Breakfast links: Maryland train to crazy town

Red and Purple together

Governor O’Malley will soon announce the state’s recommendations for both the Purple Line and Baltimore’s Red Line. He’s expected to recommend light rail for both projects, and push for federal funds for both to ensure both the Washington and Baltimore areas get their transit priorities equally. With a more transit-friendly administration, getting two projects funded just might be possible. (Post, Cavan)  (Tip: Cavan)

Single tracking??!?

The Maryland MTA is considering single-tracking the a part of the Baltimore Red Line which would run in an tunnel. through downtown

This would cause many operational nightmares and inconsistent passenger experiences. MTA is considering it only to fit FTA cost-effectiveness metrics. Any metric that pushes cities into terrible designs is a bad metric. (Baltimore Sun, Cavan)  (Tip: Cavan)

MTA out of the spying biz

Maryland’s MTA has backed off a controversial plan to install listening devices on trains and buses. Several state legislators joined in the opposition to the plan, which MTA claimed could help fight crime. (Inside Charm City)

Crime down, experts happy but baffled

DC, Prince George’s County, and other major cities across the US are experiencing much less violent crime than in the past, despite the bad economy. Experts really aren’t sure why. Better police data mining? Better relations with the community? Improved strategies for policing? (Post, Cavan)  (Tip: Cavan)

The street e?

Unsuck DC Metro has a little fun inviting commenters to fill in WMATA’s tweets that got cut off for surpassing the 140-character limit. (Michael P)  (Tip: Michael P)

1000s in train middles not a new idea

The Tri-state Oversight Committee asked Metro to study moving the 1000 Series cars to the center of trains before the crash, but now they say that Metro has no proof that putting the old cars in the center actually is safer. (Examiner, Matt’)  (Tip: Matt')

Walk or bike to Metro?

Tomorrow night is Metro’s workshop on bike and ped improvements to stations. How could Metro improve access near your station? (Post, Chris R)  (Tip: Chris R)