Baltimore came a step closer today to getting a $6 million permanent train station at Camden Yards when the Maryland Stadium Authority agreed to help with design and construction.
Tag: public transportation
Councilman Cries Foul on Changes to Free Transit Rides for City Students
For years, students in Baltimore City public schools have been able to use passes that let them ride MTA buses and trains around the city for free from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. Today, a newly elected city councilman has taken a stand against recent changes to the pass system that cut back on those free rides and their hours, which he said leaves some students shut out of after school activities.
Baltimore, Your Bus Might Be Spying on You
Three-quarters of Baltimore buses are equipped to record passengers’ conversations.
City Pays Amazon $100,000 for Employee Buses
In Silicon Valley, it’s pretty common for employers to provide private commuter shuttles to get employees from home to work. Amazon has been doing the same thing for its Baltimore employees since July–and now the city wants to reward them with a $100,000 forgivable loan.
Hogan Halts Red Line Rail Project in Baltimore City, Approves DC’s Purple Line
Larry Hogan announced billions of dollars in state spending on Thursday afternoon, but the Red Line was not one of them. The Republican governor said he does not support construction of an east-west commuter rail through Baltimore due to the design. However, Hogan said the state would pitch in money to help build the proposed Purple Line commuter rail near D.C.
MTA Raising Fares for Buses, MARC Trains
Tolls may be going down in Baltimore’s tunnels and bridges, but public transportation fares on the surface streets and rails are taking a hike next month.
With 31 Percent of Baltimore Going Car-Free, Is the Automobile Passe?
Of the 30 most populous cities in the United States, Baltimore ranks sixth in carlessness, with 31 percent of households getting around without a car, light truck, or SUV. But to be fair, every city in the top five, ranks pretty high in quality of public transportation. So we’re really in a class by ourselves.
Thirty-one percent is only a 1.9-percent increase in non-car homes since 2007, but it’s part of a nationwide trend. According to Michael Siviak, the study’s author, “We now have fewer light-duty vehicles, we drive each of them less, and we consume less fuel than in the past.”
MARC Train (Finally!) Adds Weekend Service Between DC and Baltimore
I’ve always thought that Baltimore was the perfect distance from DC — close enough that I can just hop on the train to check out an exciting exhibit in the nation’s capital, but far enough away that I don’t run into politicians (or, worse, wannabe politicians) at the bar. The one fly in the ointment has been the lack of weekend MARC trains, which force weekend visitors between the cities to either drive (time-consuming and annoying) or take the Amtrak (more than twice as expensive). But not for long!
Bike-Share Program to Come to Baltimore
If you’re car-less in Baltimore, the city’s thriving Zipcar service is a qualified godsend. The cars are almost everywhere, and if you consolidate your errands into as few trips as possible the whole thing can really work out in your favor. On the other hand, the $6-8 per hour fee makes the service totally impractical for getting to work. For that, it’s back to the bus.
By this time next year, the city plans to have a bike-share program in place. And, well, it still won’t be any kind of solution for Baltimore’s vehicularly challenged — even if you live in downtown, midtown, or Southeast Baltimore, where all the bikes will be.
What If Baltimore Had Subway Stations Instead of Subway Restaurants?
Emily Badger over at The Atlantic Cities pointed us toward Chris Nelson’s playful rendering of a very different (and very imaginary) Baltimore transit map, one in which every Subway (the sandwich shop) was instead, well, a subway (the public transit option). A girl can dream, right?
