Who We Are

What We Want

Why Light Rail?

Rails & Trails

News & Events

Project Background

How You Can Help
Who We Are

Purple Line Now! is a 501 (c) (4) non profit organization advocating for the Purple Line on behalf of citizen, business, environmental, civic, minority and labor organizations. We formed in 2002 as the Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line around a simple mission statement:

"Our mission is to build the Inner Purple Line. The Inner Purple Line is a light rail transit line from Bethesda to New Carrollton, integrated with a hiker/biker trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring."

Our Board: PLN is governed by a Board of Directors with balanced representation from the environmental, civic, business and labor support for the Purple Line. The strength of our organization is in its diversity and we continue to work to expand our base of support. PLN Executive Director Christine Scott works at the direction of the Board to assist in coordinating the PLN advocacy efforts. Ms. Scott can be contacted at cscott@purplelinenow.com.

Organizations supportive of the Purple Line: Support for this project has steadily grown among a wide variety of organizations. We are proud of the organizational diversity on the List of Organizational Supporters.

State and County Elected Officials Supportive of the Purple Line: The 2010 general election proved the Purple Line has very widespread and strong political support. Purple Line NOW! asked all candidates for elective office at the County Council level and above in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties to sign a Pledge to support the Purple Line. Many candidates stepped forward and signed the pledge. Governor O'Malley made building the Purple Line a major issue in his campaign, and he won decisively. Forty of the forty six candidates for the state assembly who pledged to build the Purple Line won their races. Montgomery County and Prince George's County council races were swept by Purple Line supporters. See the list of those candidates who signed the pledge and won at Purple Line Pledge.

We are supported by a very diverse group of donors. We thank the supporters of our two most recent fundraisers, the October 2007 "Connecting the Dots" event hosts and the March 2010 Reception sponsors. A significant part of our income is from small donations from individuals. A profile of our donors in 2007 and 2008 is available (as a pdf file) here: PLN donor profile

Our IRS Tax Exemption papers are available (as pdf files) here:
     IRS Form 8718 Application for Tax Exemption
     IRS letter granting 501 (c) (4) status to PLN

Shorter Commutes - Less Pollution - Better Trails - More Jobs - Higher Property Values - Stronger Communities