The Purple Line, previously designated the Bi-County Transitway, is a planned 16.2 mi (26.1 km) transit line to link the Red, Green, and Orange lines of the Washington Metro transportation system in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. The project is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). On October 7, 2011 the proposed light rail line received Federal Transit Administration approval to enter the detailed engineering phase which, according to the Washington Post, is "a significant step forward in its decades-long trek toward construction."