Is the Yellow Line Coming? If So, Will it Be a Link to Columbia's Future?

By Mark R. Smith, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

With the hype about the revitalization of a downtown Columbia that will feature higher-density development and enhanced walkability comes discussion of other key components like traffic management, parking and mass transit.
One item that hasn't been broached much is the thought of rail service linking Columbia to Baltimore - not until the recent Central Maryland Transportation Alliance (CMTA) study was released, anyway.
The CMTA recently coordinated a steering committee composed of planning and transportation officials from across the state to examine transit-oriented development (TOD), not just in the city, but Baltimore's suburbs as well.
With the Red Line, a light rail connection (the preferred alternative, said the governor's office) to connect Woodlawn from the west to The Johns Hopkins Bayview medical complex to the east on the books, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is ready for the next study.
MDOT feels that the most effective use of funding for the next transit line would be the Green Line, which would extend the city's subway line from The Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore to White Marsh in the northeast suburbs.
However, the Yellow Line, which would link Columbia with Lutherville in Baltimore County via a line that loosely straddles the existing Light Rail line through Baltimore City, is favored by the CMTA.

Varying Viewpoints
The CMTA, which has key ties to City Hall and the local business community, maintains that the Yellow Line should be the priority because it would have a greater economic impact for the region.
"We worked with the Center for Transit-Oriented Development [CTOD] in Washington [D.C.] to assemble an analysis concerning where and how we should invest in TOD, as it is our future," said Otis Rolley, the CMTA's president and CEO.
"We wanted to ensure that this suggestion was not presented in a haphazard fashion, so we embarked on the more than year-long analysis and included 21 TOD sites in the region," Rolley said, "including some existing and some proposed."
The analysis, he said, revealed that prioritizing the Yellow Line "would create 8% more jobs in the region and that would offer a substantial return on a private investment (if a developer builds an office building by a train station, for instance), taxpayer money and government funding.
"Job growth is no longer centralized to Baltimore City," Rolley said. "It is spread throughout the region. That is why we believe the region can get the most bang for its buck with a connection between Lutherville to Columbia, especially with the densities being suggested for the redevelopment of downtown."

Seconding That Notion
Greg Hamm agrees. "Otis and I spoke about the transit line at length after the report, which was based on quantitative analysis and tied to not only job growth, but smart growth opportunities, was released," said the vice president of master planned communities for General Growth Properties (GGP).
"We began the process to plan for smart growth here, and the CMTA saw that connecting the next transit line to Columbia Town Center was the best use for any upcoming funding," said Hamm. "Their recommendation is tied to TOD, which fits hand-in-hand with smart growth initiatives and with the transit section of GGP's original plan, which was submitted to Howard County more than a year ago."
The idea is to build residential areas "in places with links to multi-model transportation," like downtown Columbia, he said.
"It just makes sense to embrace smart growth with the Base Realignment and Closure getting in motion and the growth of Howard County, not only Columbia Town Center, but other parts of the county, like the Savage rail station," he said.
But for now, the Yellow Line "exists mainly on paper," said Jack Cahalan, MDOT spokesman.
With the research on the books, its time for the engineering and the funding stages for the Red Line and the Purple Line, a connection that will link Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George's County.
Cahalan said requests for funding have been submitted for both lines to the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts Transit Program to begin the competition for federal dollars. The state is seeking at least 50% of the total costs, which is estimated at approximately $1.5 billion for each line.
"There are very few instances around the country where heavy rail, like the Metro in Washington, is being built unless it's an extension of an existing line," said Cahalan, who noted that "Most planning studies include three options: no build, bus/rapid transit and light rail. The latter two are the most common today. "

Making Sense
Jud Malone, president of Columbia Tomorrow, said that since the charette was held to contemplate options for the rebirth of downtown two years ago, "One of the strongest themes has been the desire for more public transportation, though [what was desired] was not well defined.
"That has been a strong component for the vision for downtown Columbia all along," Malone said. "It's what the community would like to see, but no one spoke up to say, 'That's great, but how are we going to get it?'"
Then Rolley and company spoke up. "This is very important, because even though the CMTA is a regionally-based alliance with a considerable membership in Baltimore City, their focus is still very Baltimore-centric," said Malone. "So for the organization to realize that the success of Baltimore City will depends on the growth around it - and the additional transit lines for the regional transportation network - this is just as important for the city as it is for Columbia."
On the other hand, Malone pointed out that none of the CMTA's findings matter if the locals in Columbia don't follow and create an urban downtown. "It has to be driven by that excitement," he said, "and without it, there will not be a Yellow Line."

Linkage Means Development
Even if the Yellow Line becomes reality, in a best case scenario, planning would not start until about 2013. "But that all depends on funding, if it becomes available sooner - and it could," said Mike Davis, a partner with Davis, Agnor, Rapaport & Skalny in Columbia, and member of the New City Alliance.
Davis said that the suggestion by the CMTA "is clear recognition of Columbia as destination point for Baltimore," a vision that he feels has been unclear.
"That view has always been a little muddled because of the urban center versus suburban center conundrum," he said. "Given its population loss during the past 50 years, Baltimore has not come to grips with how it fits into the fabric of the region. The Yellow Line would be an obvious strong link."
Noting that talk about mass transit in the Corridor has often concerned a possible extension of the D.C. Metro Green Line from Greenbelt to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, Davis continued.
Downtown Columbia "will be revitalized with the high-density development required for transit service within the 10-year period that it would take to build a [discussed] new rail line," Davis said, "so we're ecstatic about this possible development."
Davis cited the development around the Metro's New Carrollton station that opened in the mid-70s when discussing the possibilities for Columbia.
"That suburb defined itself with that subway stop. Not only did office space pop up around the station, it's still generating economic development opportunities to this day," he said, noting the new plan for a mixed-use project that is based on access to routes 50 and 495, as well as the station.
While Columbia "defined itself long ago," Davis feels that the suburb "will use the possible addition of the Yellow Line to enhance our community as we step into the future with our own redevelopment."