MTA Maryland bus service

Operation

The MTA's bus service operates throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and other parts of the state. These include: Local routes 1 through 98; Neighborhood shuttle routes 97 and 98; QuickBus routes qb40, qb46, qb47, and qb48; Express routes102, 103, 104, 105, 106,107, 110,115, 119, 120, 150, and 160; Intercounty Connector routes 201 through 205; Commuter bus routes 310 through 995.

Local buses

Local bus lines are identified with a one- or two-digit number. Many of the numerical designations have origins dating back to the days of the Baltimore streetcars and share the route numbers of the respective streetcars that operated along the same streets.

Most local buses operate regular service seven days a week throughout most hours of the day and evening. Some routes operate 24 hours. A small number of routes operate without evening service, on weekdays only, during peak hours only, or only at the times needed for certain employers.

Until 2009, a series of routes operated in the northwest part of the city and suburbs known as Metro connection buses. These routes had designations of the letter M followed by a number, and operated from a Metro station to a specified location or between two Metro stations. When the Metro connection bus service began in 1984, it used designations beginning with the letter M (Mondawmin), R (Rogers Avenue), or P (Plaza), followed by a number. After the Metro was extended to Owings Mills in 1987, only the letter M was used, and it denoted "Metro."

Since 1988, the number of M-lines had declined, as many of them were consolidated, and some were completely eliminated. After the first phase of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative took effect in 2005, only seven M-lines remained, though this increased to eight after Route M-6 was restored months later.

Throughout 2008 and 2009, all M-lines were renamed to plain two-digit numerical designations, ranging from 52 to 54 and 56 to 60. During this series of revisions, route changes were also made to some of them, including merging some, splitting others, and completely eliminating part of Route M-17 without any replacement.

Express, Commuter, and Intercounty Connector buses

The MTA's express routes should not be confused with the "express" trips assigned to several of the local bus routes. Express routes are dedicated to providing rapid service by limiting the number of stops along the route. The number of express routes has declined over the past two decades as new rapid transit services have been constructed, and poor-performing routes were eliminated or consolidated.

Unlike the commuter buses, express bus routes serve areas where local buses are available. Comparable slower trips can also be accomplished with local buses. Commuter routes, however, provide service between locations not connected by local bus routes.

Both the express and commuter routes, identified with 3-digit numbers, offer limited service mostly during weekday rush hour between downtown Baltimore or Washington and various Park-and-Ride lots or other suburban locations in the state of Maryland. The commuter routes, designated with higher numbers, are operated by contractors rather than MTA employees.

The newest addition to the commuter bus service since 2010. Known as Intercounty Connector or ICC for short, service operates from Gaithersburg to BWI Marshall Airport, University of Maryland College Park or DoD/Fort Meade, traveling along the newly built Intercounty Connector expressway in central Maryland.

Neighborhood Shuttle Bug

Two of the local routes MTA operates are considered neighborhood shuttles, also known as Shuttle Bugs. Theses local routes focus on a specific neighborhood and the transportation of persons within these communities.

During the early 2000s, MTA introduced two such routes. These routes, rather than operating like others around town, have differences that include:

The Hampden Shuttle Bug was the first of seven shuttle routes originally planned for Baltimore and its suburbs. Only the Hampden and Mondawmin routes were implemented; no timetable was ever set for other neighborhood shuttle routes.

A proposed Shuttle Bug route between Randallstown and the Owings Mills Metro Subway Station was fought by residents along the route the shuttle would take. Objections included that the service would operate on quiet residential streets not accustomed to bus traffic, and area residents did not need the service.

In 2005 and 2006, in various phases of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, MTA proposed various changes to these routes which included routing changes and threats to eliminate Route 98 completely and reduce service on Route 97 to once an hour. The only change that was actually made was a shift on Route 98 in 2008 to replace service on Roland Avenue, that was lost through a change to Route 27.

QuickBus

In 2005, MTA introduced a new form of express transit, known as “rapid bus service.” The first of these services was designated Route 40. The line operates every 10–15 minutes from the western to the eastern suburbs of Baltimore through the downtown area, serving various communities in West and East Baltimore. Stops are limited to major intersections, transfer points, and points of interest. Unlike other express buses, local fares are applicable on Route 40. Route 40 was later named "QuickBus."

In 2009, a new "QuickBus" route was introduced. Designated as QuickBus 48, it operates along the same route as Route 8 minus the section north of Towson Town Center. Introduction of another QuickBus service that would operate along the route Route 3 and would have carry the designation "Route 43", but this proposal was delayed.

Two more QuickBus routes began service on August 30, 2010. QuickBus 46 operates alongside routes 5 and 10 from Paradise Avenue loop to Cedonia Loop. QuickBus 47 travel along the route 15 from Walbrook Junction to Overlea Loop. Both buses operate on weekdays at peak hours only.

