Jun 20 2007
Baltimore Trolley – Really?
Today’s Baltimore Sun reports that Baltimore’s Board of Estimates approved $200,000 to help study whether it’s possible? to build a? trolley to link the Inner Harbor with the Johns Hopkins University.? The Trolley would run from Baltimore’s Inner harbor? North through downtown and Mount Vernon, ending in Charles Village.
…an engineering study to examine how the trolley might interfere with utility lines and if the train could make it up the hills of Mount Vernon.
We? can put men on the moon, build 1,400 foot tall skyscrapers , and squeeze the Library of Congress onto a drive smaller than a credit card, but Baltimore isn’t sure if they can get a trolley to go up hills.? Of course this is also the city that built a hot air balloon tied to the ground and were surprised when the wind? took over? and the riders had to be rescued.
More public transportation in Baltimore City – Absolutely.? It’s something the city is desperately lacking.? But why not incorporate this with the existing underused Baltimore metro system.? We recently looked at the current study of the metro red line project.? Why not expand on this?? A separate trolley system would result in yet another disjointed public transportation system that serves only a small portion of the city.? I assume they would built it so that stations connected near one of the existing metro stations downtown.?
Obviously the? cost of building an above ground trolley system is on much smaller scale than building additional underground metro lines.? So maybe the city is thinking about this as an interim step.? Do the Hopkins students really need to get to the Harbor that badly? Perhaps a trolley taking them right to Fells Point would make more sense.? Or how about a trolley that runs from Canton through Fells Point, Harbor East, downtown, Federal Hill, ending in Locust Point.? That would save a lot of us some weekend cab fair $.
7 Comments to “Baltimore Trolley – Really?”
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They are looking to shore up that money corridor in the middle of town. We already have buses that run up and down Charles and St Paul, and they are some of the more reliable and heavily trafficked bus routes in the city. But compare who rides the buses now with who will be riding these trolleys.
Yeah this sounds like a good plan, just not sure their is any street space along Charles or St. Pauls to make this happen, guess where theres a will theres a way. Would make sens to be tying these city transpo systems together though.
Sadly, Jon raises an important point. One of the most important aspects of public transportation success is rider perception. If a city has a bus (b) and a metro (m) that travel from the same starting point to the same finishing point in the same amount of time, the metro will succeed and the bus will fail (not considering, of course, operating costs), as middle and upper class commuters will equate the bus line with poverty and commonness. Consequently, middle and upper class commuters will most often forgo the bus line even if it is more convenient and less expensive than driving, due to classism and racism. Ridiculous as that may be, it reduces or eliminates the benefits that public transportation may have on reducing vehicular traffic, causing public transportation to be little more than a transportation option for the poor and those too young to drive. In theory, if a trolly has more sex appeal to the middle and upper classes, it could reduce car traffic, reduce car pollution and be an economic boon to businesses and real estate properties along its route, but only if it does appeal to the more “respectable” classes. That was the intention of Light Rail line on the Howard St. corridor. Unfortunately, that didn’t succeed as well as the urban planners had hoped. There is some debate as to whether the Light Rail saved Howard St. from turning into a barren wasteland or hurt businesses by reducing street traffic. So the question is, would a trolly succeed through that corridor in a way that the bus line is incapable of succeeding, even though the bus line is theoretically just as convenient to riders and less of a hindrance to vehicle traffic? I hope the 200 G study answers those questions. But whatever, I live on that route and take the bus.
true. very true. bike is the way to go.
lets face it, classism and racism aside, the bus stinks! they are always changing the routes, they do not run very frequently, and half the time the driver won’t even stop for you! If I did not live in baltimore I would not even know what bus to get on when I got here, it is not very aproachable to an outsider, there are no maps or stations. but still there is not very much room on charles street, and its silly to have 3 rail systems in the city that are not connected. if it’s to costly and inconvenient to dig tunnels for a subway system, what do we think of an elevated train system? i hate to say it but, monorail?
I just moved to Baltimore and I have to say- this is a confusing city….it will take me awhile to understand how the different modes of transportation work as well as the streets….I definitely think there needs to be more reliable modes of transportation as well as easy accessible bus schedules for newbies like me….
Ok, I have a bias, one of those buses ran me off the road, but I do agree that a seperate trolly or expanded metro will be much more suitable to the downtown visitor and commuter. To be able to take the light rail to camden yards or pick up the trolley outside the courthouse or the Walters, and pick up a metro or trolley to locust point or canton, with stops in between, would greatly enhance the accessability to and expand the possibility of more and better commerce in the federal hill, key highway, and locust point areas. which in turn ups the desirability of housing, the need for quality retail and commercial, etc., etc., etc… I see the exposed tracks all over this area and wonder if this could be some kind of historic restoration project, with all the perks and benefits that implies?