Light rail is the wrong choice for Red Line

Unfortunately, Maryland has chosen light rail for the east-west line in Baltimore, and that is a grave mistake (“Red Line will be rail, but will it be reality?” July 1). Fast bus service would have been a long-term mistake as well. Why?

Consider the Baltimore mass transit systems. The choices are buses, light rail and the subway. We have a track record for all three, and the record is clear.

The single north-south light rail line, by any measure, has not been a success. The poor ridership numbers have dropped severely since the pandemic, and those numbers have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. It’s very slow surface transportation that actually causes as many traffic problems as it solves. The one light rail that exists should be a cautionary tale about the risks of building another line of slow surface trains that fewer people are using.

The folks on the east-west line should not settle for a rail system that has proven to be a mistake. It’s called “snail rail” or “fright rail,” and it is dearly loved only by those with no urgent desire to go anywhere quickly. Have you taken the light rail from Hunt Valley to Camden Yards for an Orioles game? It takes forever, so people don’t use it. Why would the state commit to a project knowing that our one light rail line struggles to reach 10,000 riders a day? It makes no sense.

Consider the subway line to Owings Mills and the continuing economic tsunami created by the opening of that line. Why? Because the subway is fast, non-surface transportation. It gets you downtown in 20 minutes. It’s more expensive but worth the extra money. Why were the folks on the I-795 corridor blessed and the folks everywhere else have to settle for buses or light rail? The subway is an economic dynamo that has long-term positive effects for the entire metro area. The goal should be to eventually tie the Baltimore and Washington subways together to create a real economic powerhouse, but the state of Maryland has given up on the subway in Baltimore.

Light rail is a proven loser that the state has just doubled down on. It is going to take an hour to go from Woodlawn to Johns Hopkins Bayview and like the current line, few people will ride it because it is too slow and scary. People on the east and west sides of Baltimore deserve the same mass transit service as those fortunate residents served by the subway.

— Dudley Thompson, Girdletree

Moore misrepresents Biden’s cognitive decline

I’m a fan of Gov. Wes Moore. He’s a good guy, has a great wife and lovely children. However, his defense of President Joe Biden’s mental acuity is nothing short of an attempt to gaslight voters (“Wes Moore, other governors say they’re standing with Joe Biden following debate performance concerns,” July 3).

Biden was a quick-witted, fun, capable man at one point. Today, he is not. It is clear that he is suffering from cognitive decline, perhaps severely. It may be time for his party to invoke the 25th Amendment and protect the country from a confused elderly man making a poor decision that could negatively impact the entire planet.

It’s sad, but it’s time. Please, governor, don’t tell us we didn’t see exactly what we saw during the debate and for most of the last few years. It’s insulting.

— Michael Smith, Towson

It’s cool to see Capitals ice hockey covered in The Sun

Thanks for including the Capitals coverage in the sports section (even if it was a slow sports day) and on the first page no less. For those of us who remember the Baltimore Clippers and are anticipating Alex Ovechkin’s future achievement, it’s nice to see the recognition of an important regional sports team (“Capitals trade goalie Darcy Kuemper to Kings for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois,” June 19).

— Moshe Gavant, Baltimore

Curb the smell of cannabis smoke

I am not a consumer of cannabis although I did vote for the legalization of recreational marijuana, and I don’t think the law should be repealed (“A year after Maryland approved recreational cannabis, sales are booming but health concerns linger,” July 1).

However, I am tired of smelling it everywhere I go, especially when it comes from other cars on the highways. I believe the regulations governing the use of cannabis in public need some tweaking.

— Sean Tully, Baltimore