Action.:..rv~r:...l{...I(GWE'd rublje' TriJns~ort,]tJ,;)n In K(lnt.(')'~rv r:uunty...--,~ '\Committee for. Transit TRANSIT TIMES

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1 Action.:..rv~r:...l{...I(GWE'd rublje' TriJns~ort,]tJ,;)n In K(lnt.(')'~rv r:uunty...--,~ '\Committee for Transit P.O.!ox 7074, Silver Spring, MD Volume I, Number 3. Autumn, ~C~5A~D TRANSIT TIMES UPCOMING EVENTS ANOTHER HEARING... ANOTHER SHOW. A public hearing was held on Wednesday, September, 16. Carlton Sickles of WMATA presided. The subject of the public hearing was the permanent retention of experimental reroutings of metrobus routes T1 (western terminal moved from Congressional Country Club to the Connelly School) and Z5 (down Tech Road and Prosperity Drive). Also proposed was a rerouting of all runs of route Z2 down Norwood Road and Dr. Bird Drive, as well as rerouting the Z17 down Broadbirch Drive. Only two people chose to testify. The first person gave some general testimony concerning his "legitimate gripes" about Metrobus service but did not address the changes outlined in the docket. Tom Fuchs of ACT was the only other person who testified. Tom favored the changes si nce the affected routes wi 11 cover roads that had no previ ous service and therefore the changes amount to a service increase. The changes are expected to take effect December 7, rver FEEL LIKE A BIRDWATCHER? New buses have been seen plying the streets of Montgomery County and the District. These buses were built by Flxible and are designated model "88". They are commonly used on Baltimore's MTA system. Apparently the buses have been assigned to regular service on Northern Division RIDE-ON CHANGES. Ride-On implemented its quarterly service changes on September 6. H i g h 1 i g h t sinc 1 u den e w r 0 ute s 70- (C inn a m 0 n Woo d s - G e r man tow n MAR C), 53 (Rockville Metro-Olney Mill-Shady Grove Metro), and 48 (Rockville Metro Poolesville). Each of the new routes is peak periods only and the 48 features a premium fare of $1.00 for riders who travel the e,ntire route. (Note: this is similar to the fare charge~ to riders of route 75 who go to Urbana). In addition to the new routes, route 52 was changed.. It now goes from the Rockville,Metro Station to the Shady Grove Metro Station via Olney. T~i5 was a change that was suggestea by Olney residents at a Ride-On forum last April (see Transit Times, Volume I number 1). As an aside, Ride-On route 45 has been extended to Congressional Plaza (or, more accurately, service to the plaza was restored) during off-peak hours and has also been extended to the Rockville Senior Center.. Ride-On #45 is one of several routes whose ridership is marginal; it is too good to eliminate, so the County contracts it to a private ("for profit") company. One wonders: if the experiment is successful and ridership increases to the point where it meets the County standards, will the route be restored to the status of a "regular" Ride-On route? -1

