Myth: The Purple Line will destroy the Capital Crescent Trail.

Fact: The Capital Crescent Trail is the heavily used paved trail now running from Bethesda to Georgetown; it will not be touched by the Purple Line in any way. The Purple Line will be built on the other side of downtown Bethesda along a former railroad right-of-way bought by the county 15 years ago. When the light rail line is built, the paved trail will extend east from Wisconsin Ave. as far as Silver Spring, running alongside the new tracks. The old railroad right-of-way is 60 - 100 ft. wide in Chevy Chase, leaving room for two tracks, a trail, and a vegetated buffer. The extension of the paved trail will replace a shorter interim gravel trail, called the Georgetown Branch Trail, which goes part way to Silver Spring. Trail are used for commuters on bikes, blades and foot. The trail that is a part of the Inner Purple Line extends 4.4 miles in a direct route between Silver Spring and Bethesda.

Myth: The Outer Purple Line is better with higher ridership.

Fact: Computer calculations of ridership are higher on the Outer than Inner Purple Line. However, that ridership is inflated due to several large parking lots on the Outer line. The adjacent neighborhoods will not allow those lots to be built. Also, computer calculations omitted students commuting on the Inner line to the University of Maryland at College Park. When the corrections are made, the ridership differences will be insignificant. Given the vast cost difference, the Inner line is far more cost-effective per rider.

Myth: The Bethesda/Silver Spring portion of the Purple Line can be put underground.

Fact: If it is put underground for the better-off Chevy Chase folks, environmental justice will require that it be put underground for the whole alignment. This will raise the cost for the Inner Purple Line to nearly $3 billion dollars. (14 miles times $200 million/mile). The price tag is too high to allow it to be built. There are just too many cities around the country competing to build light rail not involving costly underground construction.

Myth: Light rail substantially slower than heavy rail.

Fact: Light rail and heavy rail use similar traction motor technology. The speed of any light rail line primarily depends on the number of stops, street crossings at grade, and the degree to which it is street-running, (i.e., mixed with automobile traffic). The Silver Spring-Bethesda section of the Inner Purple Line does not mix with automobile traffic and has only one significant street crossing. Light rail travel time between Silver Spring and Bethesda is 10 minutes; By no means is this slow.

Myth: The at-grade crossing at Connecticut Avenue will tie up traffic.

Fact: How the light rail line crosses Connecticut Avenue will be determined by the engineering work. There is no reason it can not go over (above grade) or under (below grade) Connecticut Avenue. Because the Georgetown Branch is becoming the Inner Purple Line, the odds are high that it does not cross Connecticut Avenue at-grade.

Myth: The Purple Line will not be connected to either the Bethesda or Silver Spring Metro stations.

Fact: At Bethesda, the rail line will end under Wisconsin Avenue, and a new elevator shaft will be dug to connect it with the southern end of the Bethesda Metro station. This station was built with a "knock out panel" to allow easy access. This elevator will also serve as a new southern entrance to the Bethesda Metro station for Bethesda residents and workers.

In Silver Spring, the light rail will follow the existing CSX railroad right-of-way to the new Silver Spring Transit Center, which will include the Silver Spring Metro Station. The Silver Spring light rail stop will actually be between the Metro station and the new transit center within the railroad right-of-way.

Myth: Light rail would introduce new technology to Metro and require new investment in equipment, maintenance, and staff.

Fact: There are several existing transit agencies that have both heavy and light rail as part of their system network. Philadelphia and Boston are two that come to mind. They have both heavy and light rail. Closer by is Baltimore; Baltimore's experience is typical of transit and rail system operations. The local political leadership in the Baltimore region has not made the necessary commitment to transit oriented development that Montgomery County has. Furthermore, Baltimore has never made the commitment to or put out the incentives to build ridership that have been made or done in the Washington, DC area.

Myth: Light rail will not generate the 50% fare box recovery required by state law.

Fact: Several years ago, the General Assembly changed the cost recovery requirements to 40% for transit projects and it gave new rail projects a one year exemption to allow them a period of time to build ridership. Also the cost recovery requirement applies to the entire system, not to individual lines and routes.

Why must transit projects be required to meet specific cost recovery requirements? There is no "cost recovery requirement" for roads. The gas tax and other automobile fees go to pay for State roads. While the State does give the County and municipalities a small portion of the State gas tax revenue, this portion does not come close to covering the total costs of County or municipal roads. The cost of these roads comes from the property tax and piggy-back to the State income tax collected by Counties and municipalities.

Myth: An Outer Purple Line integrated into the existing Metrorail system would be better utilized.

Fact: What Montgomery County needs is a transit ladder for east-west transportation, and the first rung should be the Purple Line between Bethesda and Silver Spring. The County owns the right-of-way, and this rung can be built and operating on it by 2008. An Outer Purple Line, if started when the next Governor takes office, could not be built and operating until some time after 2020 because it is longer to build. That wait is too long to provide a viable transportation alternative to the County’s two largest employment centers: Bethesda and Silver Spring.

Myth: Monorail could be built instead of light rail to avoid impacts on  the community.