Following the Red Line: A summary of the transportation news hunt

Getting around Baltimore doesn't seem very easy these days.

The local news offers plenty of evidence that transportation is a major concern in the city. We see terrible collisions between cyclists and cars and some of the worst rush-hour traffic in the nation. At the same time, offerings like the Charm City Circulator have proved popular (maybe too popular) and major plans are afoot to build the Red Line -- a new public transit route planned along the city's east-west axis.

The Red Line project has been discussed, debated, protested and applauded for several years. It now appears to be taking shape as a light rail connection running from western Baltimore County, through downtown (and underground), and into the eastern suburbs of the city. Last week, in collaboration with our media partners at Urbanite magazine, we began a news hunt for coverage of the Red Line and transportation issues in general.

The magazine is taking a step beyond journalism to launch "The Urbanite Project: Open City Challenge" -- a competition for community-enhancing project ideas. With a number of partners, including the Maryland Transit Administration, Urbanite is "inviting self-organized teams to compete for $10,000 in prize money (provided by the MTA) and the chance to implement their solution to a pressing city issue: the quality-of-life issues brought about by the construction of the Red Line."

You can read more about the contest on Urbanite's website. 

Over the past week, Urbanite assistant editor Rebecca Messner joined members of the NewsTrust Baltimore community in collecting, posting and reviewing stories about the Red Line project and Baltimore's other transportation issues. Rebecca told us that Urbanite's Open City Challenge is "looking for thoughtful designers to make a positive lasting impact on the communities who will be affected by the construction of the Red Line."

"To do this, they need to see the whole picture, and they need to have access to the best journalism available on the subject," she said.

The NewsTrust community is off to a great start in assembling that "whole picture." In our news hunt we gathered a wide array of news stories and opinion pieces. 

Some are very recent, while others highlight key moments in the contentious history of the project. To date, our community has gathered 39 stories covering aspects of the the Red Line project and related issues. Also during the week, community members weighed in on general transportation stories.

In April, Urbanite will intensify its coverage of these topics and use NewsTrust Baltimore to compile the best background stories on the Red Line. As a result, we expect this collection to grow much more in the weeks ahead. Please join us in building an information resource for everyone concerned about transportation in Baltimore. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights from the list of stories we've found so far.

 

Recommended stories

News:

Good Day Sunshine (reviews) - Arbutus Patch

Efficient Charm City Circulator services tourists and underprivileged Baltimoreans (reviews) - The Greyhound

LaHood says high-speed train plan won't be derailed (reviews) - Baltimore Sun

MTA hires Red Line community liaisons (reviews) - Baltimore Sun

Canton Organizing To Oppose Transit Plan (reviews) - Baltimore Sun  

Opinion:

Red Line "East Side" video (reviews) - Red Line Project

Listen: Moving stories about getting around Baltimore (reviews) - Greater Greater Washington

Expand Baltimore’s free Charm City Circulator buses (reviews) - Baltimore Brew

 

Featured topic
Any news related to the transportation is sure to draw attention and comment from people living in Baltimore. Indeed, the stories highlighted in the news hunt drew some interesting reactions from the NewsTrust community. Reviewer and Towson University student Katherina Capon took note of an August 2010 story about a rally for local hiring on Red Line construction. She said: "This story gave a different view than others that I have read. It really discussed how the project would help the people of Baltimore by giving them jobs."

Stacy Spaulding, a Towson journalism professor, and Khalilah Harris, executive director of the Baltimore Freedom Academy, responded to Katherina and agreed that the article brought to light a different aspect of the news.

Another Towson University student, Rossella Procopio, found, posted and reviewed an opinion piece published in June 2010 by The Baltimore Brew's Gerald Neily. Rossella called it "a helpful general introduction to the Charm City Circulator for those who want to learn the basics."

"The article brings up an interesting point on whether the Circulator is actually innovative or simply redundant, and makes some suggestions on how to implement a new transportation system," she wrote.

All our news hunts are really just week-long snapshots of major subjects that have long histories and resurface often in Baltimore and Maryland. The issues surrounding the Red Line are no exception.  In this case, with the continuing partnership with Urbanite magazine, we're stressing the open-ended nature of the news hunt and asking our readers, reviewers, and partners to continue finding and reviewing journalism about the Red Line.  

 

The NewsTrust community
We are grateful to all the volunteers readers, reviewers and partners who are making NewsTrust Baltimore into a key resource. Your contributions are helping people in our community find valuable information about pressing issues. If you are not yet a member of NewsTrust Baltimore, please sign up and join the experiment. Your voice is needed and welcome -- the success of this social news experiment depends on the participation of members like you.

Thank you again, and see you on the site! 

 

Photo credit: Maryland Department of Transportation