For anyone in the Washington DC area, I’ll be speaking tonight at 7:30pm at the Rockville Public Library about the history of Los Angeles Metro Rail, as detailed in my 2014 book Railtown.

Washington DC rail advocates have been fighting their own battle recently over the proposed Purple Line, a light rail connector between two horseshoe ends of the heavy rail Red Line in the upscale Maryland suburbs of Washington DC (map below). The project was set to go until Maryland voters elected Republican Larry Hogan governor last November. Hogan is threatening to kill the project if costs don’t come down.
Local backers of the Purple Line, Act for Transit, are sponsoring the talk tonight. Hopefully the history of rail battles in Los Angeles will be instructive for advocates in Washington DC.