2 routes, since this intrepid observer has seen them during the week only on the Sixteenth Street Line (S's) and the Georgia Avenue-Seventh Street Line (70's). Occasional sitings have been made in Montgomery County (C8, T6). Perhaps the new equipment has been assigned to Montgomery routes only on training runs and weekend service (when Montgomery Division is closed). HAPPY COINCIDENCE. In the autumn of 1987 the United States is celebrating the bicentennial of its Constitution. At the same time, the Action Committee for Transit is trying to put together a constitution and/or bylaws. A constitution can be written in such a way as to achieve one of at least three goals. It can make us a lobbying group, a corporation or a non-profit organization. ACT decided that it was most expedient to get itself classified as a lobbying group. This would probably be the easiest to achieve and would be the best description of our activities anyway. (Although, as Harry will be glad to tell anyone, the condition of our funding definately qual ifies us as non-profit.) Bruce Gilson v.oluntp.p.rec1 to prepare the Constitution, as long as he got help from other members of ACT. Please contact him by writing to h1m (his address is th Street Apt. 108 Silver Spring MD 20910) or by phoning him at ODDLY APPROPRIATE. Pursuant to the recent consolidation of Greyhound and Trailways, all Trailways buses to Silver Spring are now using the Greyhound Station. The Trailways station has been demolished and replaced with a drivethru Sovran Bank. WE L L, IT'S ABO UTTl ME! Rid e - 0 n has ins tall edara c k to dis play s c h e d u 1 e sand other information in the Silver Spring Metrorail station. This follows the example of the rack that is located in the Rockville station, and is part of an overall plan to increase public awareness of Ride-On service. (Ride-On has displayed its schedules in such places as the Park And Planning Commission Headquarters, and the County Executive Office buildings for years.) VISITOR. There was a representative of the group known as Baltimore Area Transit Association (BArA) at our meeting on October 15. He distributed a document titled "Citizens' Specifications for Urban Transit." BATA, it seems, has been working towards a light rail system in Baltimore similar to the one ACT is proposing for Montgomery County. ACT IS CLEANING UP (or was that, "We're cleani,ng up our ACT"?) ACT's very own Harry Sanders participated in the county's Community Service day on October 17. A sec don 0 ~ t;, ~ G e 0 f' getgw n I C r 9 n c h b ~ t wee n Roc k C r e ~ k and G e 9 r get 0 w n.1 unet ion was cleaned. COMMITTEE REPORTS RAIL COMMITTEE The members of the Rail Committee have been busily testifying at public hearings and writing letters. Harry Sanders testified at two hearings. The first series of publ' ic hearings was held concerning County Executive Sid Kramer's proposal for the commercial development of Silver Spring. County Council President Rose Crenca presided. The Rail Committee supported the revitalization, a Silver Spring Transportation Management District and the attempt to increase transit ridership. The testimony particularly emphasized the need for iniproved transit in downtown Silver Spring. The testimony urged construction of more sidewalks, and turning whole portions of streets over to transit vehicles and pedestrians. The testimony concluded with a suggestion that -2

3 county planners visit Portland and San Diego to see firsthand how successful light rail can be. Another hearing was held on October 5th by the Montgomery County Delegates to the State legislature. ACT supported several bills (PG/MC 31-88, PG/MC and PG/MC 2-88) that would add light rail to procedures for reservation of land, acquisiton of lland and functional master plans. Harry's testimony listed important advantages of LRT and how it might be able to attract people out of the i r automobiles. Ross Capon testified at a public hearing, and also wrote two letters (one to Richard Trainor and another to Governor Schaeffer) concerning the inclusion of Light Rai l in the US 29 study. Mr. Trainor had written Ross a letter that, while reiterating his support for light rail (in unspecified corridors), wrote that LRT would be i,nappropriate for US 29. Ross wrote back emphasizi:l-g the a d van tage s 0 f l' i g h t r ail 0 ve r bus t ran sit, stati n g t hat m0 s t 0 f,t heride r sin the US 29 corridor live within walking distance of US 29, a, light rail line would prove more attractive to autouse~s than ~1)~ld a b!..!s,.and '~c(,j1::! be. less expensive than a subway. Ross also emphasized the need for modern traffic circles. COMMUNITY OUTREACH COMMITTEE A camera-ready copy of the fl i er has gone to the printer. Either 500 or 1000 cop i es of the flier will be printed, depending on how much money ACT has. A suggestion was made at the October meeting that a permit could be obtained from WMATA that would allow ACT to display its literature on the Bethesda-Silver Spring Line (metrobus routes J1, J2 and J3). Comment: it might also be appropriate to get Ride-On routes I, 2, 11 and 21 into the ACT. BUS COMMITTEE The bus committee has mailed out a copy of a letter to each of the 234 civic associations listed in the Montgomery County Rain bow Directory. The letter introduced ACT, briefly described its goals and invited the association to contact us. A letter was also drafted and mai l ed to each of the 76 largest transit authorities in the United States and Canada. This letter asked the transit authority to send us any videotape they could concerning transit services they provide. The videotape would have a particular emphasis on Light Rail If we get reasonable response to the letters, a bulk mailing permit might l be in order. If we get a huge response to our letters, we might want to hire a secretary. AN EDfTORIAL Rockville M ~ ayoral' Candidate Doug Duncan recently stated in a campaign brochure, "Let Disneyland keep the monorails." Presumably Mr. Duncan is referring to the proposed people mover between Congressional Plaza and the Twinbrook Metrorail station (references 1 and 2). When it comes to the specifics of the proposal, this editor is inclined t o agree with him. The design does not call for a monorail that is long enough t o attract commuters, and it presumes that a substantial number of shoppers would travel by transit, which I believe would not happen here. The proposed monorail is to be built in a circular pattern with a circumference of 6000 feet. This would give it a diameter of roughly 1900 feet. The Maryland National Capitol Park And Planning Commission has stated t hat "[A] walking distance of roughly 2000 feet.. is greater t ha n the maximum walking distance accepted by most people." (Reference 6). I tend t o agree, particularly since most shoppers woul d end up carrying bags of merchandise with them. In -3

