Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Catching up on the local news recently, I had to check my glasses while reading the May 30 Metro article "Trips on Purple Line Rail Projected at 68,000 Daily."

In a paragraph buried near the end, the article said that Michael D. Madden, the Maryland Transit Administration's project manager on the Purple Line study, had indicated that relief of traffic congestion was "not one of the project's primary objectives. Eighty percent of trips on a light rail Purple Line would be taken by people who already take transit, according to the study."

Surely we are not considering spending almost $2 billion in tax money on a new transit system that is not aimed at getting people out of their cars? How can it be that this fact has gotten so little attention?

If the Purple Line is not going to take people out of their cars, it does not make sense to build it.

GEOFF J. GONELLA

Kensington