Maryland Gov. O'Malley Backs Light-Rail Purple Line, but Funding Issues Remain

MARYLAND Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday threw the state's weight behind the most sensible proposal to build the east-west transitway across the Maryland suburbs known as the Purple Line -- a light-rail line that would run the 16 miles from Bethesda to New Carrollton in just under an hour, including stops at 21 street-level platforms. In opting for light rail (think streetcars, but somewhat quieter and faster), and in assuring local residents that the trains will be "narrow and sleek, quiet and low to the ground," the governor cast a sound decision in appropriately reassuring terms.

It is heartening that after 23 years of talk, there are at last better-than-even odds of building a viable transit option that would connect Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, the University of Maryland's College Park campus, Langley Park and Adelphi, as well as Metro's Orange, Red and Green lines. But much depends now on nailing down funding for the project, on which ground might be broken within five years or so. The state is planning to pony up half the cost, now estimated at about $1.68 billion, factoring in inflation, by the time the line is complete. As for the rest, the governor and state transportation officials are looking almost exclusively to the federal government.

On the face of it, there's logic in that approach. Federal money plays a large part in funding most new transit projects. And there is reason to think Washington's commitment to mass transit should and will grow in the coming years, given the heightened national focus on environmental sustainability, climate change, the price of gasoline and the cost of sprawl associated with commuting by car.

But officials in Annapolis might also take a hard look at the recent, tortuous history of federal funding for the project to build a rail line to Dulles International Airport and think hard about possible sources of money to supplement aid from the feds. In the case of Dulles rail, state, local and airport officials in Virginia expended vast amounts of time, energy and heartburn to secure federal aid, a process that added years to planning and designing the project. The eventual yield in federal funding was $900 million -- not exactly chump change but still scarcely 17 percent of the project's $5.2 billion price tag.

A chunk of the Dulles project's funding is coming from a tax surcharge on commercial land owners and developers who stand to gain from the rail line's construction. Maryland officials might also examine whether a portion of the cost of the Purple Line, which is likely to spur redevelopment along its route, could be borne by businesses and developers. Better to hedge the funding bet than rely exclusively on federal largess.