Tunnel Enhancements, Other Improvements Included in Request for Federal Funding

The Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) request for funding for the Red Line will include $121 million in key enhancements to the project announced last summer, including a two track tunnel under Cooks Lane in western Baltimore City. The Red Line is a 14.5-mile light rail line that will serve communities between Woodlawn and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and enhance the regional transit network with connections to the Metro Subway, Light Rail and MARC Train. In announcing his selection of the route in 2009, Governor O’Malley recognized the potential for efficient, dependable transportation to provide access to job opportunities for corridor residents.

To comply with strict federal standards for cost effectiveness, the previously-announced Red Line Locally Preferred Alternative only included a one-mile single track tunnel under Cooks Lane. Subsequent refinements to the ridership forecast provide additional project benefits that offset the additional cost of the second track of the Cooks Lane tunnel--- a high end signal system; enhancements to the train maintenance facility to be constructed on Calverton Road; a crossover in the three-mile downtown tunnel; and four additional light rail vehicles to handle increased ridership. With all of these enhancements the current capital cost estimate for the Red Line is $1.778 billion, in current dollars.

MTA’s goal has been to design a project that would receive a “medium” rating for cost effectiveness by the Federal Transit Administration. The cost effectiveness rating captures capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, and ridership-related user benefits. Prior to a recent federal policy change, a transit project was required to achieve a medium cost effectiveness rating and a medium overall project rating to advance through the approval process. While the recent policy change will remove the medium cost effectiveness threshold as an absolute requirement, the Red Line will still be competing nationally, and a lower cost effectiveness number will help in that competition. The current range for a project to achieve a medium rating is $16.00 to $24.99. The updated Red Line has a cost effectiveness of $22.77.

Red Line ridership estimates have increased as a result of using the most recent and updated set of land use and demographic forecasts adopted by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, incorporation of the findings from a 2007 survey of MTA riders, and a more detailed analysis of both home-based and non-home based travel patterns. The year 2030 ridership forecasts for the Red Line are projected at 59,200 trips per day, up from 54,000 in August 2009.

The MTA is currently working with the Federal Transit Administration to move the Red Line into the Preliminary Engineering phase of the project. This includes a review of all aspects of the project by the FTA. Preliminary Engineering is scheduled to begin in late summer 2010 and take approximately two years to complete. Assuming funding is available, Preliminary Engineering would be followed by Final Design, with construction underway after 2013. This summer, station area advisory committees comprised of community representatives will begin meeting to help the MTA design the 20 stations planned for the corridor.

• View the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) Frequently Asked Questions
• View a map of the planned route for the Red Line
• View Governor O'Malley's Announcement of the Red Line Locally Preferred Alternative – August 4, 2009
• Red Line Key Facts