If constructed, the route would have dramatic economic development benefits, most especially for Baltimore City. Currently floundering with vast sections of vacant, abandoned properties, the City could become an appealing bedroom community for those working in the DC area who need affordable housing. Unlike light rail plans moving forward or canceled under Hogan, Maglev is competitive with auto transportation. The Maglev could reach downtown Baltimore in one-fourth the time it would take to drive there on congested I-95. Unlike light rail or BRT poking along, Maglev could actually free up highway capacity on I-95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
The grant was lauded by Gov. Hogan and other officials yesterday.
“The ability to travel between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. in only 15 minutes will be absolutely transformative, not just for these two cities, but for our entire state,” Governor Larry Hogan said in a statement. “This grant will go a long way in helping us determine our next steps in this transportation and economic development opportunity.”
“Maryland will be on the leading edge of technology as the only state in the nation with the private-sector-led pursuit of SCMaglev,” Maryland Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn said.
Even the Japanese ambassador weighed in on the state's win.
“We are very pleased to see this funding announced,” said Japanese Ambassador Kenichirō Sasae. “Working with the United States Government, the State of Maryland and Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail, we will prove that this cutting-edge Japanese technology will be a great asset to the busy Northeast Corridor.”
Such a route could ultimately extend from Washington to Boston, in line with plans already laid out by Amtrak.
Maryland's effort is being led by a private firm, Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail.
That firm will use the funds to begin planning and engineering analysis for the rail line, and to review what permits would be needed for construction.
Given that this grant is from the USDOT, not from the MD MTA, why not show a picture of the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, instead of Governor Hogan?
ReplyDelete6:56: Mainly because Hogan is the winning actor in obtaining the funds.
DeleteIf the Maglev is not extended beyond either Baltimore or Washington, it will be a gigantic white elephant. No one would use it besides DC commuters who live in Baltimore, and DC metro residents who want to visit Harborplace.
ReplyDelete7:14: It would still have major benefits for DC and Baltimore, even if it didn't extend further. But given that Amtrak is planning for a true high-speed NE Corridor - potentially on a new right-of-way - it would make sense to extend a Maglev system already in place down here.
DeleteThree stations - Camden, BWI and Union. Seems extremely expensive for such a small market.
ReplyDeleteThe money would be much better invested by upgrading Amtrak's route through Baltimore. That would benefit the entire East Coast.
1:48: Considering a 15-minute train to Baltimore costs the same as the full MoCo BRT buildout - $10 billion - it sounds like a comparative bargain. Unlike BRT, Maglev can actually beat automobile travel time.
DeleteThe speed benefit is lost if the train has too many stops. I'm surprised they put the BWI stop in there.
ReplyDeleteI rode the maglev in Shanghai. Smooth and fast ride.
"Unlike light rail or BRT poking along, Maglev could actually free up highway capacity on I-95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway."
ReplyDeleteWow, talk about a straw man. I-95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway don't go through Montgomery County, so how could the BRT be relevant to traffic on those highways? Ditto the Purple Line and the Baltimore Red Line, which both run perpendicular to that corridor.
"Considering a 15-minute train to Baltimore costs the same as the full MoCo BRT buildout - $10 billion - it sounds like a comparative bargain."
ReplyDeleteNot even remotely true. Construction costs for the full 79-mile system are currently $1.6 billion, not "$10 billion".
8:27: The comparison is purely on the merits of Maglev vs. BRT - of course the BW Parkway isn't in MoCo. But the ridership potential is far higher on Maglev for the reason I mentioned. It actually beats car travel times.
ReplyDelete8:56: Please review what I said - the full BRT system originally proposed was cited as $10 billion by the County's own planner. They then cut it in half, meaning it was then $5 billion. I highly recommend you review Jerry Garson's testimony at the ITA hearing to get a sense of why $1.6B is an insanely-fake cost projection for BRT. He found the math simply doesn't add up, and excluded many known costs. For example, it projected no spending on personnel. Not possible, folks.
