One of the advantages from a regional passenger railroad system

would be the ability to travel throughout the region and see and do things that you might not otherwise do. See "The $5 weekend: THINK METRA Let train provide cheap and easy route to nearby adventures," from the Chicago Sun Times as an example of weekend excursion possibilities offered by the Metra system.

Of course, if you want to do urban excursions in our region, your ability to do so can be limited by the mobility connections on the other end. For example, while it is easy to get to Baltimore from DC by train, the transit system on the Baltimore end is clunky and time consuming. Since Baltimore is spread out, if you want to go to a number of different areas, you need a car or bike.

Speaking of bicycles and transit, I noticed yesterday that Maryland Mass Transit Administration has added bicycle racks to Baltimore's buses (I didn't get a photo). In another example of who is in office does make a difference, in the Ehrlich Adminstration, the MTA was never interested in pursuing this.

MARC trains do not allow for bicycles to be transported.

At this time, you can take bikes to Baltimore via the DC subway system, the B30 Metrobus, and Baltimore light rail (see "Getting to Baltimore (and Artscape) with a bike") but the B30 bus is limited to 2 bikes at a time. There are 3-bicycle racks for buses. Perhaps the B30 bus could upgrade to that rack.

-------------

Addition: Cleveland's RTA also has organized a set of "One Pass Trips" of 6 different neighborhoods. See this webpage, "One Pass Trips" for links to the neighborhoods, with listings of the various destinations present in each.