A Vision of Better Transit and Better Communities
The Action Committee for Transit has a vision of a Montgomery County where it is easier to travel and more pleasant to live — a county built for people and not for automobiles.
Click on the image above to see a larger version of the same map.
Years of experience have shown, and studies prove, that building highways leads to more traffic and more congestion. Affordable, convenient transit gives us a way to get past the traffic jams and fosters a better quality of life in our neighborhoods.
It is time to change priorities:
- Connect our communities with a network of rail lines.
- Redesign our streets to make it easier and safer to walk and to ride a bike.
- Create the kind of neighborhoods we want to live in.
The Purple Line from Bethesda to New Carrollton, now under construction, is the key to creating a livable, transit-oriented future for our county, but it is only a first step. The next steps for Montgomery County are:
- Run trains all day on the MARC line to Frederick as part of a comprehensive rail network for Maryland.
- End traffic deaths through Vision Zero.
In the long run, we will need a Red Line extension to Germantown, the Corridor Cities Transitway from Shady Grove to Clarksburg, streetcars on Route 355, and light rail on U.S. 29.
Latest Updates
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ACT tells County Council to fund transit instead of wasteful extensions of Montrose Parkway and Observation Drive ACT calls for immediate pedestrian safety upgrades around Seneca Valley High School ACT issues questionnaires for candidates for County Executive and Council and State Legislature. Appeals court gives Purple Line full go-ahead, nixes legal challenges. ACT calls for new concepts in Master Plan. Variety, accessibility, and affordability instead of compatibility, mobility, and housing adequacy. |
Meetings
ACT's monthly meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, at the Silver Spring Civic Center, One Veterans Place. Meetings begin at 7:30pm.
The Silver Spring Civic Center faces the ice rink and Ellsworth Avenue. It is an eight minute walk north from the Silver Spring Metro Station. Many bus routes can take you to and from the meeting. Ride-On #15 and #19 stop at the corner of Wayne Ave. & Fenton St.; Metrobus routes Z6 and Z8 and Ride-On routes #9 and #12 stop along Colesville Road; Ride-On #16, #17, and #20 pass by on Fenton St. If coming by car, plentiful evening parking is available at the Wayne Avenue garage and is (despite ACT's advocacy against subsidies for drivers) free after 7 pm.
- May 8 - Transit advocates social hour
Note change of location: McGinty's Public House, 911 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring - June 12 - All day MARC to Frederick - What would it take?
Speaker: Fritz Edler, veteran railroader and advocate - July 10 - Dockless bikeshare - How is it working?
Speaker: Alex Baca, former bikeshare manager in Washington & Cleveland - August 14 - Southern Maryland Light Rail and Maryland's broken transportation planning system
Speaker: Gary Hodge, former Charles County commissioner; chair of Southern Maryland Alliance for Rapid Transit - September 11 - To be announced