Gov. Wes Moore prepares to add more light rail to Baltimore as ridership lags and costs rise on current system

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is moving forward with a new east-west light rail project in Baltimore that could cost up to $7.2 billion to build and millions more to operate. Yet ridership on the region’s current north-south light rail system is about half of what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, and its costs keep ticking up. The number of rides taken during fiscal year 2023 was down to 3.4 million, compared with 7.4 million in fiscal year 2018, on the north-south line, which travels from Hunt Valley in Baltimore County to BWI Marshall Airport or Glen Burnie in Anne Arundel County, according to Maryland Transit Administration data.