4 the 0 ry, a t ran sit ve h i c 1 e co u 1 d gobe t wee nthe s hop pin g c en t eran d the sub w ay station, provided the vehicle were large enough to handle shoppers with bags. On the other hand, let's be realistic. Congressional Plaza has been connected to the Twinbrook Station by daily Metrobus (routes C8, T4, T6 and Z4) and Ride-On (routes 5 and 45) service since January So few people use this service to get between the shopping' center and the Twinbrook Station that any additional competition would be ineffective. Therefore, the proposal that the developers have outlined is unnecessary. But consider this: what if the monorail were extended to, say, the Parklawn Bui l ding, Loehmann Plaza, White Flint Plaza and/or the North Bethesda Office Center? As such, it wou1d pick up office workers during peak periods and provide a high-profile alternative to the proposed shuttle bus service between the Grosvenor Station and downtown Rockville (reference 3). It could provide enough station stops to serve all the shopping centers and office complexes that metrorail misses. It would be long enough to provide shoppers and commuters alike an alternative to driving their autos on MD 355. Since Mr. Duncan mentions transportation only in passing, one cannot heip bui:: won8er what his position is. Is he against monorails entirely or simply the one that has been proposed? What are his views on other forms of transit such as LRT,busses and heavy rail? Like it or not, congestion on Rockville Pike has already arrived and more can be expected. What can we Rockville residents expect from Mr. Duncan? Another Editorial It occurred to me as I prepared this issue that transit users in Montgomery County are again facing an age-old dilemna. Our transit map is outdated within weeks of it being printed. When I attended several concerts at which Ride-On maps were being distributed, I managed to get several copies of the map so that I could give them to my friends and colleagues. I was asked to exercise special care in selecting the people to whom to give the maps, since they were so expensive to produce. They are, in fact, very well designed and printed. And they are also less than completely current. My question is: what alternatives are available that can be kept completely current? Some sort of floppy disk on which a Ride-On graphics package can be stored and edited? The hardware would be too expensive. Print a completely new map every 3 months? Again, too expensive. I would like to propose an alternative. Transit information could be published in the form of a loose-leaf notebook. This notebook could contain all route, ~_chedule and farel information. It could be kept current through supplements published with each change. These supplements need only address the actual changes. Here's the novelty: they could be sold. That would help the County defray the cost of publishing the notebook. The notebook could be available in bookstores, groceries, pharmacies or anywhere else potential transit users could shop. Also note that this is not entirely without precedent. "Car-Free In Boston" is now in its fifth edition and costs $3.95. References 1) Richardson, V. "Monorail May Ride City Skyline." Rockville Gazette 2 (46): pg 1 (December 17, 1986). 2) 'Hamblen, M. "Disney-Style Monorail Proposed For Rockville Pike." Montgomery Journal 14 (133): page Al (December 17,1986). 3) Herring, BL. "Private Shuttle Bus Service Proposed." Montgomery Journal: page -4

5 A6 (Septmber 19, 1985). 4) Hamblen, M. "More Building, Monorail Seen On R'ville Pike." Montgomery Journal 14 (150): page Ai (January 13, 1987). 5) Hamblen, M. "Federal Aid Sought For Monorail Study." Montgomery Journal: page A4 (March 25, 1987). 6) Montgomery County Planning Board, MNCPPC. "Approved And Adopted North Bethesda Sector Plan," page 25 (May, 1978). MNCPPC Series No REMINDERS The next ACT meeting is scheduled for November 19. It will be a general, all-hands meeting. The time and place will be as usual: 7:45 pm at the Silver Spring Community Center. The December meeting will be on the 17th. The Bus Committee and the Rail Committee will both meet at 7:45, and at the Silver Spring Community Center. They will, howe,ver, meet in separate rooms and dicuss issues relevent to their specialties. The January, 1988 meeting will be on the 21st. It will be a general meeting at the usual time and place. Topics will probably include discussion and formal adoption of the constitution and/or bylaws. Membership dues and ballots for the election of officers are to be mailed in by the end of January,