Gov. Wes Moore prepares to add more light rail to Baltimore as ridership lags and costs rise on current system

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is moving forward with a new east-west light rail project in Baltimore that could cost up to $7.2 billion to build and millions more to operate. Yet ridership on the region’s current north-south light rail system is about half of what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, and its costs keep ticking up.

The number of rides taken during fiscal year 2023 was down to 3.4 million, compared with 7.4 million in fiscal year 2018, on the north-south line, which travels from Hunt Valley in Baltimore County to BWI Marshall Airport or Glen Burnie in Anne Arundel County, according to Maryland Transit Administration data. A one-way ticket costs $2. Fare revenue, excluding that from CharmPass or CharmCard, has fallen by a greater percentage, down to $2.5 million in fiscal 2023 compared with $7.2 million in fiscal 2018.

Meanwhile, annual core operating costs have risen to $37.7 million from $33.1 million during that same period.

Local and commuter bus routes, which make up two-thirds of all MTA ridership, also have been slow to recover post-pandemic, according to MTA data . But they cover more ground and measure ridership in millions per month, rather than per year.

Moore announced in June , after months of study and community input, that he planned to revive a shelved Red Line transit project as light rail, which could take 12 years to construct, scrapping the cheaper rapid bus line option which was forecast to cost between $4.1 billion and $5.7 billion .

Each option was projected to take between 44 and 48 minutes to travel the proposed 14-mile Red Line route from Woodlawn in western Baltimore County to Bayview Hospital in East Baltimore, with yearly capital costs of $21 to $26 per trip.

The cost of the Red Line is likely to be divided between the state and federal government, though Moore has not offered details about how the state will cover its share at a time when Maryland is facing a six-year, $3.3 billion transportation funding shortfall.

In a statement to The Sun on Friday, Moore spokesperson Carter Elliott said the light rail option was the more financially wise choice and most popular among residents.

“The people of Maryland made it abundantly clear through countless town halls, letters, phone calls, and community meetings that light rail was the preferred method of east-to-west transit for the Baltimore area. And, Governor Moore is delivering on this project while previous administrations purposefully overlooked it,” Elliott said in an email. “We know that light rail is the more cost-effective option when looking at a per-rider basis, and that [it] is the more long-term sustainable option. Governor Moore will continue to advocate for Baltimore and provide the state’s largest city with the tools that it needs to succeed.”

Some, however, say light rail is more trouble than it’s worth.

“You’re talking about [an] expensive, significantly slower, tremendously disruptive — potentially really disruptive — [transportation project] on an ongoing basis downtown,” said Jonathan Sacks, the executive director of HUB West Baltimore Community Development Corporation.

State and city leaders historically have underinvested in Sacks’ Edmondson community, which he said is eager to bolster its connectivity to downtown Baltimore and Washington to attract a more economically diverse population. But light rail doesn’t seem to be a promising solution, he said.

Light rail isn’t as flexible as other transportation modes like buses, he said. And construction of light rail infrastructure can disrupt the city’s walkability, drivability and parking ability for years, negatively affecting local businesses.

When a surface-level light rail comes up on a cordoned-off crime scene, it needs to wait for the scene to clear to move forward, whereas buses can navigate around, Sacks said. Its speed is also partly dependent on the timing of traffic lights, unlike Metro SubwayLink.

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In an interview last week with Baltimore Sun co-owner Armstrong Williams as part of a “Your Voice, Your Future” town hall series, Moore said that although the light rail has been known to face mechanical issues and fall short of residents’ needs, what he envisions for the new Red Line is modernization and reliability.

“You have antiquated technology that has been onboard,” Moore said. “What we’re talking about now is actually creating a reliable, a sensible and a financially prudent, financially smart way of being able to move people from where they live to where they work, where they live to where they go to school and getting it done on time and on budget.”

MTA spokesperson Courtney Mims said that for every dollar spent on public transit — including buses, light rail and subway — $5 feeds back into the local economy. Currently, public transit provides access to half of the Baltimore region’s 1.2 million jobs and represents more than 10% of commutes in the city, she said, noting that light rail ridership is climbing, with nearly 3.6 million rides taken in the first 10 months of fiscal 2024, though that is still short of fiscal 2018 figures.

“The agency is confident that ridership for light rail will continue to increase through 2024 and beyond,” Mims wrote in an email. She also said that costs rose following the pandemic in part because of the payout of union contracts and coronavirus-related expense increases.

Light rail might have been the more expensive choice for the Red Line, but it will pay dividends, according to Samuel Jordan, president of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition.

“Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an expense. LRT [light rail transit] is an investment, a revenue generator,” Jordan wrote in a statement in late June, responding to Moore’s Red Line announcement.

Not only will the Red Line light rail option reduce commute times and connect residents with job opportunities, he wrote, but it also will reduce pollution and spur development.

Eric Norton, director of policy and programs for Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, echoed that sentiment, pointing to a development project proposed near the light rail stop in Lutherville . Many residents have expressed strong opposition to the project, however, stalling its progress. For light rail to succeed, localities need to be willing to let that sort of development occur, Norton said.

“We have an existing light rail that we’re not using to its full potential,” Norton said of the north-south line. “The potential is there for the Red Line, but we have to actually do [the development], too.”

Light rail is the wrong choice for Red Line | READER COMMENTARY

Maryland Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a Republican who represents the Eastern Shore area, serves on the Maryland Commission on Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs. Considering the rigidity of a light rail option, underuse of the current line and the cost burden on the taxpayers, Hershey said he is skeptical about choosing light rail and the project as a whole. He sees his constituents’ tax dollars going toward a Baltimore region system that serves no benefit to them.

“The Red Line means something to people that live there,” Hershey said, but it is a statewide “multibillion-dollar decision.”

The state is also working on a Purple Line light rail project, which will span 16 miles between New Carrollton and Bethesda, according to the MTA. The line is expected to open for service in 2027 with an anticipated cost of around $5.5 billion for design, construction and vehicles, Mims said.