Politics & Government

Council Favors Bus System Over Light Rail for CCT

Bus system costs less, can be implemented sooner, according to Maryland Department of Transportation officials.

Montgomery County Council now favors a bus system over light rail transit for a transportation project that serves the 14-mile stretch from the Shady Grove Metro Station to Clarksburg.

The County Council voted unanimously during its regular meeting Tuesday, supporting the transportation committee’s recommendation and reflecting County Executive Isiah Leggett’s recent shift backing bus rapid transit (BRT) over light rail for an extensive transportation project known as the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT).

The completion of the CCT is tied to future development of the Great Seneca Science Corridor, a bioscience hub in west Gaithersburg, and has implications for residents Upcounty. The debate had centered on which mode of transportation — rail or bus — would be the best mode for the CCT, which would link the Clarksburg area, Germantown and Gaithersburg with the Shady Grove Metro Station.

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The council’s recommendation will go to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and will be submitted as part of the state’s bid for the federal funding. Estimated construction costs for BRT was $419 million, according to a state transportation administration report, compared with $772 million for light rail.

The council’s decision pivots from the pro-light rail sentiment expressed in 2009, when the county council voted 6-3 in favor of rail and, in a joint letter with the county executive, told Maryland Department of Transportation officials that the county supported rail over BRT.

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“Given the significance of our Life Sciences master plan and that part of our economic growth, it seemed to be a fairly compelling argument,” said Council President Roger Berliner, chairman of the council’s transportation committee.

In a December letter to the council, County Executive Leggett said he now favored BRT. Leggett said his decision was based on feedback from Maryland Department of Transportation officials that light rail would take a decade longer to complete than BRT, could be implemented faster and for less money.

“I would love to have light rail, I'd want to see it in my lifetime,” Leggett said Monday during a budget forum in Germantown. “But it might not happen. Too much is dependent upon our ability to go forward.”

The concern is that without reliable transportation, the biotech businesses the county seeks to attract will look past the Montgomery County.

“With the bioscience industry, we’re trying to create a center,” said Councilman Marc Elrich, D-At Large. “We’re not the only place in the country trying to create a center. I doubt the same companies would be there 10 years from now, if this does not go forward now.”

Locally, the state’s feedback has prompted the CCT Coalition to change its stance, to support BRT instead of light rail, according to Marilyn Balcombe, chairwoman of the CCT Coalition and executive director of the .

“We have heard loud and clear that state funding is currently not available for light rail,” Balcombe said. “Given that the economic development of the Great Seneca Science Corridor hinges on the funding of the CCT, I think we should do whatever we can to push this project forward. Our choices are to fund a BRT system now or wait 15 years for an LRT (light rail transit) system, we should support BRT now.”

Bus rapid transit is similar to light rail except it operates on county roadways. The Upcounty Advisory Board, which meets in Germantown, has not officially taken a stance on whether to light rail or bus rapid transit should be used for the CCT. But the board has been a strong advocate for the completion of the CCT — whether light rail or bus, said Catherine Matthews, director of the r in Germantown.

“The CCT will provide a much needed alternative to sitting among other cars stuck in traffic on I-270 and Route 355,” Matthews said.


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