Engineers and planners designing at-grade light rail transit (LRT) operations typically are faced with the challenge of balancing two conflicting objectives. On the one hand, the transit authority expects LRT operations to receive full priority at all at-grade crossings in order to achieve minimum travel time. On the other hand, the agency having jurisdiction over the arterial on which the LRT runs expects to maintain normal intersection operations so that peak-hour vehicle traffic delays are not worsened by the implementation of LRT services. The proposed Central Light Rail Line (CLRL) for metropolitan Baltimore was no exception to this situation. The CLRL will ultimately be 27 mi long, with a section of approximately 1.5 mi running along Howard Street through the central business district (CBD) of Baltimore. Howard Street is a two-way, north-south nonprogressive street that intersects with a number of major arterials receiving signal progression during the peak hours. The city is concerned that the proposed LRT will degrade progression on these major arterials and cause unacceptable delays to peak-hour traffic. Using the concept of traffic progression, progressive green bands for the proposed CLRL are developed to enhance its operation and at the same time minimize its effect on cross-street traffic progression. Traffic effects of LRT operations are quantified in terms of disruptions to cross-street progression, intersection level of service, and the performance of a partial CBD street network measured by systemwide criteria. The results reconfirm a previous belief that signal progression for LRT operations is available in the current computerized traffic signal network and that full priority LRT operations along Howard Street could be designed without significantly affecting cross-street progression.