One thing worth mentioning that wasn't is that the light rail was initially largely single tracked, with 17 min headways. In the early 2000s, the vast majority of the system received double tracking.
The Baltimore Subway is part of a truncated system that was originally planed to to be a 5 line 71 mile 63 station system with the existing Green line going to the northeast and a east west trunk with with branches to Essex and Sparrows Point. The light rail line was built in place the north south subway line
@ Sand Box John: I definitely remember reading up about this (complete with a map which was a turn-on): originally planned in the mid 1960s, it was truncated by the next decade-as usual the politricks, NIMBYism, and some other financial excuse-until finally becoming what it is today from the 1980s to present, nothing's really changed despite renaming stations, should/would/could have's, transit fan 'what if'' fantasy maps, reality LRTransit fruition. . . .this is all over nationally where located, need I explain/say more? and I love/support public transportation too? Baltimore's Metro shares the same style car rosters as Miami's Metrorail (also 1980s) and Los Angeles's MTA (bits-n-pieces 1990s-current: the latter has smoother edges)-very unique.
@@kenmills4739 Another reason why it was truncated is because then Mayor William Donald Schaefer had stronger desire for streetcars and pushed for the central light rail over the subway. There was even talk of the connecting the Washington and Baltimore systems to each other. I would have been a cross platform transfer as the two systems had incompatible cab signaling and load gauges. Unlike Miami and Los Angeles the Baltimore subway has platforms only long enough for 6 car trains, Miami and Los Angeles along with Washington can run 8 car trains.
@@SandBoxJohn There's a map that sports washington and Baltimore being stitched together along with the commuter rail systems- that would have been something, and we all know both systems aren't compatible because they're a decade apart, although the track gauging can get away with it. . .this was anticipated for The Broad Street Subway where there were plans to hook it with railroad branch lines at various locations (because the terminology 'High Speed' was used at the time of the Mid City Railroad Tunnel construction, this was the impression I got when the airport extension was part of the plan: saw the commuter train service finally and physically in 1/90 and 1•2/96).
You completely forgot to mention in the rebranding That Light Rail is now known as The Light RailLink and the Metro SubwayLink (this is important because the entire system now goes by the Link branding.)
@@LeroyBright Right after killing the shovel-ready Red Line and diverting funds to add more lanes to the region's highways thus creating more congestion due to induced demand. The Hogan administration was then the focus of a federal investigation until the Trump administration halted the investigation. Rather than doing anything to improve transit for Baltimore, Hogan simply rebranded the system changing route numbers to pretty colors!
I think Baltimore is looking for a completely new line (which is why the East-West Red Line failed), when they should just focus on incremental extensions like the DC metro did. 3 of DC's lines (Orange, Blue, Silver) run in the same tunnel downtown, which each then splitting off outside of the city. Baltimore could create a new metro line starting at West Baltimore MARC (with flexibility to expand westward in the future), connection to the green line at/just north of Lexington Market, then onward to Johns Hopkins. Easily increase ridership with just that short extension. Another easy fix would be to extend the Green line to North Ave (possibly with connections to a new East Baltimore Marc station on Broadway), then a new light rail connection from North Ave/Broadway metro station to the North Ave light rail station (and somehow slither over to Penn Station). Then, the Yellow line would go from Hunt Valley to North Ave/Broadway Metro, the Red line from Penn to Cromwell/Glen Burnie, and the Blue line remains the same.
The current light rail is too slow for this region and most of the stations north of Penn Station (perhaps with the exception of Mt. Washington) don't stop in convenient locations. Baltimore suffers from heavy commuter traffic at peak hours but the commute time in a car still ends up being too similar to the amount of time it takes on the light rail. If we really want to commit to getting people out of cars and encouraging a more connected and walkable city we need more heavy rail. There is a lot of old rich people with a "not in my neighborhood" mentality towards public transit and governor who vetos projects that aren't bus related. Baltimore could easily become a huge economic powerhouse considering the convenient proximity to D.C./politics plus the presence of one of America's largest ports. Commitment to transit improvements would help accelerate this. Hoping the Northeast Maglev project helps further solify this connection between DC and re-ignite a commitment to better transit in and around Baltimore itself.
