The proposed Red Line would serve the 10.5 mile east-west corridor connecting the Woodlawn area of Baltimore County, Edmondson Village, West Baltimore communities, downtown Baltimore and the communities in the vicinity of the Inner Harbor East and Fells Point/Patterson Park. The study area continues through downtown and Fells Point/ Patterson park areas and includes Baltimore row-house communities, the downtown business district, and the redeveloping residential and commercial areas in Inner Harbor East. In addition, the Red Line would provide service connecting to existing Metro subway, Light Rail and MARC commuter rail lines and would serve major employers such as the Social Security Administration, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), and the downtown Central Business District. The western portion of the Red Line study area consists of suburban type residential, shopping and office park land uses.

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Options being considered for the Red Line are Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail, and Enhanced Bus Service. The MTA is also required by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to study a "no-build" alternative which allows the agency to compare the proposed new transit alternatives to the option of not building a new transit project.

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Our current study efforts will help us to answer this question. The Red Line will provide service connecting to Baltimore 's existing transit system. At-grade (surface), aerial, and underground sections will be considered for most of the alignment possibilities.

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Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a transit mode that uses standard transit vehicles or advanced technology vehicles. It combines stations, vehicles, fare collection systems, and traffic signals into an integrated system that improves vehicle travel times and reliability. BRT operates on existing roads and/or exclusive running ways. For more information on BRT, click here.

Light Rail Transit (LRT) is an electric railway system that operates on track as single cars or short trains. LRT rights-of-way can be at ground level, on aerial structures, or in tunnels and can operate in mixed traffic, in the median of a roadway, underground, or on a separate right-of-way.

Enhanced Bus Service, also known as the "Transportation System Management" alternative, consists of improvements to the existing bus operations and services in the corridor such as more frequent service and improved bus stops. Enhanced bus service is intended to be a lower cost set of service/operational improvements.

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Though heavy rail has some advantages, it is imperative that the MTA provide a cost-effective project that will be competitive on a national level for Federal funding since the demand for new projects outpaces available State and Federal funds. Heavy rail typically takes longer to construct and is much more costly when compared to other modes. Enhanced Bus Service and Bus Rapid Transit are less capital-intensive, cost-effective transit modes can provide improved transit service in a much shorter timeframe to meet the needs of the Red Line corridor. For more information on the complexity of heavy rail in this corridor, click here.

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As part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the MTA is required to investigate any possible impact of the Red Line on historic properties and districts. These impacts must be avoided wherever possible and minimized and mitigated if they cannot be avoided. We will closely coordinate these studies with the Maryland Historical Trust, the Baltimore City Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation, the Baltimore County Landmarks Commission, and other State and local organizations interested in historical and cultural resources.

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MTA is currently considering many intermodal connections in planning for the Red Line, including connections to the Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park. A rapid transit line does not function properly without alignments that maximize ridership and stations that are spaced far enough apart to achieve the speed expected of a rapid transit line. Determining the alignment and station site, mode, and characteristics is not an easy task. But at their best, rapid transit stations reflect the character of the community that they serve. At the planning stage, the MTA will lead an inclusive planning process that determines how the alignments and stations can fit into its surroundings while supporting community growth and revitalization. At this time alignments and stations along the Red Line corridor have not been decided upon.

The Red Line Study Team is aware of the many environmental regulations that provide protection for parklands, streams, and wetlands and is mindful of potential impacts of the Red Line to natural resources. They are currently in the process of coordinating with jurisdictional parkland agencies and officials to identify all parkland amenities such as greenways and hiker/biker trails. Information that results from this coordination will be available to the public early 2005.

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