Fares

Notes

Bus Fleet Notes

The first two digits of every local bus on the MTAs fleet indicate the year the bus was built. Although the 30 hybrid articulated buses (series 08001-08030) purchased from New Flyer began service during 2009, they were ordered and built in 2008; or like the New Flyer XDE40 hybrids (series 11001-11057) ordered in mid-2011, but will did not go into revenue service until the winter of 2012. Another exception to this are the 2013 New Flyer XDE60 hybrids (series 12081-12090) ordered in 2013 however will not start with 13000 but will contain fleet numbers that would suggest it was built and ordered in 2012 however 12081-12090 are in fact, MTA's first 10 new buses of 2013. The following cited picture was taken on board of 12081 that shows the manufacture date of 12081 as January 2013.

The three Optima Bus Opus models (series 06011-06013) were purchased second-hand from Annapolis Transit in 2006, and specifically for the Mondawmin Shuttle Bug service. The models have been retired since 2010 and has been sent back to MTA in 2016 for scrapping.

During summer seasons, the MTA loans several of its articulated buses to the Ocean City Transit fleet in Ocean City, Maryland to accommodate the large ridership of the summer season. Ocean City runs the buses from around Memorial Day until around Labor Day, returning them to the MTA at the end of the summer season.

One 1996 NABI articulated bus, 9619 was saved and converted into MTA's official "Comfort Bus," a bus specially designed to be dispatched to special events in Baltimore City during the summer to provide air conditioning to the attendees of special events and to be dispatched around the city for displaced city residents whose homes were made uninhabitable by fire or other causes to provide them heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. The interior for 9619 was heavily modified from its revenue service design with three interior roof mounted AC units, modified seating arrangement, tables, a water cooler, microwave, mini-fridge, wall electrical outlets, and a door facing the public-area of the bus prohibiting access from going in and out of the front door, entrance and exit for the public is only through the rear door. Artscape 2015 was the very first event with very high temperatures that 9619 was deployed to as the official MTA Maryland Comfort Bus and the bus had major problems keeping the interior comfortably air conditioned from the three interior roof mounted AC units that were installed. MTA on July 20, 2015 posted to their Facebook page in a comment to an Artscape 2015 attendee who boarded 9619 and experienced the lack of air conditioning: "We spoke with the HVAC specialists who work on the Comfort Zone Bus and they are aware of and working on the issue. Sorry for the discomfort you experienced. Because the Comfort Zone Bus is a new innovation, sometimes it takes a trial or two to get the bugs worked out. Thanks for letting us know!"

Hybrid vehicles (2008-2014)

Former Governor Martin O'Malley announced, in 2008, a commitment to convert the MTA's fleet to hybrid-electric buses by 2014 after the previous order of ten DE40LFRs in 2006. This involves purchasing up to 500 hybrids over a five-year period. In 2009, the MTA put the first 130 New Flyer hybrids into service. Thirty of the hybrids were the 60-foot articulated "DE60LFR" model (ordered in 2008) and one-hundred were the 41-foot "DE41LFR" model (ordered in 2009). In 2010, forty-one more hybrids joined the fleet. These buses are "DE40LFR" models, similar to the DE41LFR, but with the air conditioning unit mounted on the top front half of the vehicle to make it appear with a streamline roof styling. In 2011, twelve "DE60LF" articulated hybrids began service August as rejects from a previous CTA order in 2009. The 60-foot DE60LF, similar configuration to DE60LFR except with the original model style. These buses are intended for the most heavily traveled routes carrying up to 100 passengers sitting and standing.

Since 2006, the MTA has put one hundred ninety-three hybrid buses in service and has plans for fifty-seven more hybrids from New Flyer (known as "Xcelsior" or "XDE40" model) scheduled to arrive in January 2012. On October 7, 2011, MTA Maryland posted on their official Facebook page, a picture of 11001 one of the first XDE40s to roll off of New Flyer's production line for Baltimore with the caption of "MTA's first pilot Xcelsior Bus is here! Can't wait to get it on the streets of Baltimore!" New features of the hybrid buses (since 2008) include:

For four consecutive years, MTA ordered a total of 211 New Flyer Xcelsior hybrid buses from 2011-2014. As of 2015, the state of Maryland elected a new governor, Larry Hogan whose administration removed the previous MTA administrator, appointed by former governor Martin O'Malley, to appoint a new administrator, Paul Comfort. In m-d-2016, the new administration decided to stop the trending order of diesel-electric hybrid buses started by former Governor O'Malley's administration. The ordering of low-sulfur diesel buses was a financial decision to receive more vehicles with less maintenance issues in-contrast to the numerous flaws hybrid buses tend to endure on a daily basis. The first order of such vehicles is expected to arrive in FY2016. A bid solicitation was released in 2015 for 87 low-sulfur diesel buses. It is currently unknown as of August 6, 2015 if this will become a permanent or temporary process to ordering diesel-only transit buses. Less than five months after the announcement, MTA received $100 million in investment to order 172 New Flyer diesel buses - lone bidder during the election process - to modernize, as well as, maximize the number of buses due to be in the system's revenue operations fleet FY2017. Some of these buses will be integrated into the administration's new CityLINK service beginning June 2017.

Bus yards

MTA local bus service in Baltimore is divided into four divisions, each served by its own maintenance yard. The first digit of a bus's "block number", attached to the bottom right corner of its windshield (from inside of bus), indicates its "base" division. The buses also feature a small letter suffix to the fleet series number. The letter represent the 'first letter' of the division's "name" from where the bus is based.