ReplyDeleteLink, please?
ReplyDelete"It actually beats car travel times."
ReplyDeleteExcept that the existing service on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is already faster than driving between Union Station and Penn Station. And that stops at New Carrollton in addition to Union Station, BWI, and Penn Station.
9:32: It's currently not anywhere close to a 15-minute trip to Baltimore via Amtrak.
ReplyDelete9:16: It was a televised meeting.
I thought you said having bedroom communities is bad? Can you explain how here it's suddenly good for Baltimore to become a bedroom community? While it's bad for Montgomery County to be a bedroom community?
ReplyDelete4:41: In Baltimore, as in Tysons, it makes more sense. Both already have employment, but they lack residents. Here, everyone is going into DC or over to NoVa during the morning rush. A lack of residents is hardly a problem in MoCo, with 1 million of them already.
DeleteSorry can you clarify your explanation? Baltimore it makes sense because it has jobs? Your article talks about transporting residents into DC and Baltimore becoming more of a bedroom community. I'm confused by what you mean. Thanks.
Delete"It was a televised meeting."
ReplyDeleteSurely there is a transcript somewhere? And what was the date of the meeting?
Reading your article, one is left with the impression that this proposal originated with Governor Hogan, during the ten months that he has been in office.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_%E2%80%93_Washington_D.C._Maglev
5:15: It was previously explored by the Ehrlich administration, as was the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, but the General Assembly failed to act. It was also an agenda item for gubernatorial candidate Heather Mizeur. But you have to give Hogan credit for doing an endrun around the do-nothings in Annapolis to move the ball forward.
DeleteOption 1: Rockville to Baltimore via the ICC and I95 = 55 minutes.
ReplyDeleteor
Option 2: Rockville to Union Station via Metro: 37 Minutes, + Wait for Maglev train at Union Station: 15 minutes + then Maglev ride to Baltimore: 15 minutes = 67 minutes.
So ... tell me how Maglev is so great for commuters, tourists and taxpayers.
6:28: It's not supposed to be for Rockville commuters. It's for people who live or work in the urban centers of downtown DC and Baltimore.
Delete@8:56 PM. You need look no further than the Task Force Report to see the estimated cost for the BRT. Only 4 of the 11 Routes have estimates. The estimated capital cost in 2015 dollars for 4 of the 11 BRT routes is $2.5 billion. When financing and operating costs are included, the cost for 4 of the 11 routes is between $5.7 and $6.2 billion in 2015 dollars. So yes the planners' original estimate of $10 billion for the whole system is probably somewaht low at this point. Here's the link to the financial info from the latest Task Force Report on 4 of the 11 routes
ReplyDeletehttp://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/transit-task-force-2015/Resources/Files/Appendix_6b_PFM_RTS_Financial_Scenarios_9-15-2015.pdf
The $10 billion (actually $10-12 billion) cost estimate for Maglev is for construction only. It does not include operating costs. And like any other project, those costs can increase, too.
ReplyDelete@6:28 You are assuming I-95 into downtown Baltimore is a cakewalk, and it's usually not. On top of that, I think the typical usage we'll see in the morning is: crappy Baltimore area with cheap housing and subway access -> Baltimore train station -> Union Station -> metro somewhere in DC for work.
ReplyDeleteThat time-wise is probably less than someone living in Damascus and driving to Shady Grove then taking the Metro in. Why did I pick Damascus? Because it's a housing cost thing -- people will be comparing the cost of housing in Baltimore to what they can get for the same price in the DC area.
Why should MoCo residents subsidize Baltimore residents who want to commute from Baltimore to Washington DC in less time than it takes to get from Bethesda to "North Bethesda"?
ReplyDeleteYeah, Shady Grove->Dupont Circle is 30 minutes, which would be roughly identical to Baltimore->Union Station->Dupont Circle (including transfer time).
