If one wants to study the sad state of American transportation in and around metropolitan areas, Baltimore is just as good a study object as any. Once people leave the congested but smoothly paved interstates the journey goes across potholed city streets with hundreds of patches from quick fixes on the many utilities rotting away under the crumbling surface.
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| CMTA Transportation Report Card |
Baltimore has a 1980s single line subway in serious need of overhaul (new cars are funded, however), a 1990s single line light rail also approaching the "midlife overhaul" threshold. An additional rail line that would connected the other lonely lines creating the beginning of a rail system was scrapped by a Republican Governor mostly to make a point, and despite being fully designed and federally approved.
Commuter trains to the adjacent metro area (DC) share the tracks with Amtrak and freight. At various stations passengers board from adjacent tracks via step stool, on the line shared with freight passenger trains sometimes get delayed to let the freight pass.
800+ city and commuter buses fan out into the region to haul a quarter million people per day. The coaches are rather modern due to some TARP money, but endure heavy wear and tear on the bumpy roads they travel. There is no money to continue buying the recently introduced hybrid models, so the next replacement batch will be standard diesel again. The buses are notoriously unreliable and are often overcrowded due to the uneven schedule.
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| a 21st century commuter rail station? West Baltimore MARC |
Entering the city by train on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak's only service making a profit and reaching speeds approaching what is defined as high speed rail (150mph), the train crawls at 30mph through the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel completed in 1873. Plans for the replacement of this historic artifact have begun their journey through the arduous National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) mandated process, but neither full engineering nor construction are funded. Congress faces regular efforts by Republicans of reducing funding for Amtrak in spite of the staggering needs and the poor conditions of current lines. Any improvements on the NEC depend on how the new federal transportation bill will look. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) outlining a set of three alternatives for the entire corridor was released this week. ( website).
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| Acela train at the B&P tunnel portal |
Overall, the Baltimore area just received an overall grade of D in areport card by the regional transportation advocacy group C
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Nikolaus Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
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