**UPDATED** Leggett, Sarbanes, Kittleman, Berliner and Coalition of Supporters to Announce Launch of BRT Naming Contest

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Thursday, November 17, 2016; 9 a.m.

 

Leggett, Sarbanes, Kittleman, Berliner and Coalition of Supporters to Announce Launch of BRT Naming Contest

 

Thursday, November 17, 2016

9 a.m.

 

Parking Lot of Verizon Corporate Office

13100 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring

(on US 29 corridor, which will be the first BRT in the County and Maryland)

 

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will be joined by U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes, Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman, County Councilmember Roger Berliner, and a coalition of BRT supporters to announce the start of a naming contest for the County’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which in the next few years is expected to transform the County’s transit options. Branding the BRT system is a vital next step as the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) moves forward on system planning and design using a $10 million federal TIGER grant (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) received this summer.

 

Montgomery County is in discussions with Howard County to make the first BRT line in the network along US 29 a bi-county service.

 

Joining Leggett will be MCDOT Director Al Roshdieh; Tina Slater, community transit advocate; John DeWolf, senior vice president, Howard Hughes Corporation; James Gowen, vice president, Verizon Supply Chain Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer; and residents, businesses, transit and civic groups that support BRT.

 

It is expected that a BRT network of fast, reliable, train-like vehicles will move more people per lane compared to cars, with each bus taking as many as 90 cars off the road, get travelers out of traffic and help residents reach new jobs created along its corridors.

 

Photo Opportunity: On display at the event will be a BRT vehicle destined for Nashville, Tennessee that could serve as a prototype for the County’s system.

 

Directions and Parking:  From Route 29 North, turn left onto Musgrove Road or from Route 29 South, turn right onto Musgrove Road. Take the first right onto the Verizon property. Park in the employee lot to the right. Walk towards the building and follow the perimeter footpath to the front of the building.

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Media Contact: [email protected]

 

Media Contact: Esther Bowring 240-777-7155