ReplyDeleteThat also means it would be faster to commute to NoVa from Baltimore than from most parts of the Red Line in MoCo.
I don't know if that makes it worth the price tag, but it's pretty interesting.
How come you say it's a good thing for Baltimore to become an appealing bedroom community but then disparage MoCo for the same thing?
ReplyDeleteWhy should we be shuttling Marylanders to jobs in DC. It should stop at a Maryland downtown like Silver Spring or Bethesda. Certainly won't attract a Fortune 500 company to MoCo.
ReplyDelete12:05: I agree it won't make MoCo more attractive to corporations. The most we'd get out of it would be the tax revenues from the corporations who'd find Baltimore more attractive with the Maglev.
DeleteThis is going to be a waste of $60M. Yes ... the original $28.7 will balloon to twice that. And then, there will NEVER be funding for a 15-minute, $20B train ride. This is just plain stupid.
ReplyDeleteThese types of trains exist and work well in both China and Japan. In Japan, it's feasible to live in Nagoya and work in Tokyo, since the bullet train ride is under an hour. In China, you can live in Tianjin and work in Beijing -- it's a 30minute ride at 180mph and the trains run every 20-30 minutes (for $6/ticket).
ReplyDeleteThe population in the US at large, and in this are in particular, is going up and will continue to do so. People need to live somewhere. Attempts to improve density (Westbard plan, among others) are meeting with lots of resistance from existing residents for many reasons, like overcrowding schools and increased traffic congestion. So wouldn't it be better if new residents lived in affordable housing that is already built and exists in downtown Baltimore? That city has been a major population decline since its heyday, so there is plenty of housing stock available, and at a reasonable price.
When I worked in downtown DC, I had coworkers who lives in Sheperdstown, WV and in Frederick -- they commuted in each day on the MARC train to Union Station. If it worked for them, then a faster train from a place with much more housing stock, certainly seems feasible.
2:04: Yes, it's very much a smart growth plan. The new competition for housing would also force down the inflated real estate prices of Montgomery County, creating more affordable housing. Who will pay a premium to live in Olney or Clarksburg when their commute into Washington is 3 or 4 times as long as the one from Baltimore?
Delete"These types of trains exist and work well in both China and Japan. In Japan, it's feasible to live in Nagoya and work in Tokyo, since the bullet train ride is under an hour."
ReplyDelete"Bullet train" and Maglev are two completely different technologies. Japan's maglev is several decades away from completion, and will serve only Tokyo and Osaka, bypassing Nagoya and other intermediate cities.
So you want to spend $10-20 billion in taxes to lower our property values, and increase those in Baltimore, and subsidize new jobs in DC?
ReplyDeleteOnly Dyer could come up with a plan like that.
5:06: Right now we're all subsidizing high rents and home prices here in MoCo. Competition is good.
DeleteAnything other than actually building new homes for people who want to both live and work in Montgomery County.
ReplyDelete5:51: You have to have office parks and corporate headquarters to provide the jobs. Your guys are only building residential and McJobs on the ground floor.
Delete6:00: I wouldn't want to weigh in before reading the details. The fact that VDOT has become a puppet of urban development firms under the current governor (I-66 plan as example), doesn't make me optimistic.
ReplyDelete"You have to have office parks and corporate headquarters to provide the jobs."
ReplyDelete"VDOT has become a puppet of urban development firms under the current governor."
"Right now we're all subsidizing high rents and home prices here in MoCo."
Not even remotely based in reality.
11:05: I assume you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years. Just check the plan for I-66 inside the Beltway, or the sham report by VDOT on the "river crossings" that concludes we don't actually need one. I think it came with one of those red rubber clown noses as a souvenir. Based on your comment, you might be able to put it to good use.
DeleteSo the fact that VDOT disagrees with you is proof of "becoming a puppet of urban development"?