That's been an everlasting problem for as long as I've been alive. This region lacks consistency and progression when mass transit is brought to discussion. Almost like they're afraid to mention busses & trains without sounding like "poverish" individuals.
I saw the light rail when I was in Hunt Valley, and man did that look slow. Clearly it's just for poor folks. Retired well-to-do people no doubt had a 401k heavily invested in fossil fuels, so don't want the money train to stop.
Do y'all think Baltimore's Subway system should be extended further northeast within Baltimore? Edit: Autocorrect decided to put "Northwest" instead of Northeast.
@@dangelohartley5977 he def is, he has vetoed toooo many transit projects and made the process horrible, the purple line, marc train expansion into nova and septa connection, the red line and the Baltimore metro expansion
Excellent job! The recent station renaming was, put bluntly, a mess (the MTA was *very* inconsistent), so I'm glad to see that having been explained cleanly in your video.
the SmarTrip card and Charm card can be interchangeable between the systems for tapping in and out, but for some weird reason, you can't use the other's fare machines.
This system was my first ever exposure to US public transit. The tram never showed at the airport up and we had to take a taxi. 10/10 would use taxi again.
For those wondering why the city didn't have any metro system until 1983, even though the city had more than 1 million residents in the 20th century, remember that the city had an expansive trolley system for many years that negated the need for a subway.
Because of the size of both of those networks and the amount of research the videos will require, they’re near the bottom of my list and will probably be done this fall.
Compare and contrast connectivity of the DFW consolidated metro are to the Baltimore -Washington consolidated metro area the San Francisco- Oakland -San Jose consolidated metro areas.
It says 'coming this later month' at the moment. I think that is for the future, when it is released, then you will be able to click on it to be linked to that video.
@@marcelmoulin3335 There is some shared infrastructure either used by multiple agencies or built by an agency for another agency. But there's no plan yet for a single Bay Area Transit agency, although BART and CalTrains are discussing a merger
@@iancypes5911 Thank you for your response. Albeit a Dutchman living again in the Netherlands, I grew up in Palo Alto. I recall all too well how inadequate the mass transit was. Nevertheless, the improvements over the years since have encouraged me. What needs to be done?
Construction timeline, courtesy of Rodney Chan (twitter.com/_ChanFace): drive.google.com/file/d/1Ojd8AuiTj1zgngXkEmAEOlzOwIma6igi/view?usp=sharing
One thing worth mentioning that wasn't is that the light rail was initially largely single tracked, with 17 min headways. In the early 2000s, the vast majority of the system received double tracking.
Yep! I remember my sister telling me this in 2002/3.
Yep! I remember as a kid in the mid 2000s when they undertook the double tracking effort
Someday, hopefully, they’ll develop the Red Line and even the Yellow Line! Baltimore needs more transit
Red Line discussions will restart this week.
The Baltimore Subway is part of a truncated system that was originally planed to to be a 5 line 71 mile 63 station system with the existing Green line going to the northeast and a east west trunk with with branches to Essex and Sparrows Point. The light rail line was built in place the north south subway line
@ Sand Box John: I definitely remember reading up about this (complete with a map which was a turn-on): originally planned in the mid 1960s, it was truncated by the next decade-as usual the politricks, NIMBYism, and some other financial excuse-until finally becoming what it is today from the 1980s to present, nothing's really changed despite renaming stations, should/would/could have's, transit fan 'what if'' fantasy maps, reality LRTransit fruition. . . .this is all over nationally where located, need I explain/say more? and I love/support public transportation too? Baltimore's Metro shares the same style car rosters as Miami's Metrorail (also 1980s) and Los Angeles's MTA (bits-n-pieces 1990s-current: the latter has smoother edges)-very unique.
@@kenmills4739 Another reason why it was truncated is because then Mayor William Donald Schaefer had stronger desire for streetcars and pushed for the central light rail over the subway.
There was even talk of the connecting the Washington and Baltimore systems to each other. I would have been a cross platform transfer as the two systems had incompatible cab signaling and load gauges.
Unlike Miami and Los Angeles the Baltimore subway has platforms only long enough for 6 car trains, Miami and Los Angeles along with Washington can run 8 car trains.
