are very helpful to the MTA in understanding community sentiment.
The public hearings on the Alternatives/Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which are scheduled in November 2008, are an effective forum for making dissenting comments. It is after this hearing that decisions start to be made on whether the Red Line will be built and if so, what mode and alignment will be chosen. Public comments will factor into any decisions.
It is important to remember that certain alignments have been retained in the AA/DEIS to provide a comparison to another option that is more attractive. For instance, to adequately justify a tunnel in a particular area the MTA needs to compare benefits, impact and cost for both a tunnel and a surface transit option. It is also important to understand that community opposition is not the only factor the MTA needs to consider in making its decisions. In some cases issues such as travel time, cost, environmental regulations, and engineering standards will also have to be considered.