Baltimore Red Line 4c light rail transit notes
Here are a few recent articles on the Red Line 4c plan, which has now been endorsed by nearly every major leader in Baltimore and Balto. Co:
Not building Red Line would continue sad status quo – Baltimore Sun
Dixon, Smith endorse route for Baltimore Red Line – The Examiner
Dixon, Smith to back east-west light rail option – Baltimore Sun
While there are plenty of weighty issues that are rightfully getting exposure — tunneling, traffic-light-timing, eminent domain, community traffic patterns, etc., — my burning question is somewhat more personal and greedy: Assuming that it gets built, will getting a bike onto the new light rail be easier than it is with the current Howard Street (north-south) line?
Advocates of a light rail option keep waxing — not poetically, just waxing — about how the newer rail cars would be faster and lower-floored than the vehicles on the clunky north-south route. Nowhere would that change be more welcome than when trying to get a bike on board.
While my decision to stop taking a bike this summer had more to do with the maintenance-created-crowding than with the three rather steep steps in each north-south car, I would imagine that a more bike-friendly Red Line could get many more casual commuters to consider a bike/rail combination. On a more greedy level, it would also mean that I could leave 15 minutes later when going to destinations along the route, since I wouldn’t have to walk once I got there.
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View a map of the Red Line 4c alternative
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