Parent Montgomery County Fleet 350 | Routes 80 | |
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Founded March 31, 1975; 41 years ago (1975-03-31) Headquarters 101 Monroe Street, 5th Floor, Rockville, Maryland, U.S. Service type Bus service, paratransit | ||
Ride On is the primary public transportation system in Montgomery County, Maryland. Ride On serves Montgomery County as well as the community of Langley Park in Prince George's County. Ride On also serves the Takoma Metro station, and Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Contents
Ride On operates 80 routes, including operating two Metrobus routes on weekends.
History
Ride On began service on March 31, 1975.
In 1989, 57 30-foot Gillig Phantom buses, the first buses in the second-generation blue-and-white scheme, went into service. These buses retired in 2004.
In the spring of 1996, Ride On's first CNG buses, the 1996 35-foot Orion V buses, went into service. These buses have since retired.
In early 2004, Ride On's first low-floor buses, the 2003–04 35-foot Orion VII CNG buses (5900–5932), went into service. They replaced all of the remaining 1989 30-foot Gillig Phantom buses (which were also Ride On's last buses without wheelchair lifts), therefore resulting in an all-accessible fleet.
In 2006, Ride On started accepting SmarTrip cards. All of the buses would be equipped with SmarTrip-compatible fare boxes by August of that year.
Also in 2006, Ride On's first 5 hybrid-electric buses, the 2006 40-foot Gillig Low Floor aka Gillig Advantage buses (5300-5304), went into service. The following year (2007), eight additional 40-foot Gillig Low Floor hybrid-electric buses (5305-5313) went into service.
Between the summer and fall of 2008, Ride On's first low-floor diesel buses, the 2008 29-foot Gillig Advantage (5001-5006) and 2008 40-foot Gillig Advantage buses (5726–5746), went into service. They are the last buses in the second-generation blue-and-white paint scheme.
In 2009, Ride On introduced a new logo and blue-yellow-green paint scheme with the delivery of new Gillig Advantage clean diesel and hybrid buses.
In the autumn of 2011, Ride On's 12 40-foot Gillig Low Floor hybrid buses (5349–5360) and one clean diesel bus (5758) went into service. All 13 of these buses were purchased with funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Seven additional 40' Gillig Low Floor hybrid buses (5361–5367), which were also purchased with stimulus funds from the ARRA, went into service in mid-2012.
In July 2012, Ride On retired all 62 of its 2007 Champion cutaway buses due to fires and replaced them with 30 1998 30-foot Orion V buses. All 30 of these units were formerly operated by Washington's WMATA.
On September 19, 2013, 12 new 40-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5759–5770) went into service. A week later (September 26, 2013), 28 new 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5032–5059) also went into service. Also, the 2013 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses replaced all of the 2003 model shuttle transit vehicles (STV) that were formerly operated by Pittsburgh's Port Authority of Allegheny County.
In April 2014, 19 brand-new 2014 40-foot Gillig Low Floor CNG buses (5837–5855) entered service. They are Ride On's first new CNG buses in almost a decade (2005 35' Orion VII CNG buses, which went into service in 2006).
Between September and October 2014, 32 new 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5060–5091) went into service and replaced all of the 1998 30-foot Orion V buses that were formerly operated by WMATA.
Ride On celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015, with 3 buses (1 from each of the 3 bus divisions) wrapped in the transit agency's 40th anniversary ad.
Between April and May 2016, 40 new 40' Gillig LF clean diesel buses (44000-44039), 1 29' Gillig LF clean diesel bus (42000) and 16 40' Gillig LF CNG buses (44040-44055) entered service. And with the new buses came the new five-digit numbering system for Ride On, along with the suffix demoting engines ("C" for compressed natural gas, "D" for diesel and "H" for hybrid).
Fares
Ride On's current fares are $1.75 for riders using cash and for riders using SmarTrip. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities ride free weekdays between 9:30AM and 3PM; on other times a discounted fare of $0.85 is offered. Ride On offers a $0.50 discount for bus fares that transfer from the Washington Metro. As with all other transit providers in the Washington Metro Area, as of January 4, 2009, Ride On stopped the issue or acceptance of paper transfers. Riders wanting transfer credit must use a SmarTrip card to get the rail-to-bus discount or to transfer free from bus to bus.
Routes
Ride On offers 80 routes throughout Montgomery County. All routes run through Peak Rush Hour Period between 6AM and 9AM and 3PM to 7PM on weekdays. Many routes offer services for off-peak hours and weekends as well.
Additionally, Ride On operates two weekend routes that are served by WMATA Metrobus on weekdays.
Fleet
Ride On operates a fleet consisting mainly of Diesel, CNG, and Diesel-electric hybrid buses produced by Orion Bus Industries, Gillig Corporation and New Flyer Industries.
The bus fleet, owned and operated by Ride On, is distributed among three garages in Kensington, Silver Spring and Gaithersburg. Gaithersburg garage is located adjacent to the Shady Grove Metro rail yard.