RTP Konveio Document Comments Received Between April 23-June 18
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RTP Konveio Document Comments Received Between April 23-June 18 Orange cells indicate comments that received responses (first row in dark orange is the original comment, and rows beneath in lighter orange/italics are responses) Page (note: refers to Thumbs Thumbs Date posted Comment Konveio page number and not page number up down within doc) Add option to create more rail lines (subway/light rail) along heavy bus route usage and major destinations. Throwing more buses doesn't help 04/24/2020 - 1:20pm 26 4 0 when there is no capacity for them. Mass transit must transport a mass amount of people, or else it isn't mass transit. This plan does that (sort of) in the Regional Transit Corridors section starting on p. 58, but doesn't make it clear. People are reacting to this pink and white map like it is the Regional Transit Corridors map. They're not to blame for being confused. It might help to: 06/03/2020 - 6:12pm * put the Regional Transit Corridors section earlier in the document 26 1 0 * show the Early Opportunity Corridors on their own map * say more about the opportunity to build transit that moves more people faster (bus rapid transit, light rail, heavy rail) where this plan has identified are the places where improvements like that should be prioritized Look at the 1978 Metro Subway plan. Identify funding for long term and do 04/24/2020 - 1:22pm not rely on the state or federal government to continue funding. It's been 27 8 0 stripped for illogical reasons in the past! Establish a Transit Trust Fund through user fees or gasoline tax, or 05/06/2020 - 11:50pm 27 8 0 other means to solely dedicate to transportation projects. Make this "Fort Meade/Severn/Odenton area." Basically any town around 04/24/2020 - 1:25pm 28 4 0 Fort Meade. 04/24/2020 - 1:26pm Add service to Odenton MARC. 28 4 0 Explore converting heavy bus corridors to light/heavy rail to handle 04/24/2020 - 1:30pm 36 2 0 passenger load. How can you call it a plan for central Maryland when you don't include 04/24/2020 - 1:55pm 5 0 0 Montgomery or Prince Georges Counties? Montgomery and PG Counties are not a part of central MD and are 05/04/2020 - 12:54pm 5 5 0 also heavily served and helped by neighboring counties The study area for the Central Maryland RTP was legislatively 05/28/2020 - 3:54pm dictated by the Maryland General Assembly (Chapter 352, 2018) 5 1 0 and did not include Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. There's no mention of private vehicle transportation or roads improvements. Is there another plan for those areas? Will this plan be 04/24/2020 - 1:59pm integrated with those areas? 16 1 14 Travel by private automobile is by far the most common means of transportation, and needs to be addressed somewhere. Roadways definitely need some improvements, and commitment 04/28/2020 - 4:31pm to keep them in good shape once fixed. Especially bridges, some 16 0 0 look pretty shabby. Private auto is already receiving prioritization. That's partly why transit is in such a poor condition. This document is our society's meager attempt to improve public transit in the small space that's 04/30/2020 - 11:16am 16 12 0 allowed for it amidst all the car prioritization already. So no, this document does not need to address road improvements except insofar as they benefit buses and bikes. This a transit plan, not a "how can we further provide motorist 05/11/2020 - 10:46am 16 6 0 hand-outs plan". This plan is specifically for transit in the region, as dictated by the 2018 General Assembly legislation. The Maryland Transportation Plan (http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/newMDOT/Planning/Maryland_ 05/28/2020 - 3:45pm 16 0 0 Transportation_Plan/Index.html) provides additional information on other modes of transportation in the state. However, MDOT MTA will continue to work with jurisdictional partners to make transportation infrastructure investments. I'm a member of several Washington, DC organizations and occasionally want to go to meetings in the evening. The last several meetings, however, lasted a little too long and the only MARC train available to return to 04/24/2020 - 2:00pm 17 10 0 Baltimore was at ~11pm. I ended up paying several times the price for an Amtrak ticket. I probably won't go to many more DC meetings because of this. If the Penn line is too crowded to accommodate more MARC trains, maybe 04/27/2020 - 12:17pm make some kind of deal with Amtrak to let people pay MARC fares to