A House of Delegates candidate will mount a bike to race a car commuter and Metro-rider from downtown Bethesda to downtown Silver Spring.
The “Great Race,” announced by District 16 candidate Jordan Cooper on Wednesday, is meant to prove the Purple Line light rail and other transit projects are much needed to help solve Montgomery County’s traffic congestion woes.
Cooper will take a Capital Bikeshare bike from the Bethesda Metro station at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3. At the same time, his campaign manager Adam Beitman will hop on the Metro Red Line. Bill Jacobs, a member of the Montgomery Green Democrats, will get in his car and head toward Silver Spring via East-West Highway.
Cooper said he will beat Beitman and Jacobs to downtown Silver Spring by cycling to it on the Capital Crescent Trail. He claimed that would show the importance of the 16-mile light rail — which is planned to run alongside a large portion of the trail from downtown Bethesda to Silver Spring.
“Montgomery County no longer merely a bedroom community for D.C. commuters. We are now a destination. The hub and spoke Metro model is inadequate for addressing our needs,” Cooper said in a statement. “Montgomery County’s traffic situation is completely untenable. The best solution to our clogged streets is an immediate plan for completing construction of the Purple Line once and for all.”
Cooper said the Purple Line has been delayed for too long. This, even though the light rail system seems well on its way to getting done — the federal government has approved the state’s environmental plan and allowed the state to purchasing right of way along the route.
Officials hope to start construction on the $2.37 billion system in 2015 and select a private concessionaire to partner on the project later this year.
Beitman said the race isn’t just about the Purple Line. The campaign wants to promote Capital Bikeshare and the concept of transit-oriented development.
Cooper got a good review on the Action Committee for Transit’s scorecard on the local primary candidates. The group went more in-depth with Council and county executive candidates, awarding a plus rating, minus rating or no rating when it came to candidates’ views on the Purple Line, People Before Cars, Buses Before Cars, Opposes M-83 Highway and Housing Near Metro.
ACT is one of the organizers of Thursday’s Council Candidates Forum on Transportation in Silver Spring. The Coalition for Smarter Growth and other transit and environmental groups said 17 candidates are confirmed for the event, set for 7 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Building (One Veterans Place, Silver Spring).
District 1 opponents Roger Berliner and Duchy Trachtenberg will participate. So will all four incumbent at-large candidates, Democratic challenger Beth Daly and Republican challenger Robert Dyer.
