MARC passengers should be in the know!!

I wonder how things would work if Maryland properly funded MARC to the point where weekend service could be started up. As the system currently is, I believe Amtrak gets a nice subsidy from Maryland to keep fares down during the week and on weekends. Just thinking up two somewhat similar city pairs at the moment, the lowest fare for an Amtrak D.C.-Baltimore trip is less than the shorter trip Trenton-Philly and less than half of Trenton-N.Y.C. BWI-WAS/BAL might take a hit as would BAL/WAS, but assuming weekend MARC service would run as mostly if not entirely locals, time-conscious passengers might just pay the small extra cost for Amtrak speed and comfort.

My hope for any kind of weekend service is that it would help out tourism in Baltimore as that city could really use some stimulus and revitalization. Given, it also needs a better transit network as the light rail--the only connection between Baltimore Penn Station and the Inner Harbor--barely skirts the area, and MARC's Camden Line is more convenient for getting to downtown Baltimore, but it will probably be a cold day in hell before the Camden Line gets anything more than skeletal service let alone weekend service. (Pity.)

Anyway, what MARC needs is for the state of Maryland to get its priorities straightened out and properly fund the MTA. A good transit network does wonders for a city and a region, but this is the case only if the service is convenient for travelers and operates in the first place. Considering that Maryland started having its budget problems before the recession I have no clue where all that tax revenue in Maryland is going, but the fact that the state was unable to even fund the MTA in its existing state AND after releasing its ambitious expansion plan is pathetic.

Most commuter rail agencies, such as NJ Transit, were forced to cut service thanks to the economy. VRE has/will be raising fares twice in a year to maintain their service. However, most riders agreed that MARC should have raised fares instead of cutting service, but of course that fell on deaf ears. The so-called "hearings" last winter (where the MTA obviously didn't "hear" anything the riders were saying) were pointless.

So how much "stimulus money for transit" is MD going to receive? Washington D.C. is just a shout away! One would think that rail service to our nations capitol would be of some high priority. Real shame!

Bobby S wrote:So how much "stimulus money for transit" is MD going to receive? Washington D.C. is just a shout away! One would think that rail service to our nations capitol would be of some high priority. Real shame!

Actually MD received quite a bit of stimulus finds (more than their fair share if you asked me). Biden himself went to Maryland twice to unveil stimulus funds for Maryland. He and O'Malley went to Laurel MARC station to announce th erebuilding of the platform, and he went to Metro's Landover garage to release some other stimulus money. In addition, there was this big press conference at BWI Rail Station with a lot of MD big whigs discussing a number of stimulus transit packages that MD received from the feds.

And still cuts and no weekend service! I can't tell you how much that fact pisses off people in the Northern area. Until Perryville-Wilmington service comes along on the Penn Line the least they could do is add weekend service! Did they not notice "Many New Townhouse/Condo communities springing up all around that area?". I hope somebody makes this happen!

Keep dreaming.

Keep dreaming.[

And I shall!!! So will a whole lot of people!!! Why are u so pessimistic?

Well, Maryland doesn't exactly have a good track record when it comes to following through on its big transit plans. For having some of the highest tax revenue in the country, the State Assembly really knows how to waste it all before getting to transit in the budget. The Purple Line and ICC have both been stuck in the planning stages for years, Baltimore's transit network is pathetic and inefficient, and MARC...is best left unmentioned for the state's gross neglect and lack of ambition.

I'd love to have some confidence in Maryland, but by whatever perverse gyration of the King of All Cosmos, the Maryland state government has thoroughly mastered the art of Doing It Wrong.

Mirai Zikasu wrote:Well, Maryland doesn't exactly have a good track record when it comes to following through on its big transit plans. For having some of the highest tax revenue in the country, the State Assembly really knows how to waste it all before getting to transit in the budget. The Purple Line and ICC have both been stuck in the planning stages for years, Baltimore's transit network is pathetic and inefficient, and MARC...is best left unmentioned for the state's gross neglect and lack of ambition.

I'd love to have some confidence in Maryland, but by whatever perverse gyration of the King of All Cosmos, the Maryland state government has thoroughly mastered the art of Doing It Wrong.