board 17 7 0 Amtrak trains that stop at places like BWI, Balt-Penn, and Aberdeen. How about additional rail capacity in the form of new parallel set(s) of 04/28/2020 - 4:33pm 17 7 0 tracks? ADA access at stops is not enough. My husband has a bad back and currently cannot use transit -- not because the stops are inaccessible -- but 04/24/2020 - 2:10pm because it's many blocks from our house to the closest bus stop. He can't 22 2 0 walk that far. We have to have a car because that's the only way he can grocery shop. I don't see any mention of reducing Maryland's GHG emissions and air 04/24/2020 - 3:05pm pollution in the overall goals of the Regional Transit Plan- I think this should 12 9 0 be a priority- I would add importance of intermodal transit options (bus to metro, bus to MARC, metro to MARC) including unified system to pay (like EasyPass, but for transit) would help increase ridership, but also intermodel between 04/24/2020 - 3:09pm 17 14 0 these forms of transit and bikes-- many people could ride to their nearest transit station rather than make long walks, but there's not enough (safe) bike parking or bike lanes COVID19 has demonstrated the dramatic impact of cars on our environment-- lowering air pollution, noise pollution and GHG emissions. While this has been a painful and forced shutdown for public health reasons, what can we learn about the positive environmental effects in our 04/24/2020 - 3:14pm 23 12 0 planning going forward for the new normal after the crisis passes. Also-- COVID will be with us for years-- so the issue of safety and cleanliness is now overlain with public health. How will the plan address these new challenges? "MDOT MTA is the largest operater, providing 94% of the transit largest trips in the region." 04/24/2020 - 3:44pm 9 4 0 I think the word largest is misplaced. 05/23/2020 - 6:00pm Typo? 9 0 0 Honestly, I thought this plan would be more comprehensive and innovative, with a list of potential projects from short term to long term. Most of the things listed were things that were general or unspecific and some of it was actively being worked on or seem more near term. This plan is also very bus focused but says that rail ridership is up across the country. There is no mention of expanding the MARC service beyond the existing corridor alignments, possibly connecting west to Reisterstown / Westminster using existing rail corridors. Similarly, with Metro, there is no mention of expanding the system based on the 2002 and 2007 plans. Connecting Camden Station to Penn Station and going east was in the previous plan. I think there needs to be a more complete and connected system. Expanding service to Towson, through Mount Vernon on the light 04/24/2020 - 4:11pm 27 6 0 rail, potentially to Columbia. Also, extending rail to Bayview and possibly White Marsh or Tradepoint. I get that the current administration is focusing on buses, as evidenced by the Red Line. But I think that projects like the Red Line are still important, especially by 2045. More fixed rail projects need to happen because buses can be taken away easily and communities depend on transit. I think the final plan needs to identify specific projects/desires that need to happen or need to be studied. It's been 13 years since the last plan was done-- that plan had a lot of projects called out, a lot of them did not happen because of this current administration. This administration is almost over and we need a long term plan that is not political and that can be implemented over the next 25 years, big plans, big ideas! Should be "speed, reliability, *and frequency*" of existing transit. 10 minutes is the barest minimum for show-up-and-go service, but none of 04/24/2020 - 4:14pm the supposedly-frequent CityLink buses, light rail, or subway reach that 13 16 0 threshold off-peak and weekends. Without minimizing wait time, how can we expect to get people out of their cars for discretionary local trips? Just adding on that frequency is a problem with the MARC system as well. The Penn Line only has acceptable rush hour headways of 15 minutes from 0600 to 0700 and from 1700 to 1800. These peak 06/01/2020 - 4:36pm hours need to be extended and midday service frequency needs to 13 2 0 be increased from hourly to every 30 minutes. Weekend service should be hourly. Meanwhile the Camden Line needs all-day hourly service, rush hour headways of 20 minutes, and weekend service. I think first the subway has to actually go somewhere- we have the least useful system I have ever seen--it basically goes nowhere that I need to go.