@@SandBoxJohn There's a map that sports washington and Baltimore being stitched together along with the commuter rail systems- that would have been something, and we all know both systems aren't compatible because they're a decade apart, although the track gauging can get away with it. . .this was anticipated for The Broad Street Subway where there were plans to hook it with railroad branch lines at various locations (because the terminology 'High Speed' was used at the time of the Mid City Railroad Tunnel construction, this was the impression I got when the airport extension was part of the plan: saw the commuter train service finally and physically in 1/90 and 1•2/96).
You completely forgot to mention in the rebranding That Light Rail is now known as The Light RailLink and the Metro SubwayLink (this is important because the entire system now goes by the Link branding.)
Gov. Larry Hogan's doings!
@@LeroyBright Right after killing the shovel-ready Red Line and diverting funds to add more lanes to the region's highways thus creating more congestion due to induced demand. The Hogan administration was then the focus of a federal investigation until the Trump administration halted the investigation. Rather than doing anything to improve transit for Baltimore, Hogan simply rebranded the system changing route numbers to pretty colors!
Baltimore needs so much more
I think Baltimore is looking for a completely new line (which is why the East-West Red Line failed), when they should just focus on incremental extensions like the DC metro did. 3 of DC's lines (Orange, Blue, Silver) run in the same tunnel downtown, which each then splitting off outside of the city.
Baltimore could create a new metro line starting at West Baltimore MARC (with flexibility to expand westward in the future), connection to the green line at/just north of Lexington Market, then onward to Johns Hopkins. Easily increase ridership with just that short extension.
Another easy fix would be to extend the Green line to North Ave (possibly with connections to a new East Baltimore Marc station on Broadway), then a new light rail connection from North Ave/Broadway metro station to the North Ave light rail station (and somehow slither over to Penn Station). Then, the Yellow line would go from Hunt Valley to North Ave/Broadway Metro, the Red line from Penn to Cromwell/Glen Burnie, and the Blue line remains the same.
The current light rail is too slow for this region and most of the stations north of Penn Station (perhaps with the exception of Mt. Washington) don't stop in convenient locations. Baltimore suffers from heavy commuter traffic at peak hours but the commute time in a car still ends up being too similar to the amount of time it takes on the light rail. If we really want to commit to getting people out of cars and encouraging a more connected and walkable city we need more heavy rail.
There is a lot of old rich people with a "not in my neighborhood" mentality towards public transit and governor who vetos projects that aren't bus related. Baltimore could easily become a huge economic powerhouse considering the convenient proximity to D.C./politics plus the presence of one of America's largest ports. Commitment to transit improvements would help accelerate this. Hoping the Northeast Maglev project helps further solify this connection between DC and re-ignite a commitment to better transit in and around Baltimore itself.
That's been an everlasting problem for as long as I've been alive. This region lacks consistency and progression when mass transit is brought to discussion. Almost like they're afraid to mention busses & trains without sounding like "poverish" individuals.
@Entertainment Tv I would love to see tgat
I saw the light rail when I was in Hunt Valley, and man did that look slow. Clearly it's just for poor folks. Retired well-to-do people no doubt had a 401k heavily invested in fossil fuels, so don't want the money train to stop.
Do y'all think Baltimore's Subway system should be extended further northeast within Baltimore?
Edit: Autocorrect decided to put "Northwest" instead of Northeast.
yes most definitely there was a proposal a few years ago to extend it from johns hopkins to north ave but it failed again
@@Fart671 Due to funding?
@@dangelohartley5977 yes and the horrible governor of maryland who vetos transit projects like no tommrow, look up baltimore metro plan 2002
@@Fart671 I bet this governor is a republican, and that's really petty vetoing transit projects meant for improving public transportation
@@dangelohartley5977 he def is, he has vetoed toooo many transit projects and made the process horrible, the purple line, marc train expansion into nova and septa connection, the red line and the Baltimore metro expansion
Excellent job! The recent station renaming was, put bluntly, a mess (the MTA was *very* inconsistent), so I'm glad to see that having been explained cleanly in your video.
Can you do San Francisco's BART please?
That disaster?
I was told that you can use WMATA’s SmarTrip card for the Baltimore MTA
You can Baltimores charm card can also be used on wmata they are backwards compatible with each other
the SmarTrip card and Charm card can be interchangeable between the systems for tapping in and out, but for some weird reason, you can't use the other's fare machines.
