Red Line Summit Banner showing light rail train and bus rapid transit.

Mayor’s Red Line Community Compact

Since the Mayor’s Red Line Summit on May 10th, dozens of community leaders have been meeting with City agency representatives and advocacy organizations to define the Red Line Community Compact. With their input, we now have a draft to share with you – and your feedback is critical.

Read the Draft Red Line Community Compact.

A few things to keep in mind

The Red Line Community Compact requires support not only from MTA and the City government, but from Baltimore’s community leaders and organizations. While reviewing the draft, please keep in mind:

  • The compact consists of both goals on which we hope there will be broad agreement, and specific strategies which will take detailed planning to implement.
  • The specific strategies listed in the Community Compact can be incorporated into various documents that have legal significance, such as the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which requires a plan for mitigating any negative project impacts. Other strategies could be incorporated into the City or State budget, agreements with the State Historic Preservation Officer, water quality permits, etc. In some cases, we might have to change laws or regulations to make certain strategies possible.

You can help move this project forward

The ultimate accountability for implementing the Community Compact requires a partnership between MTA, City government and you! If the project never gets built, communities will never see the benefits of job opportunities and neighborhood revitalization. Think about where you can play a role in helping to move this project forward!

So, please complete our survey to give us your feedback and tell us about your priorities.

Thanks for your help!

Danyell Diggs
Red Line Planning Coordinator



Development of the Community Compact

Mayor Sheila Dixon’s Red Line Community Summit held Saturday, May 10, 2008, was very successful. Committed participants, working in partnership with the City, engaged in constructive dialogue about the Red Line Transit project and its possibilities. The success of the Red Line means many things beyond just the number of people who ride each day: opportunities for additional investment in neighborhoods, a healthy and attractive environment, minimal disruption during construction and economic empowerment for communities along the line.

At the Summit, we came away with some very good ideas for the Community Compact, based on excellent presentations by local and national panelists, a good discussion with you, the participants.

The next step in drafting the Community Compact is to meet as working groups that can have more time to discuss ideas and craft specific language that we can agree on.

We don't expect to get 100% agreement on the Community Compact - but we do hope to define the success of the project in a way that most people will agree that the Red Line is a win-win project for their community organization.

These Working Groups will be led by a member of the Mayor's Cabinet along with private or non-profit partners and will provide you with further opportunity for comment.

To register to be part of one of the Community Compact Working Groups, please call the Baltimore City Department of Transportation at 410-396-6856.