A federal judge said Wednesday that it would make “common sense” for the Maryland Transit Administration to consider Metro’s “extraordinary” maintenance problems and declining ridership before it builds a light-rail Purple Line that would connect to it.
In hearing oral arguments in a lawsuit opposing the light-rail project, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon floated the idea — in apparent agreement with the plaintiffs — of requiring the state to analyze the potential impact Metro’s safety lapses and falling ridership could have on Purple Line ridership. The ridership forecasts were part of the cost-benefit analysis that the state did before deciding in 2013 to build a 16-mile light-rail line instead of a less-expensive bus option.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Katherine Shaver over at Washington Post