With both southern spurs of the Baltimore Light Rail into northern Anne Arundel County shut down for at least another week for flooding repairs, a group of residents and politicians is pushing to close stations or limit some of the service permanently, citing crime concerns.

Service is suspended from the Patapsco station to the Cromwell and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport stations until Aug. 5, due to flood erosion of track foundation, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

The repairs may take longer, and are “highly dependent on weather conditions,” the agency said.

County Executive Steve Schuh and both candidates for the District 32 state Senate seat say light rail crime is a problem and they want the MTA to reduce service in the county.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of feedback about the problems the light rail is causing,” Schuh spokesman Owen McEvoy said. “There has not been a crime wave, but we’ve been hearing more loudly from the community.”

Anne Arundel County police began patrolling the county’s section of the system — in addition to MTA Police patrols — in April to address residents’ concerns. Since then county officers have boarded more than 1,000 trains, issued 14 fare violations and made three arrests, according to a police spokesman.

In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn dated last Wednesday, Schuh requested trains no longer stop at the Ferndale and Linthicum stations, and serve North Linthicum and the Cromwell Station/Dorsey Road terminus only during peak hours.

Ferndale has an average of 97 boardings per day; Linthicum has 462; North Linthicum has 604; and Cromwell has 1,124 — 8 percent more than the BWI Marshall Airport station, according to MTA data. Among the other north county stops, BWI Business Park has 213 per day, and Nursery Road has 446.

Schuh said the request expanded the scope of a Nov. 15, 2017 letter, in which he asked for service to be limited or discontinued at the Linthicum station, known as the “kiss and ride.”

“Based on feedback from community leaders and Councilman John Grasso, it is clear that the other three North Anne Arundel County stations are just as problematic as the kiss and ride in Linthicum,” he wrote.

The Maryland Department of Transportation has received the letter and is reviewing the request, said spokeswoman Erin Henson. An MTA spokeswoman declined to comment further.

The issue threatens to loom over the state Senate race between Grasso, a Glen Ridge Republican, and Del. Pamela Biedle, a Linthicum Democrat. Both say the perception is based in reality.

While crime may not have increased, residents blame the existing crime around the stations on Light Rail passengers — “drug addicts, crooks, thieves,” Grasso said, who “go out there, rob the people, hop on the train back to Baltimore City.”

He wants service eliminated at all stops in the area.

“People have had enough of the light rail in general,” Grasso said. “They don’t want it there, they never wanted it there to begin with.”

Beidle said she has seen drug use and outdoor sex on the trail by the Linthicum station, which children pass on their way to Lindale Elementary. She also said people panhandle those who are using the ATM at a nearby convenience store.

“I’m for mass transit, but I want to protect my community,” Beidle said. “People need to feel safe. I’m not sure that they do — I know they don’t.”

Brian O’Malley, president of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, said perception of crime is clearly an issue — but said there’s a difference between perception and police crime statistics.

He also noted that many in the region suffer from lack of access to jobs, adding that mass transit can help address that issue.

“Are we prescribing the right cure?” he asked.

cmcampbell@baltsun.com

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