Politically, Maryland may be more blue than purple. However, when it comes to transit this election season, our neighbors to the north are turning a lovely shade of lavender. The Washington Post reports today that the Purple Line, the proposed transit link between New Carrollton and Bethesda, has emerged as a key issue in the Maryland gubernatorial race. Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, the Democratic candidate for governor, described the project as one of his top…

Though the week was shorter than usual, plenty happened. We found out how many Metro workers it takes to change a light bulb, interviewed Aberdeen City, demanded that out-of-staters register their cars, and welcomed the Inter-County Connector. We discussed how to best secure a bike, cooked up some karahi, demanded some accountability from local cabbies, and found out that the District was getting screwed on federal anti-terror dollars. We checked out Pearl Jam, found…

So far this week in transit we’ve posted on some big stories, including the “official” (but not really) groundbreaking for the Inter-County Connector and a possible answer to the age old question, “How many Metro employees does it take to screw in a light bulb?” Not much else in transit news this week, however, we would be remiss not to include one important item: Metro Chief Dan Tangherlini will be hosting a Live Chat tomorrow,…

If we’ve learned one thing from the effort to extend the Orange Line through Tyson’s to Dulles Airport, it’s that two billion and change can buy you a pretty substantial amount of rail transit. Or, if you please, it can buy you 18 miles of road. The Inter-County Connector passed its final hurdle today, receiving official federal government approval and allowing construction to begin on the highway in the fall. The road will travel from…

Over the past few months, DCist has been following the legislative gridlock over Virginia transportation funding fairly closely. We’ve also been pretty clear about our position on the issue, and we hope (but don’t necessarily expect) those blocking the budget to resolve their problems before the dispute leads to a government shutdown in July. On Monday, the Post took a look at growing worries among Virginia House Republicans that voters might express frustration with the…