ReplyDeleteMore birdbrain "logic".
maglev&zipper for space elevator future
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ReplyDelete...space-elevator (a cable to the moon)... Train Moon space elevator is not possible, because if could climb (to orbital counterweight for sends away by pulleys "clothesline" system installed previously from Moon◙══════◙Counterweight...) each perigee 1 section track with 100 mts in length, 13 perigees/year, and only could climb 10 sections/year = 1 km/year or Track, 380,000 kms would need 380,000 years! builds the total Track. Moon space elevator with cable, perhaps, orbital Station-counterweight located between 56,000 kms in perigee (36,000 kms for no collision with geostationary space-elevator of Earth + 20,000 kms possible difference of Moon´s perigee) and 106,000 kms in apogee (56,000 + 50,000 kms approx. difference Moon´s Apogee - Perigee) from Earth. 2 space-elevators, 1 in each cable pulleys "clothesline", while one go up to the Moon, the other go down to Earth. But...supposing a speed 100 kms/hour: 380,000 kms/100 = 3,800 hours, 5 months travelling...
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ReplyDelete...space-elevator (orbital station bike wheel-1g)... geostationary orbit, a huge "bike-wheel" is gyrating around its own axis for have 1g-centrifugal. Wheel held in place with 4 CABLES (two of them with a track for Train) FORMING THE STRUCTURE OF A RHOMBUS♦ (minor diagonal of rhombus is the gyration axis of the Station-Wheel)...rhombus´s below, the carbon nanotubes Track towards Earth...rhombus´s above, the Cable towards the higher counterweight...if...WHEEL´s RADIUS = 250 mts... Wheel gyration´s axis length = rhombus´s minor diagonal = Wheel´s radius = 250 mts... Cable´s length of the rhombus´s side = Wheel diameter = 500 mts. Wheel´s ZONE-1g: habitable length = 1571 mts*50 mts wide*50 mts height, gyrating 360º each 31 seconds, angular-speed = 11.61º/sec, linear-speed = 182 kms/h... Station-Wheel´s GYRATION: AXIS IN PERPENDICULAR (90º) ORIENTATION TO ORBITAL TRAJECTORY...and so, while Station-Wheel follows its geostationary orbit, the Wheel does Not changes the spatial-orientation of its axis, and thus there are Not Precession forces actuating (and thus there is Not collision tendency of the Station-Wheel against the rhombus´s cables...but the system must supporting lateral charges against Track produced by the Coriolis effect when Train goes upwards or downwards...), the gyroscopic-rigidity contributes for maintaining forever the gyration-axis perpendicular to orbital trajectory... When the Maglev Train slowly arrives, using now their retractable cogwheels by the Zipper-Track (zippers installed on the same Maglev-track), Train stops in Geo 0g-station placed over one extreme of the gyration axis... Passengers disembark and entering into gyratory circular corridor, they take now the interior-elevator of one of the Wheel´s hollow-radius, and tunnel "descending" till Hotel into the final Zone-1g...where while Station-Wheel goes turning, the immense O2 producer Hydroponics Garden receives a filtered Sun light...and there are Earth´s awesome views.
