Please consider becoming a sponsor for the next forum in our Envisioning the Purple Line series - we will be presenting a Purple Line Project Update. Now that construction has begun, there will be lots of information to share and progress to learn about.

Here's some exciting news to entice you - we just received confirmation that Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn will be our special guest speaker! If you have ever heard him speak, you know this is a real treat! Following Secretary Rahn, we will convene a panel that will include a representative from the concessionaire (Purple Line Transit Partners) and we will be extending an invitation to both Prince George's and Montgomery County Executives, as well.

Save the date! The event is January 18, from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm at Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring. (All sponsors will be invited to a private reception just before the forum from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm). In the next few weeks, you will receive an official invitation to attend the event - so stay tuned! As always, the event is open to the public and tickets will be free - but must be reserved in advance as space is limited. Please keep reading for the most important part of this ask.

We had to put this educational series on hold for the past year until groundbreaking occurred. As a result, our already bare-bones budget has been put to the test while we paused our fundraising efforts. Help us meet our bottom line by considering a sponsorship. We will publicize your participation on our website sponsor list and at the event, and all sponsors will be invited to the private reception right before the forum.

Purple Line NOW remains committed to bringing you timely information as often as possible, through our website, Twitter, Facebook and blasts like these. Because we want to make sure these events always remain free to our community, we must fundraise to underwrite the costs to put them on. We will continue to work to bring together members of the community, those who are building the Purple Line and elected officials with the goal of building a light rail project that will meet the promise of connecting communities, reducing travel time, and providing a clean, efficient mode of transportation.  

For more information and to become a sponsor, please see our sponsorship information page. With abundant thanks for your consideration, your support, and your elbow grease, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday

For the latest construction information, make sure you are signed up for updates at the Purple Line Transit Partners.

Do you have questions about the Purple Line construction process? We now have a new host of answers from the Montgomery County Council Briefing to the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment (T &E) Committee. Follow the link below for an update to a list posted last week with responses from the Maryland Transit Administration and the concessionaire (The Purple Line Transit Partners) as well as many new questions from across Montgomery County, with a good number of answers relevant to Prince George's County, as well.

If you want to know even more, check out questions 1 and 2 for official project points of contact and the last page for who to talk to in the Montgomery County government.

Click here > Responses to Questions regarding the Purple Line and Associated Projects

Now that ground has broken, you may be wondering what's left to do to make the Purple Line a reality? Turns out, quite a bit is going on and we need your help now that the difficult work of construction has begun. 

In the coming months, we will be gathering positive Purple Line stories - what are you looking forward to most about the Purple Line? How will it make your commute easier? Please share your story not only with us, but with the local news media. There will understandably be plenty of stories about the difficulties of construction, so we want to make sure we balance the scales and keep our eye on the purple prize! Take a moment to write a letter of support for the Purple Line to the editor of the Washington Post and help us make sure the community knows all of the benefits the light rail will bring to our area. Thank you in advance!

In the meantime, here are some items you may be interested in:

• We are hoping to bring you news of the Community Advisory Team (CAT) meetings soon - we are told that all CAT neighborhood teams will have at least one meeting before the Thanksgiving holiday. Stay tuned - as soon as we get the full schedule, we'll publish links to the details.
• If you weren't able to be at the Montgomery County Council Transportation Committee's briefing on the Purple Line with Purple Line Transit Partners (the concessionaire) and Maryland Transit Authority, here's a video of the meeting: Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment.
• Are you looking for alternative biking routes now that the Georgetown Branch Trail has closed? Try this link from our good friends at WABA: Georgetown Branch Detour Options.
• Action Committee for Transit's monthly meeting on October 10, 7:30 p.m. is free and open to the public. The topic this month is: Transit, Obesity, and Health with Jennifer Roberts from the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

And finally, some great ideas for upcoming events in Purple Line communities:

• Celebrate Silver Spring's First Protected Bike Lanes at a ribbon cutting on Saturday, October 14, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Woodside Urban Park in Silver Spring.
• Plan to have some fun at the Takoma Langley Crossroads Diwali Festival, on Sunday, October 15, 2017, 12 noon-6:00 p.m., rain or shine, FREE. In just a few short years, the Purple Line will connect this terrific community to points east and west.

Purple Line NOW is working hard to bring you news of construction plans, an update on the ongoing lawsuit, as well as good news stories about the Purple Line in the coming months. As always, we exist because of your generosity - as we head into the autumn season, we hope that you'll remember Purple Line NOW in your giving plans. We are grateful for all of your help - what an exciting summer this has been!