Baltimore’s Unbuilt Rail System Undermined Black Neighborhoods
Baltimore’s electric streetcar system began in the mid-1800s originally as horse-drawn omnibuses. When National City Lines took over the network in 1948, they gradually replaced streetcars with buses over the next fifteen years. This change removed reliable, affordable public transit that had connected mostly Black neighborhoods, such as Sandtown and Rosemont, to jobs, schools, healthcare, and shopping. The loss of the streetcar network caused White residents to move to the suburbs, leaving Black communities isolated, underfunded, and dealing with deteriorating infrastructure. The new bus routes did not adequately serve Black neighborhoods, limiting their access to industrial and suburban job opportunities. This dismantling of the streetcar network coincided with federal and state policies that encouraged suburban growth for Whites, while ignoring Black communities, thus reinforcing structural racism in Baltimore’s transportation and housing systems. Ultimately, removing the streetcars led to unequal negative effects on businesses and neighborhoods, with race playing the differentiating role in who was most affected.
In 1965, city planners designed six rapid-transit rail lines to connect downtown Baltimore with its suburban outskirts. However, massive opposition from White suburbanites to both public transit and open housing policies prevented Black residents from moving into their neighborhoods. As a result, Baltimore County became increasingly White while the city itself became predominantly Black and more isolated from employment opportunities and essential services.
Although there were plans for a comprehensive rail system, only two lines were ever built. In 2002, Gov. Parris Glendening endorsed an east-west rail project known as the Red Line, designed to link underserved Black neighborhoods in Baltimore with downtown and suburban employment centers. By 2014, all necessary planning, engineering, and environmental reviews were finished, and the federal government contributed $900 million to fund construction. However, in 2015, newly elected Gov. Larry Hogan canceled the project, returned the federal funds, and redirected state resources to build highways in exurban and rural communities.
Recommended reading: The Third Rail by Alec MacGillis
Baltimore’s Unbuilt Rail System Undermined Black Neighborhoods