ReplyDelete☼↓↓▓0.08g▬▬▬←▬▬▬▬▬↓☺▬▬♦1g▬→▬▬1g...Space-elevator (orbital station ramp)... Faraway high beyond Earth surface at 150,000 kms...fast orbital speed 11.4 kms/sec...with only 0.08g centrifugal, 0.8 mts/sec² (a person that has 80 kgs ↓ gravitational force on Earth equator radius=6378.1 kms; overe there with a radius=156378.1 kms only has 6.64 kgs ↑ centrifugal force...gravitational force downwards minus centrifugal force upwards)...could be the counterweight Terminal Orbital Station-Ramp... Awaits passengers in Earth-Station a hyperspeed vertical electric Train of Magnetic Levitation... "Spatial Train coming fromn Orbital Station-Ramp and Orbital Station-Wheel at these moments arriving will depart again after one hour, passengers with Moon destination please embark on SHIP-COACH when will be hooked at Train´s end"...(((if...Train´s mass=1000 Tm and its vertical max-speed=10000 kms/h...←LATERALS→, ↓ to East, and ↑ to West, Coriolis´s effect against Track: acceleration=0.4 mts/sec², FORCE=41 Tm...this lateral thrust→ must be counteracted ←in opposite direction with an equal thrust from "some class" of Lateral thrust Train´s outside...or, without it, permitting Track´s lateral-movements, having then the Orbital Station-Wheel supported into Subjection´s Cardan-Joint, and so with free Precession´s Wheel-movements, to sufficient distance from Rhombus´s Cables...and then would have that "jumping" that little distance towards/from Wheel axis´s-extreme in a spacecraft)))...medium-speed = 5,000 kms/hour: Earth/Orbital Station-Wheel, distance = 35,786 kms...total travel time = 7 hours... Orbital Station-Wheel/Orbital Station-Ramp, distance = 114,214 kms...total travel time = 23 hours... Well seized from retractable cogwheels, with slow-speed at the beginning travel of strong gravitation from earth, with conventional Zipper-Track... THE TRAIN DEPARTS►... "Passengers please belts"...starting horizontal from Station, when train goes climbing is VERTICAL, looking upwards...vertical-train with special zig-zag corridor with protections and seats also in the center for avoiding passenger´s fall down in straight line till coach´s bottom... Already enough far, with little gravitational Earth attraction: MAGLEV on...Cogwheels off... Here we go...goooooo!...hyperspeed→... already braking enough near from each Station...slow-speed, changes propulsion system again: COGWHEELS on...Maglev off... Entering in slow track on rhombus structure... 7 hours: half length above half length below through Station´s floor, Train is on rhombus inclined track at zero-speed, near from Water-Recycling Plant with carbon nanotube´s filters...and the other Air-Filtering Plant with catalysts...the passengers disembark in weightlessness: Geo 0g-Station...passing from static-platform to gyratory circular corridor, go taking soon an interior-elevator in one of the hollows-radius and "descending"...finally, the passengers have arrived at destination: Wheel centrifuge 1g-Station, with its gyration´s-axis perpendicular to orbital trajectory... A Wheel with 500 mts diameter, 1g-habitable length 1571 mts*50 mts wide*50 mts height...gyrating into 4 cables, two of them with a track for Train, a rhombus structure forming for Wheel´s supporting...
ReplyDelete(2) space-elevator (orbital station ramp)... Tour continuing again... THE TRAIN DEPARTS►... once passed the slow zipper-track on rhombus structure, enters again on fast main maglev-track... km 50,630, braking: Moon-Launching-Point, Train is at zero-speed, rear SHIP-COACH is released staying alone, again... THE TRAIN DEPARTS►... (((SHIP-COACH, while Earth turns, awaits patient the hour for releasing from Track and going to Moon with exact heading...now...takeoff and goes transferring orbits till Moon orbit where firing rocket again, brakes and lands on Moon☺Station... "Come to occult face with us and visiting the ancient Alien in ruins City"...and once recharged with fuel and passengers...equal than aircraft carrier, from a Launching-Catapult... SHIP-COACH TAKEOFF►... and returns conventionally to Earth)))... Already enough near from Terminal (magnetic shield anti-radiation and UV rays protection)...slowly by zipper-track maglev and train´s cogwheels are braking strongly "downhill"... 23 hours: Train is horizontal on Terminal at zero-speed, near from Ship´s Launching-Ramp towards Jupiter/interstellar Space, in spectacular and covered by transparent graphene´s domes with Earth views always in the ceiling, the passengers disembark at destination: counterweight centrifuge Ramp 0.08g-Station.
ReplyDelete