A mass transit line connecting Columbia and Baltimore could become reality sooner than expected.

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance earlier this month recommended that the state bump up planning for the route, known as the Yellow Line, in front of the Green Line, an extension of the subway that runs from Owings Mills into downtown Baltimore.

While local growth advocates are excited about the proposition, the alliance is only an advocacy group and the change must still be approved by the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board. Also, construction of the Yellow Line could still be 20 years away.

Otis Rolley III, president and CEO of CMTA, said the recommendation is mainly a result of the abundance of employment opportunities in Howard County and other locations along the proposed route, which would connect to the existing light rail in Baltimore and end in Hunt Valley, in Baltimore County.

The line also would connect riders to the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

"There was a lot of opportunity we saw in the Yellow Line," Rolley said. "That doesn't mean in any form or fashion that we don't want the Green Line built."

A "job cluster analysis" completed by the alliance showed two-thirds of the jobs in the metropolitan area are outside of Baltimore, in communities such as Columbia.

According to the group's report, in 2006 more than 1,000 jobs -- 4 percent of the jobs surrounding the state's proposed transit network -- exist along the western portion of the proposed line from Baltimore to Columbia. Another 4 percent exist along the northern end of the route.

Shifting mass transit priorities would move feasibility study funding from the Green Line project to the Yellow Line.

"It's too important of an opportunity not to change," Rolley said.

Presently, the Green Line is the second item on the list behind the Red Line, an east-west light rail line through Baltimore City expected to be completed within the next decade.

Bus transit recommended

Rolley said planning for the Yellow Line is in a very preliminary stage, but that his group is recommending the use of bus rapid transit in areas where light rail lines do not currently exist, including the portion of the line from Linthicum to Columbia.

Buses would have a dedicated lane and ability to override traffic signals. Stations would resemble that of traditional rail lines, Rolley said.

"It would do a heck of a lot toward connecting the people to the jobs," he said. "It gives the feeling of a trolley or a train."

Maryland Department of Transportation spokesman Jack Cahalan said the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board has the power to adjust the project lineup.

Work on whichever project is selected next won't begin until the Red Line is completed, transportation officials said.

Even if it were to advance in the plan and adequate funding is available, a Yellow Line could be as much as 20 years away, Cahalan said.

"That's not to say the idea does not have merit," he said. "That's something for the regional leadership and the regional advocates to discuss first and decide if they want to pursue that."

Yellow Line Facts

The proposed Yellow Line would:

* Traverse 42 miles from Hunt Valley to Columbia;

* Take 42 minutes to transport passengers from Columbia Town Center to Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport;

* Include stops at several Columbia villages, Merriweather Post Pavilion and Columbia Gateway.

Source: Baltimore Region Rail System Plan

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user comments (2)

user jmoney says...

A rail line from Columbia to Baltimore would be a great for Columbia. I am glad to see that they are considering this. Now if we could get Washington to do the same between Columbia and DC. I do not have a car so this would make the trip to either Baltimore or DC a lot easier.

Posted 1:54 PM, 09.25.09 | Permalink

user sylviestress says...

You have got to be kidding. Do some research. Putting a train line into Owings Mills made it a haven for crime and made the mall a ghost town. That should have figured into this article.

Posted 8:41 PM, 09.25.09 | Permalink