RISING GAS PRICES FUEL INCREASING NEED FOR PURPLE LINE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Bill Holleran

301-996-9495(Cell)

Rising Gas Prices Fueling Increasing Need for Purple Line

At News Conference,Maryland Transit Officials Cite New Ridership Projections for East-West

Light Rail Link BetweenBethesda and New Carrollton Showing 68,000 Riders a Day

Silver Spring, Maryland (May 30, 2008) -Proponents of the Purple Line, led by members of the Purple Line NOW! coalition, rallied yesterday in downtown Silver Spring to push the increasing need for a proposed east-west light rail transit line between Montgomery and Prince George's counties in light of skyrocketing gas prices.

According to the latest ridership estimates from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), the light rail design alternative for the Purple Line would attract the most riders- 68,000 people a day, up from the initial estimate of 47,000 riders aday. Latest numbers from the state transit administration also show that Purple Line light rail trains would takean estimated 17,250 cars off the roads each day in the Bethesda, Silver Spring and College Park areas.

In keynote remarks at today's news conference on the site of the proposed Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center, MDOT Deputy Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley called the Purple Line "a pivotal project in meeting Governor O'Malley's goal to improve transit and make it work as a stronger, more regional network." Swaim-Staley noted that $100 millionhas been allocated in the current state budget for engineering of the PurpleLine.

"The day of the automobile isdimming," Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin pointed out. "As the cost of living rises in thiscountry and the cost of driving an automobile becomes more and more out ofreach for so many people, we cannot wait" [for transit alternatives such as thePurple Line].

"The Montgomery and PrinceGeorge's delegations overwhelming support the Purple Line because it is aboutsafe and efficient mobility, and the greening of our environment andeconomy. It's the near-perfect solution," said Del. Bill Bronrott(D-Montgomery).

Said Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George's), "For Prince George's commuters, the Purple Line will reducetime trapped in traffic, create more time for family, and help reduce needlessharmful emissions. It should be built and built now!"

Mike Tidwell, director of theChesapeake Climate Action Network, commented on the role the Purple Line willplay in making suburban Maryland a more sustainable place to live, work andplay. "Our over-reliance oncars, roads, and $4-per-gallon gasoline has led us to dig a really deep holefor ourselves in this region," he said. "The Purple Line is the ladder that helps us finally climb up out of thishole and toward the light of rational land use, friendly commutes and a stableclimate."

Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez(D-Montgomery) called the need for the Purple Line a "social justice" issue forlow-income workers who can't afford cars and have to take "three or four buses"to get to work. "The people Irepresent, the Latinos who are taking all those buses, don't have analternative," she said. "We allknow the affordable housing is on this [east] end of the Purple Line and allthe jobs are on the other end."

Supporters say increasingridership projections for the Purple Line will be a crucial factor in securingfederal funding for the project. As gas prices continue to rise, Purple Line advocates stress, the ridershipnumbers and funding outlook for the 16-mile light rail line can only getbetter.

For the latest news andinformation about the Purple Line, go to www.purplelinenow.com.

###