Several people commented yesterday about about MTA’s shortfalls. The Red Line has the potential to improve the state of Baltimore’s public transit — if it’s not doomed before it begins, that is.

MTA was required to file a progress report on the Red Line with the Federal Transit Administration by December 31, 2007. They didn’t. This oversight cost the MTA $3 million so far, money that was allocated for preliminary design plans. Even worse, because they failed to file the report, the MTA’s eligibility for federal funding for the project is in jeopardy — funding that totals $1.2 billion.

An MTA spokesman said that design problems caused them to miss the federal deadline. “We’re not far enough along the process, but we will be working to get the funds reauthorized.” The money was allocated to the MTA in 2005. They had three years to file the report and collect the $3 million.

Opponents to the Red Line’s proposed route welcome the delay. Said the president of the Transit Riders Action Council: “We’ve been going forward with blinders on. This will provide that window of opportunity to straighten things out.” He prefers a different route from Security Square to Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus, which uses existing infrastructure.

So, don’t expect your public transportation issues to be solved anytime soon — if at all.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.