By Naheed John
I learned a lot during my experience with the Transportation Committee in relation to hard work, consistency and the goals of the Sierra Club. One project that I learned about that I found to be important was the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT), the purpose of this project is to create an 18-mile light rail line running along the MD right-of-way from White Plains to the Branch Avenue Metro Station which is located in Prince George’s County. This bill was sponsored by the state legislators Senator Arthur Ellis and Delegate Debra Davis. Many other residents and legislators also supported this project. People such as Gary Hodge who is the President of the Southern Maryland Alliance for Rapid Transit. He has been an advocate for this project for 33 years. He has believed in this project for a long time, and his hard work and consistency is very much appreciated as well as Reuben Collins, the current President of the Board of County Commissioners. The support is always great and helpful.
This project could be extremely impactful to the residents for many reasons. What makes this transit line great is that it’s environmentally friendly but this transit line will get people to work faster than them driving. The people not only get faster options in relation to transport, but they save the environment while doing so. As opposed to focusing on the road the person can nap, read a book or anything while on transit. The Southern Maryland Rapid Transit is projected to significantly increase economic growth. This project will cause an increase in job growth which will mean that about $20 billion dollars will be added to income, while approximately $30 billions will be added to development and values. This project can create more jobs and opportunities for others.
In many ways this is great for the environment. People in the southern area will be able to take trips to see the beautiful DC in a manner that is environmentally friendly. Long distances in gas-powered vehicles simply makes matters worse. Charles County and Southern Maryland face the worst commute times in the nation and 25% of the residents of the county leave by 6:00 AM to get to work. Once the Middleton Bridge is expanded, there may be about 20,000 cars using the highway daily. The SMRT Transit Line will give people an option to get to where they need that is far in distance without harming the environment. Transportation generates a great deal of greenhouse gas emissions. The SMRT project will help with reducing the reliance on a car, a gas-powered car at least.
What makes this project unique is the distance and potential for connecting regions. This project will not only be great for young people without cars, but it will be great for college students like me who attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland or College of Southern Maryland. A lot of people including myself live in the Prince George’s and Montgomery County area. Being able to take a train to an area that is closer to home will give students more options to travel to those areas. I am thankful for the sponsors and supporters of this project because this not only helps with the environment, but SMRT also helps the people.