I have to disagree. While I agree that MARC has historically been neglected (especially in the DC Area), MD overall has excellent transit options. Maryland ranks fifth among the states for transit use (Percentage of Mass Transit Commuters by State Ranking). I don't really make this discussion political, but it can't be ignored and your comment describes the Ehrlich Administration's transportation priorities to a T. Most conservatives would actually say that Maryland spends too much on mass transit, but of course there are hardly any conservatives in the GA.

In my opinion Maryland is a national leader in (rail) mass transit with 3 commuter rail lines, 1 current and 2 future light rail lines, 1 heavy rail line in Baltimore, 3 heavy rail (6 branches) Metro lines in the DC suburbs, frequent high speed intercity service on the NEC, and easy connections to long distance Amtrak service at Union Station and Rockville (Cap. Ltd.). That's plenty for a tiny state with 5.5 million people. For statewide transit I only see New Jersey, California, and maybe Connecticut as superior. Baltimore has a nice transit system (one that I travelled on for the first time just two weeks ago) and is far from pathetic or inefficient. I couldn't name one city South of Baltimore or DC that has a better transit system.

I agree before O'Malley, MARC has been left stagnant, but since he entered office the state has aquired Kawasaki railcars from VRE, 30+ brand new diesels, added trains, rehabbed the AEM-7's, replaced the MARC bilevel seats, added MARC Tracker (the most valuable improvement imho), fixed the terrible email alert service and added text alerts, replaced station announcement systems, drafted MARC Long Term Plan, carried out various station improvements and parking lot expansions, tried to start weekend service, and other things. If the this recession hadn't really put the brakes on things, we would see even more improvements. In addition O'Malley really got the ball rolling on the Purple and Red Lines, and just this week they finalized the modes and routes, and are preparing a final EIS for the FTA. As for the ICC it is well under construction, and the Corridor Cities Transitway LRT project should follow shortly. If you saw MARC's long term plan you definitely couldn't say MARC has a "lack of ambition."

Overall, I think that you're on the right track, but when you look closer at MARC's "achievements", you can see the whole story:

realtype wrote:aquired Kawasaki railcars from VRE

Horribly delayed for seemingly no good reason (although I did see a bunch more at WAS today, so it looks like these are finally entering service 10 months late.

30+ brand new diesels

That are still mired in MARCs mismanaged bureaucrazy. Lord only knows when they'll enter revenue service.

added trains

Late evening service on the Penn Line is pretty excellent, although with the recent budget cuts they had to roll them back some

rehabbed the AEM-7's

That's why we see them routinely in revenue service, right?

replaced the MARC bilevel seats

This is nice, who knows how long it was in the works and how delayed it was

added MARC Tracker (the most valuable improvement imho)

This is awesome and wonderful

fixed the terrible email alert service and added text alerts

I'm not sure how "fixed" it is, I still get some emails hours after the alert in question (although that may be my office's horrible IT system, I need to give the text alerts a try

replaced station announcement systems

which are still broke in many places, needing ARRA money to fix again (maybe this time they'll get it right).

drafted MARC Long Term Plan

It's a start, we'll see how well it's adhered to

carried out various station improvements and parking lot expansions,tried to start weekend service,

True.

If you saw MARC's long term plan you definitely couldn't say MARC has a "lack of ambition."

Agree completely - ambition isn't the problem. Effective management to make that ambition a reality seems to be. Still, like you said, it's still a fairly effective service, and at least the state is trying - that's far more than many others can say.

Bobby, I think that this aptly explains my pessimism (although I prefer to think of it as "realism").

I understand your point regarding conservatives and transit spending, Realtype. Sadly, most conservatives view it as just more spending in the budget and can't be bothered with revenue generated by high-density development or increased efficiency from reducing traffic and gridlock. It's my biggest disagreement with the conservative half of the political spectrum. However, as you said, there are hardly any conservatives in the General Assembly. Therefore, it baffles me why a group of non-conservatives are not more generous towards transit development.

