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"Our over-reliance on cars and $4-per-gallon gasoline has led us to dig a really deep hole for ourselves. The Purple Line is the ladder that helps us climb up out of this hole toward the light of rational land use, friendly commutes and a stable climate." Mike Tidwell, director of CCAN |  |
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Many economically vibrant major metropolitan areas of the future will have a three-tiered transit system. The system's framework, or primary level of service, will continue to be heavy rail: both metrorail in urban cores and commuter rail lines extending outward to outer suburbs. The Washington DC metropolitan region must invest more in maintaining and expanding this framework. However, heavy metrorail systems are expensive, so expansion is likely to be limited. Recently, the Blue Line was extended to Largo Town Center in Prince George's County, and plans are in the works for a metrorail extension to Dulles Airport. An in-fill station was opened in November, 2004 on the Red Line at New York Avenue, alongside a segment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Light rail will develop into an important secondary element in our region's transit network. A groundbreaking demonstration project is under way in Anacostia (see: Anacostia Project), and lines are proposed for a half dozen other locations in the region including Columbia Pikein Arlington, Virginia. We believe the Purple Line is the most important of this secondary system. While these lines will not provide as high a capacity as metrorail lines (which is why "light rail" is "light"), their capacity will be adequate for medium density suburbs, and the quality of service will be high. These new light rail lines should be seamlessly integrated with the existing heavy rail network and the system should be operated by the Washington Metropolitan Transit Agency (WMATA). The bus system is the third principle element of a healthy regional transit system. Most organizations in the Coalition believe improvements to the regional bus system are critical if we are to solve the developing mobility crisis. Rail transit is expensive and cannot be cost-effectively extended outward from Washington DC to every low density suburb. |
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68,000 riders each weekday is huge! Counting down to completion of Purple Line DEIS; Latest news: Latest News; How you can help 
See: We need you to help keep the Purple Line a state and county priority. Write a letter, make a call or send an e-mail in support of the Purple Line today. See: Contact List |
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