(The following story by Michael Dresser appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on July 1, 2010.)
BALTIMORE — U.S. Rep. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger will hold a news conference Friday morning at the BWI/MARC station at which he’ll announce plans to introduce a bill in the U.S. House requiring transit providers to take precautions to protect riders’ safety and comfort.
Called the Commuter’s Bill of Rights, the legislation follows on the heels of the June 21 incident in which more than 900 MARC riders were stranded on the Penn Line in extreme heat for two hours while an Amtrak crew concentrated on making repairs.
The Second District Democrat’s bill would require public transit operators to provide water and other services for passengers stranded on trains or other forms of transit. It would also set a time frame for transit crews to allow passengers to leave a disabled transit vehicle.