From Harford County government:
(Bel Air, MD) – – If you travel by MARC train to get to your job, you are in for a treat. On Wednesday, May 5, the Department of Community Services’ Commuter Assistance Program and others from the Baltimore Metropolitan Council will personally greet early morning commuters at the MARC train station in Edgewood. These are commuters who, day after day, board the MARC train bound for Baltimore, and all stops in between, to Washington DC to get to work. Nearly 500 Harford County commuters make this choice every day.
The Penn line is the most traveled of all three MARC Lines, boasting an average daily ridership of approximately 20,000 commuters (Oct 2007). “Ridership has definitely increased just in the last year as gas prices continue to rise,” says Harry Romano of the MTA.
The Penn Line of the MARC Train Service operates primarily between Baltimore’s Penn Station, through BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Train Station, and Union Station in Washington, D. C. Stops include Baltimore City, Odenton, and Bowie State University. In addition, there are four stops north of Penn Station at Martins Airport, both Edgewood and Aberdeen located in Harford County, and stops at Perryville in Cecil County.
Early morning commuters will also receive free coffee and a treat, courtesy of Clarence’s of New Orleans, along with their free goodie bags. During the morning commute time, Harford County representatives will be thanking commuters for using mass transit to mitigate traffic congestion, improve air quality, and save money on gas.
The month of May is nationally designated Clean Commute Month because it is the beginning of the ground level ozone season, when we begin hearing about Code Red and Orange Ozone Action Days. The Harford County Health Department states that Harford County is ranked as having the third worst air quality in Maryland with 24 ozone-heavy days.
On those days, motorists are encouraged not to drive their cars to work because pollution produced by cars causes ground level ozone, or smog. Smog can cause burning eyes, difficulty breathing or even trigger asthma attacks. Single occupancy vehicles produce 20% of the dangerous ozone-emission pollution in the Baltimore area. Using mass transit such as the MARC train and buses improves the air we breathe by putting one less car on the road.
I ride your Camden line and have called several times requesting that double deckers be added especially when leaving Union Station in the afternoon. When it gets to the second stop College there is absolutely no seats. This week we have had NO double deckers and the first two cars are standing room. Please take a look at this line because ridership has increased with nothing being done by MARC!