SILVER SPRING, Md. — As the Purple Line gets closer to construction next year, transit advocates are pushing for a bus-rapid transit network to relieve congestion in Montgomery County. The Coalition for Smarter Growth and Communities for Transit have released a guide that examines how other cities have successfully built such networks. Montgomery County

Two of the groups pushing hard for bus rapid transit in Montgomery County don't want officials weighing difficult funding questions to forget the features that could make the system a success. The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG), a Washington, D.C.-based smart growth advocacy organization, and the Communities for Transit on Tuesday released

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 1, 2015 CONTACT Pete Tomao, Coalition for Smarter Growth 202-675-0016 pete@smartergrowth.net MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD -- In 2013, the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a plan for an 81-mile Rapid Transit network based on modern bus rapid transit. Today, appointed citizen task forces are working with county and state

RESIDENTS ALONG VEIRS MILL ROAD NEED THE RTS AS A TRANSIT OPTION • More than 6,000 (15.4%) of commuters along the Veirs Mill Road corridor have commutes longer than 60 minutes. • Since 1990, the number of residents in this corridor with these mega-commutes has nearly doubled. • 22.7% of corridor residents take transit to work: nearly twice as many as in 1990. Almost half of these transit riders take the bus to work. • The median income of Veirs Mill Corridor residents is nearly $20,000 less than the median income in Montgomery County overall. Almost 44% of Veirs Mill Road corridor residents are foreign-born.

RESIDENTS ALONG THE US 29 CORRIDOR NEED THE RTS AS A TRANSIT OPTION • Almost 9,500 (17.2%) of commuters in the US 29 corridor have commutes longer than 60 minutes. • Since 1990, the number of residents in this corridor with these mega-commutes has nearly doubled. • 17.5% of corridor residents take transit to work: nearly twice as many as in 1990. Almost half of these transit riders take the bus to work