Commuter bus routes preserved, service to still be reduced

The Maryland Department of Transportation announced earlier this month that it will be preserving commuter bus service on all 36 routes in the state.

Service on all routes will be retained at reduced frequencies to connect riders from the suburbs to job centers in the metropolitan Baltimore and Washington region, according to the Maryland Transit Administration. The new schedules will go into effect on July 1, the agency said in a release.

The Maryland Transit Administration held five public hearings and a 30-day comment period to gather feedback from the public on the previously proposed cuts and changes to the commuter bus service.

Route 850, which goes from Prince Frederick/Dunkirk to Suitland/Washington, D.C., was originally scheduled for termination.

Other routes, connecting areas across Southern Maryland — including Waldorf, La Plata, California, North Beach and St. Leonard — to Washington, D.C., have been slated for service reductions since early this year.

The agency received nearly 830 comments from riders and other stakeholders between Feb. 1 and April 29.

“Due to overwhelming feedback from commuters, and a strong commitment to funding our transportation systems by the Moore-Miller Administration and the General Assembly, the commuter bus system will remain intact,” Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said in the May 22 release. “Our updated schedule balances our riders’ need for reliable public transit with available funding levels.”

The updated service plan includes a decrease in the number of commuter bus trips across all routes while retaining the current span of service hours and geographic coverage.

The service reduction is in response to the structural financial deficit in state transportation funding.

Schedule adjustments have been designed to align with updated commuting patterns and ridership which stands at 43% of pre-pandemic levels.

Pre-pandemic, commuter buses operated 635 trips across 36 routes, with an average daily ridership of 12,000. However, since the pandemic commuter buses operate 599 trips across 36 routes, with average daily ridership of just 5,100.

The agency will continue to monitor ridership and plans to adjust schedules as demand changes.