Baltimore and Washington Railroad Transit issue

[Anonymous]

I read in Yahoo news the other day about this region.

Facts:

The Pentagon is changing employees from one area to another depending on what bases or offices are closed and what new facilities become availible.

Many of the "old" work places are near Mass Transit

Problem:

The number of "New" workers will find themselves having to DRIVE in traffic that is one of the worst in the nation to work.

The Maryland MARC railroad says they will have difficulty accomodating new passengers to places that are not that well accessible.

The present Metro Subway system "Could" be extended several miles to reach new work places after track, stations and facilities are built.

Baltimore's light rail might be able to help but they are no where near as "Built" as Washington DC's subway.

Many areas such as Aberdeen, Southern Maryland and in between the two cities DONT have readily availible mass transit.

The cost? The state of maryland projects 600 Billion dollars to find, buy properties, go thru the "Approval" process, arrange for the workers, building the infrastructure etc etc etc... to reach new areas to serve the thousands of new potential work areas after the pentagon is finished with the BRAC program.

In the mean time, more commuters choke the region to a halt.

My proposal...

Why does everything HAVE to be in Wash/Balto area? Spread it out around the east coast and the midwest. People will fill the needed jobs if you provide the right environment such as good public transit.

[dldance]

I do know that some of the intelligence agencies are relocating out the the Wash/Balto area to avoid a single point of concentraion. Your idea makes sense -- therefore it will never be!

dd

[Anonymous]

One wonders how much of the Defence Departments work could be done at home by its workers like processing payroll. The Defence department is contracting many of its logistics out. They are even contracting out some of its Intelegence gathering functions.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Telecommuting is highly unlikely for Department of Defense work by its very nature. Security of any sort would be much more diffficult to maintain.

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by HighIron2003ar



My proposal...

Why does everything HAVE to be in Wash/Balto area? Spread it out around the east coast and the midwest. People will fill the needed jobs if you provide the right environment such as good public transit.

Too many people want to be near the center of power.
Enjoy
Paul

[daveklepper]

Possibly a simple solution is to extend MARC commuter service north of Baltimore to Aberdeen, possibly both on the PRR and on the B&O lines, Really, the entire NY - DC corridor should have local service without the gap shown in the June TRAINS.

[mudchicken]

The Defence Department is bypassing DC & Baltimore in case some of those crazy town anti-CSX politicians spill out into the rest of the country? [(-D][(-D][(-D]

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance
I do know that some of the intelligence agencies are relocating out the the Wash/Balto area to avoid a single point of concentraion.

A recent Washington Post article (mid-May) had an article about one of agencies in Maryland considering moving further away...from dangerous things like highways and railroad tracks. But the employees have to get to work somehow! I suppose a large number of private automobiles appears less threatening than a cargo truck or freight train.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper

Possibly a simple solution is to extend MARC commuter service north of Baltimore to Aberdeen, possibly both on the PRR and on the B&O lines, Really, the entire NY - DC corridor should have local service without the gap shown in the June TRAINS.

MARC and Amtrak do provide some service from Baltimore to Aberdeen now. The question is how close to its full capacity does the NEC run during peak periods when people might be going from either Washington or Baltimore to Aberdeen? The work areas of Aberdeen are nowhere near the station so how do you get passengers to their jobs once they reach Aberdeen.