When pitted against all fifty states, Maryland is certainly better off in transit development than--say South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nevada. However, at the same time, its development is disjointed and skeletal. There are three commuter rail lines, but only the Baltimore-Washington half of the Penn Line has all-day service. Both the Brunswick and Camden Lines have rush-hour-only service with very conservative plans for expansion (and I'm certain that CSX--much as they hate passenger rail--would be willing to do upgrades and expansion of ROW for the right price). Two round trips to Frederick? Five round trips to Brunswick? That schedule is about as flexible as a brick wall. There's little reason for significant development due to the limited transportation and no opportunity for anyone to have any traffic pattern other than "to Washington in the A.M., away from Washington in the P.M."

As far as MARC expansion goes, getting the thirteen Kawasaki bilevels was a deal of convenience as VRE was looking to get rid of the things...though, there's not much expansion with them as they are replacing the twelve gallery cars on the Brunswick Line. Yes, trains were added about two years or so ago...then the General Assembly let the MTA cut some of that service back. Twenty five years of operation and still no weekend service? Pathetic. The long term plan looked awesome when I saw it months ago...but it's just a plan. If Maryland won't follow through on any of it, it might as well be toilet paper. I'll admit, the diesel purchases to replace and expand the fleet and the AEM-7 refurbishment seem to be good. The GP40WH-2s don't seem to be aging gracefully, and the AEM-7 overhauling should keep them from going up in smoke like some of Amtrak's DC units.

Now, Metrorail does give good opportunities for development--though of course it has significant advantages in having its own ROW and a being a rapid mode of transportation that can easily provide service to a line every few minutes. Metro has done amazing things for development in Maryland...well, Montgomery County anyway. P.G. County doesn't seem to understand the concept of high-density development. I would fathom that the majority of public transportation usage in Maryland is thanks to Metro.

As far as Baltimore goes, the transit system is usable, but not really all that convenient. First, it's a whopping two lines that serve a very limited region of the city. Second, neither of them intersect. It's a block walk between the Lexington Market Stations of the two systems. Third, neither of them really serve the Inner Harbor--one of Baltimore's major money makers. They frame it, but it's a pretty significant walk to anything except the convention center and Camden Yards. The light rail is painfully slow through downtown due to stop lights. Also, there's very limited connectivity with other systems, making it not all that easy to get into Baltimore. The light rail intersects with the NEC at Penn Station to transfer to/from Amtrak and MARC. It's a perfect connection, but a slow route going downtown. The NEC and light rail both intersect at BWI...but require a shuttle transfer adding about a half-hour to travel time. The Baltimore Metro has no connections to anything. Both serve a very limited area of the city, and much of what isn't served is in absolute ruin. Baltimore has half the Metro area population of Washington, yet one tenth the rail transit ridership. Setting aside Washington's funding advantage with the U.S. Congress, such paltry numbers are not reflective of an effective transit system. Hopefully, the addition of the Red Line will change this. Hopefully, the Red Line will actually be funded by the General Assembly and built before Doomsday. After all, the Governor and MTA's ambitions are worthless if the state won't fund them. As far as budget hits from the recession goes, that's a problem Maryland needs to fix by more efficient tax collection. However, that's a completely different debate best saved for another day.

...Wow, I type too much.

MTA's Balty system isn't convenient, in general, especially the Metro. That Metro doesn't really take you anywhere. If you are going from downtown to Owings Mills, you are left off about a mile from the mall. All of the stations in Md aren't near anything, as WMATA's Red Line.

The Light rail does take you places, such as Hunt Valley Mall, and the Airport, but it is slow in some areas where the speeds can be increased. In downtown Baltimore, it's VERY slow. Both the Metro and the Light rail do not connect that well. The walk isn't long between the two at Lex Market, but it would be nice if the time is cut.

MARC definately should add more service, especially weekend on the Penn Line. Even if they start off between B-more and DC, it's a good start. People would benefit from this service if they don't want to drive far to a WMATA Rail station, like those who live in the B-more area. They could see attractions in both downtown B-more and DC, and there are those who have weekend jobs in those cities as well. Look at what MBTA did to the Providence Line on weekends, and SLE on weekends; add weekend service, and much of that end of the NEC is double track. The part of the NEC that MARC uses is mostly triple track with some double track portions.