Map via PurpleLineMD.com.

Great news today: The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, the region’s federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), unanimously approved the inclusion of the full Purple Line project in the region’s long-term plan.

The Washington Post’s Get There blog reports on the next steps for the project. First, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley needs to approve the Board’s plan. Get There doesn’t mention, however, that O’Malley is on record as supporting the Purple Line, in principle. The devil is in the details, of course, but hopefully O’Malley will make good on his promise.

The next step will be securing funding from the federal government. This one is more of a wild card, since the centerpiece of federal transportation policy is set to expire on September 30. According the Wall Street Journal, the new transportation bill could really shift funding toward transit and rail and away from the currently overwhelming focus on highways . So it’s definitely too early to handicap this one.

All in all, there’s a long way to go before the D.C. area sees any Purple Line at all, but today should definitely be considered a very good day for fans of sustainable transportation. A unanimous vote is always a good thing.

Of course, there are still big questions about what form the Purple Line will take – bus rapid transit or light rail – more about that to come…

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