New projections: 68K would ride proposed Purple Line

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- With gas prices rising the way they are, public transportation is starting to look better and better. Now, the Purple Line -- a major transportation project that would link the Bethesda and New Carrollton Metro Stations via light rail or a rapid bus line -- is getting a major boost.

WTOP has learned new ridership projections for the line show it would attract 68,000 riders a day. That is a significant increase from previous estimates that showed the line would attract 47,000 riders a day.

Maryland transportation officials will release the new numbers Thursday. Some previous figures on projected ridership were considered flawed, and a new study was ordered.

The spike in ridership is important because the Federal Transit Administration judges whether a project is worth funding based upon, among other things, projected ridership.

Still dealing with debate over a planned Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport, the D.C. region knows all too well how hard it is to get federal funding for a transportation project.

The new numbers are a shot in the arm for a project some call the single most important transportation project in Maryland.

With Metro projecting its average daily ridership in 2030 to be about one million trips a day, the Purple Line is recognized as a critical piece toward increased public transit capacity.

A new study from the Maryland Transit Administration also is expected to show that the Purple Line will reduce the number of vehicle trips in Bethesda, College Park and Silver Spring by more than 17,000 a day.

Some Purple Line supporters tell WTOP both the projected ridership numbers and reduction in vehicle trips could even be low, with gas prices over $4 a gallon and climbing.

The Purple Line would have a minimum of 10 stations and would be a direct east to west link to Metro in Maryland. It is still in the planning stages, but Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has promised $100 million to bring the project into the engineering stage.

If all moved quickly, experts say the earliest construction could begin on the Purple Line is 2012. It would likely take three to five years to complete construction.

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