Study shows Red Line would increase job access for East and West Baltimore residents

A report released Friday found that Baltimore’s Red Line project could substantially cut travel time for people working mid- to low-income jobs along its proposed service area, increasing their access to employment across the city.

The study by Johns Hopkins University uses census and transit data to simulate routes fictional Baltimoreans would take from their doorstep to different job centers.

For example, a 7 a.m. commute from the 5000 block of Carmine Avenue in Franklintown to West Pratt Street would currently take 64 minutes. With the Red Line, researchers were able to reduce it to 43 minutes.

“The numbers we found surprised us, not just how many jobs would become more accessible, but how it specifically could help many of the people in the city who need it the most,” Fadil Santosa, an applied mathematician and author of the report, said in a statement.

According to the study, all jobs in the Baltimore region are accessible by car within an hour, while only 9% are accessible within an hour when using transit — a phenomenon most acutely felt by people of color and lower-income city residents.

Once completed, the project would greatly increase accessibility for communities in the east and west portions of the city, including Edmondson Village, Clifton Park, Belair-Edison, Greater Rosemont and Mondawmin.

The proposed Red Line is a 14-mile east-west transit link bridging a portion of Baltimore County and communities in West Baltimore to the downtown area and the city’s southeastern neighborhoods, with connections to other rail and transit options along the way.

In 2015, then-Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, canceled the $2.9 billion project, forgoing $900 million in federal funding for its construction and calling it a “wasteful boondoggle” for a jurisdiction already receiving a large share of state dollars.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, revived the Red Line project in June 2023, describing it as a generational opportunity to bring extensive and overdue benefits to city residents.

In a statement Friday afternoon to The Baltimore Sun, the Maryland Transit Administration said it “continues to advance the project on an accelerated timeline and is currently reviewing alternatives,” such as which methods of transit would be best and whether tunnels should be built to carry any portion of the route through the city.

An announcement regarding transportation methods, which could include light rail and bus rapid transit, is expected later this month. More information on the route is expected by the end of 2024.