You can
@@azan-183 not anymore smartrip works on all of em
@@qjtvaddict everyone says you can tap in and out, but you still can’t refill the cards from the other system’s fare machines.
until light rail is moved underground or has full right away it will be just as slow.
Looking forward to your DC metro video
I think Denver would be a really cool feature!
Here’s the link for that: th-cam.com/video/Y0KNHJYqack/w-d-xo.html
You can pay for the light rail or Metro with your Washington Metrorail Smart Card, its the same thing at the MTA's Charm Card.
Is there a MTA LRT Line from Baltimore to ANNAPOLIS?? Jus Curious!
@@MIKEJ788 Nope
Service from Baltimore airport to downtown needs to be improved in my opinion
When are you going to do the MBTA in Boston?
Aiming for end of May
This system was my first ever exposure to US public transit. The tram never showed at the airport up and we had to take a taxi. 10/10 would use taxi again.
It's surely unusual for a line to be extended off-peak; usually they are extended at peaks!
Impeccably presented! Are there plans to create new lines... expand the system?
There were plans for a new line. But the governor killed them
@@tylerkochman1007 Very short-sighted!
For some reason MD is a blue state that often elects a Republican governor. 💩 for 🧠🧠
I feel very sad for Charm City decreasing not only by ridership, but also by population.
For those wondering why the city didn't have any metro system until 1983, even though the city had more than 1 million residents in the 20th century, remember that the city had an expansive trolley system for many years that negated the need for a subway.
Can i ask what is the program where you are creating your videos?
What a great channel.
When are you going to do Chicago EL or L and Chicago Commuter rail Metra
Because of the size of both of those networks and the amount of research the videos will require, they’re near the bottom of my list and will probably be done this fall.
@@VanishingUnderground CTA will be a little difficult with the numerous changes made over the years. Take your time doing research.👍
🥰
The body of water in your map is not the Chesapeake Bay. It's the upper branch of the Patapsco River.
Can you do MARC im wondering
Already did: th-cam.com/video/-WpxpvsV11w/w-d-xo.html
so when is the New York episode going to happen ?
If I do it, it’s going to be the last US city I do. MetroLiner did a good overview in the meantime though.
are you going to do any city in Europa?
That is too extensive those systems actually do their job well
Most likely not… I’m not nearly as familiar with the systems there. I’ll consider it once I’ve finished all the US systems though.
@@qjtvaddict I am not sure about that
@@VanishingUnderground okay. If you want an easy starter city, the best bet is Aarhus, Copenhagen and Helsinki
Compare and contrast connectivity of the DFW consolidated metro are to the Baltimore -Washington consolidated metro area the San Francisco- Oakland -San Jose consolidated metro areas.
5k SUBS! Let's go!
I can’t wait to see dc
almost 5k subs :D
5:01 thats not out
was that a joke if it is not funny
It says 'coming this later month' at the moment. I think that is for the future, when it is released, then you will be able to click on it to be linked to that video.
Got the got that vid before it coming this later month th-cam.com/video/dQw4w9WgXcQ/w-d-xo.html
2:56 'Rooting on the light rail was charged once again'-I've rooted on the light rail in a couple of cities, but we never got caught. 😉
Do Philadelphia please?
Coming later this fall
Do Philadelphia please
You should do the SF Bay Area next!
SF Bay is an absolutely disgusting clusterfuck of transit agencies. There's at least 5 different rail transit providers
@@iancypes5911 it’s a disaster zone of failure
@@iancypes5911 Are there plans to create a cohesive, coherent system with all these disparate agencies?
@@marcelmoulin3335 There is some shared infrastructure either used by multiple agencies or built by an agency for another agency. But there's no plan yet for a single Bay Area Transit agency, although BART and CalTrains are discussing a merger
@@iancypes5911 Thank you for your response. Albeit a Dutchman living again in the Netherlands, I grew up in Palo Alto. I recall all too well how inadequate the mass transit was. Nevertheless, the improvements over the years since have encouraged me. What needs to be done?
Still waiting for Philly
baltimore transportation is not good
It needs to dramatically improve.
Dallas !
I would have liked to see that "walking connections" between the two lines. Sounds bad.
You're right. The "walking connections" are bad.
Hamsterdam needs to be connected 😂😂
...Linthicum?
🚈🚇🇺🇸