Annapolis Capital Punishment

Last week’s poll elicited responses from 57 readers who were asked “Would You Support A $600k State Study of Rail Service Between Baltimore and Annapolis That Will Cost Billions to Build?” The General Assembly is considering a bill that was introduced as a result of a City Council resolution. It’s probably DOA due to the price tag.

The big question, as far as CP is concerned, is why we don’t have commuter express bus service RIGHT NOW? The two issues cannot be divorced. Why spend money to study rail if we don’t even have an express bus? What better way to study and assess demand than from running buses? It appears as if the bill’s champions in city government, Alderman Shropshire and Alderman Stankivic, have completely ignored the relatively easy and inexpensive way to quickly get buses on the road. Instead, they are fixated on rail--light rail to be exact. CP wonders whether or not they even know what makes “light” rail “light”? Hint--it’s not fewer calories, but to my mind, buses will be more filling and taste better.

It now takes 25 minutes to go from the terminus station at Cromwell to the Convention Center, so we ask, how long will a trip take from Annapolis (where exactly?) to the Convention Center? At that speed, probably 1.5 hours. So, let’s do the math. $600,000 to study what will cost billions to build and a decade to complete or $300,000 to get a whole lot of buses on the road NEXT MONTH that will go from downtown Annapolis to downtown Baltimore in about 45 minutes.

We could do both-yes? We could get buses going and study rail, but instead there is no talk of buses. Remember that Alderman Shropshire, a man who represents one ward in tiny Annapolis that is ten miles from the Bay Bridges, is still fixated on building a third bridge! More people from all over the country cross the Bay Bridges in an hour than voted him into office in his ward.

The real question remains, why does our City Council ignore our ailing bus system that serves us here and now, but presses the State to study a rail service that will at best, only come into Annapolis for less than a mile?

Your answers:

“Definitely Yes” 15 or 26%, “Probably Yes” 6 or 10%, “Do Not Know” 1 or 1%. “Probably No” 4 or 7%, “Definitely No” 12 or 21%. And finally, 19 or 33% of you favored, “Immediately Re-Start A Low-Cost Express Commuter Bus Service First”. Therefore the definitely or probably yes folks tallied 36% while Bus folks got 33%. The definitely or probably no folks mustered 28%. Perhaps I simply should have asked “Do you or do you not support reinstating the express commuter bus service between Annapolis and Baltimore?”

This week’s poll, once again will focus on the primary elections, but it’s so much more interesting now that the races have been whittled down and there is no clear winner. Therefore, Maryland will once again be thrust into the spotlight! As always, thanks for voting and please vote when this poll is up later today.