College Park, MD – News Channel 8’s Bruce DePuyt interviews White Flint Partnership advisor David Winstead following the first National BRT Institute at College Park. Lt. Governor Anthony Brown welcomed the more than 100 attendees, emphasizing the need for public private partnerships to help fund new transportation initiatives and attract more jobs. “One of our administration’s strategic goals is to double transit ridership in Maryland by the end 2020, and to do that we’re expanding our existing capacities and pursuing new smart growth transit projects,” he said.  “I appreciate the work and vision of the White Flint Partnership and the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute to ensure that Maryland has a robust and diverse transportation infrastructure.”
     Maryland Secretary of Transportation Beverley Swaim-Staley applauded the symposium for raising the visibility of Bus Rapid Transit.  L. Mark Winston, chair of the Montgomery County Executive’s Transit Task Force, spoke of the soon-to-be-released Task Force recommendation for a Montgomery County-wide Rapid Transit System. Federal Transit Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan was the keynote speaker. She joined  other top federal and state officials and heard success stories from across the country, where BRT and or Rapid Transit is less costly than light rail.
      Representatives from Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Cleveland enthusiastically described their new BRT systems, which are complementing existing modes of transit. The HealthLine transit systemin Cleveland was credited with revitalizing a community while connecting the city’s reputable medical facilities. White Flint Partnership’s and Lerner Enterprises’ Managing Director of Transportation and Smart Growth, Francine Waters, spoke about the White Flint Rockville Pike model and how the county-wide system could knit together a federal science-research triangle from three corners of Montgomery County.  

“It came down to civic outreach, education and engagement. People who typically have opposing viewpoints sat down together and learned about the principals of smart growth and how White Flint could be a win win for everyone. Transparency was a cornerstone of the Partnership's work and we went hand in hand with resident supporters to spread the word. We jointly reached out to the silent majority and engaged them in the political process. And the best part was that the silent majority was ready to be heard.”

White Flint Partnership hosts the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute and others at symposium

White Flint, MD (May 1) — Bus Rapid Transit experts will share their latest insights on BRT systems during a symposium Wednesday, May 2, at the University of Maryland. Currently, several cities in the country operate BRT systems, and representatives of three—Cleveland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas—will participate in the symposium.

The symposium is hosted by the White Flint Partnership, which is working with Maryland and Montgomery County officials to develop rapid transit in the White Flint corridor pursuant to the approved White Flint Sector Plan vision.

The Montgomery County Transit Task Force, which will also participate Wednesday, is advising the County Executive on how to bring a rapid transit system to the county, and is expected to issue its recommendations this summer. A Parsons Brinckerhoff study on a countywide BRT system was released last summer and concluded that a 150-mile network would generate up to 207,000 daily riders.

BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit, is a fee-based transit system that emulates light rail but operates on existing roads, often with dedicated lanes. In Montgomery County, the Parsons Brinckerhoff BRT study reviewed 16 proposed routes from Clarksburg to Bethesda and Rockville to Burtonsville.

Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, is the keynote speaker at the symposium. Dennis Hinebaugh, Director of the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute, will speak, as will Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Department of Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley.

Media coverage of the session is invited; registration is requested (Gcalhoun@lerner.com, 301.692.2377). Opening remarks begin at 9 a.m., and the program ends at 3 p.m. The symposium will take place at the University of Maryland Riggs Center, Field House Drive, College Park, Md.

In addition to White Flint Partnership, sponsors of the event include the University of Maryland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Center for Advanced Transportation Technology, The National Bus Rapid Transit Institute, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, Goldman Sachs and The Traffic Group.

All aboard: Interest continues to grow in advanced rapid transit for White Flint and across Montgomery County. The Council recently voted to recommend a rail-like bus option for the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, which they reasoned, would be less expensive than light rail and would allow easier connections in White Flint and elsewhere. The County Executive is expected to release a report from his Transit Task Force in a few weeks.

Media alert: The Washington Post included White Flint in its “Going Vertical” cover story in its recent Capital Business section. Writer Steven Overly wrote that “a change in lifestyle and a break from decades of suburban sprawl has developers moving to build up rather than out.”

Media alert II: White Flint got excellent attention in the latest issue of Bethesda Magazine, quoting Friends of White Flint and other neighbors about the coming changes. Writer Lou Peck delved deeply into the thinking and policies that have shaped the new sector plan. He interviewed planners, elected officials and Partnership members, and printed dramatic images of their planned developments.