DOT Expands Investigation Into Red Line Cancellation

The Red Line would have run from the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services in Woodlawn to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus in southeast Baltimore. Credit: MTA Rendering

The U.S. Department of Transportation has expanded its investigation of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's decision to cancel a railway line to include all of the state transportation agency's programs to determine whether it has violated federal law.

Since December of 2015, DOT has been investigating a complaint alleging that Hogan violated a federal law prohibiting racial discrimination in programs receiving federal funding by canceling the Red Line, a $2.9 billion, 14-mile train line that was to connect predominantly African American neighborhoods in East and West Baltimore. The funds were redirected to highway, road and bridge projects across Maryland.

In a letter sent to the governor last week, the federal agency said it was expanding its review to include all transit programs to ensure compliance with federal law.