MTA holds rail forum

For the first time since receiving federal approval for the proposed 16-mile Purple Line, Maryland Transit Administration officials met yesterday with local and university community members who expressed concern over several areas, ranging from funding to environmental anxieties.

Dozens of students and residents shared a variety of worries about the proposed $1.93 billion light rail project — including how officials will fund it and whether it will threaten local businesses and environments — at yesterday's open house in Stamp Student Union. Construction plans for the project, nearly 16 years in the making, overcame a major hurdle in October when Federal Transit Administration officials approved moving forward with the design — meaning the MTA can now enter the preliminary engineering phase and craft detailed plans, schedules and cost estimates.

Although the MTA is not guaranteed to receive federal funding, the FTA's show of support indicates the project will be a top competitor and the MTA could receive the funding at any point. Although the state cannot do anything to further speed up that process, legislators have allocated $30 million this year and $38 million next year to cover the costs of the engineering phase. Construction of the project — which would connect Montgomery and Prince George's counties — could begin in 2015.

Yesterday's event was the first opportunity for community members to raise concerns since the FTA's go-ahead. One issue, brought up by senior government and politics major Faisal Hassan, has been raised frequently before — although the project is now gaining momentum, Hassan questioned whether state officials could keep it going financially.

"The Purple Line would make things a lot easier going through to Montgomery County, it would be great," Hassan said. "But I always have this perception that in Annapolis, they don't know what they're doing with the budget. It's always short somehow."

But state officials said increased taxes will be key to ensuring the state is able to fund half of the nearly $2 million of the project's remaining costs. According to state Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George's), the state General Assembly will consider a proposed 15-cent tax hike on gas in the upcoming legislative session. Pinsky said he would like this proposal to pass, as long as it stipulates funding for mass transit and the Purple Line.

"[The possibility of the Purple Line] becomes more real each month, and as it becomes more real we have to look at funding," Pinsky said.

State Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery) said because projects like the Purple Line serve all residents, it makes sense funding would be pulled from increased taxes, so everyone can contribute to its creation.

"I'm a little bit shocked to hear that people say the Purple Line should be exclusively paid for by people and businesses along the way. With America's highways and transit systems, it's always been the common good, and the common benefit," Raskin said.

But some students said they are concerned the Purple Line itself could have unforeseen negative effects on communities outside the campus.

Senior accounting major Gerson Elias, who lives near Langley Park and Takoma Park, said he worries bringing mixed-use developments to the area along with the Purple Line would push lower-income families and small businesses out of the area by raising the cost of living.

"There's a lot of small businesses along [University Boulevard] that would be driven out now," Elias said, adding that his concerns weren't allayed after speaking to Purple Line project members at yesterday's open house.

Project Manager Michael Madden said the MTA has a plan to ensure this doesn't happen, noting that officials are talking with Prince George's County officials to discuss ways to minimize the line's impacts on such communities.

"The project is not displacing any businesses that we know of," Madden said. "But we have been hearing that some businesses are concerned their rents could increase and they would be forced out."

College Park Mayor Andy Fellows said the project is the most environmentally friendly transportation project in the state today, giving people "an alternative to getting in a car and using fossil fuels that create climate change." MTA officials have estimated that the Purple Line would take 20,000 cars off state roads.

But members of the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail — a group opposing the Purple Line's alignment through a stretch of forest in Montgomery County — attended yesterday's open house and questioned how environmentally friendly the rail would actually be.

"They talk about 20,000 cars coming off the road? That's total crap," said Ajay Bhatt, president of the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, arguing that the mixed-use development created around the Purple Line would ultimately bring even more traffic to the area. "This project is not environmental. If you get rid of 20 acres inside the Beltway, it's gone forever. And, for $68 million you could put Zipcars all over the f—ing campus."

MTA officials said these concerns will help draft the next round of plans for the line and another public forum will likely be held in the spring. Regardless of some of these concerns, Fellows said he's excited to see engineering plans move forward.

"This has been too long coming, and we're going to move forward as quickly as possible," Fellows said.

lurye@umdbk.com