Originally conceived of as the Purple Line, an east-west light rail system that would connect Prince George's and Montgomery counties, the project is now being studied under Gov. Robert Ehrlich's administration as the Bi-County Transitway.

The administration is studying a corridor that traverses 14 miles, and extends from the Bethesda Metro Station to the New Carrollton Metro Station.

The state is considering light rail, but it is also studying bus rapid transit (BRT), said Michael D. Madden, a project manager for the Maryland Transit Administration, who met with the council at its work session Tuesday.

Councilman Eric Olson (Dist. 3) told Madden he preferred a light rail system that would encourage economic revitalization in College Park.

"Economic development tends to happen around public transportation stations," Olson said. "Having a Green Line and a Purple Line serving College Park would enhance our area."

Olson also pointed out that a bus system would create extra lanes on roads, which could be detrimental to the environment. Buses could not carry as many people as a train would, Olson said.

Madden said buses might bring development and that this country has little experience with rapid buses, which arrive at stops more frequently than Metro buses do.

Mayor Stephen Brayman pressed Madden to consider aesthetics when planning a transitway through the city, urging him to consider building something equally as attractive as Metro subway cars and stations.

The city and the university have agreed that a stop on the East Side of the intersection of Paint Branch Parkway and Route 1 would be ideal to service thousands of new apartment dwellers expected to move into new buildings.

Webb Smedley, a project manager for the University of Maryland's Department of Facilities, said the university would like a stop close to the Stamp Student Union on campus.

The council voiced a strong distaste for any underground tunnels in residential areas. Tunneling under areas is an idea that is expensive, but the state is considering in the current study.

Brayman urged Madden to consider starting the building of the proposed transitway in Prince George's County.

"We have the highest usage here in Langley Park," he said.

Madden said his department only has funds through 2006 for planning and none for construction. "We haven't even begun to think about that [where construction would start]," he said.

Madden said politics would be involved in such a decision. But, from a practical standpoint, he said construction might start where the first right-of-ways are available.

The state is receiving the most resistance to the transitway from the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase where a county right-of-way cuts through a golf course.

Madden said the transitway also has strong supporters in that area. "We are continuing to look at all the alignments," he said.