Via Facebook.

Purple Line proponents—angry that Gov. Larry Hogan has delayed making a decision on the long-planned light rail project—protested this morning outside one of the planned stops.

Members of the Action Committee for Transit gathered outside of the new Silver Spring Library, holding signs that included “We don’t travel in golf carts and Mercedes. We need the Purple Line” and “Purple Line is a Jobs Line.”

Hogan called the project’s cost of $153 million per mile “not acceptable” in an interview with the Washington Post published on Friday and pushed off making a decision about whether or not to ax the project. Hogan, who promised to improve the state’s business climate and regularly disparaged the project on the campaign trail, said he would make a choice in “the next month sometime.”

The project’s backers say that isn’t good enough and lashed out at Hogan’s decision to attend the International Council of Shopping Centers Conference in Las Vegas this weekend.

“He found time to go to Vegas, but couldn’t get to Silver Spring or Riverdale Park?” said ACT president Nick Brand in a release.

ACT vice-president Ronit Aviva Dancis added: “If Governor Hogan wants to sell Maryland as a place to do business, why does he continue to ignore the project business people say they want most?”

If built, the 16-mile, $2.4 billion Purple Line would connect Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The state is seeking $900 million in grants from the federal government toward the project, with the rest coming from the state, local governments, and the private sector.