Garage Eastern
Northwest Began service 1954 Locale Baltimore City | Status active Predecessors No. 13 Streetcar | |
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System Maryland Transit Administration | ||
Route 13 is a bus route operated by the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore. The line currently runs from Walbrook Junction in West Baltimore (the intersection of North Avenue, Hilton Street, and Bloomingdale Road) to Canton, mostly along North Avenue. The line has two main branches, both operating to Canton: one that operates via Fells Point (these buses are marked Fells Point) and the other via Linwood and East Streets (these buses are marked Canton). Both these branches serve Johns Hopkins Hospital. Additionally, selected trips on weekdays and Saturdays operate to the block of Milton Avenue, Federal Street, and Patterson Park Avenue.
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In 1999, Route 13 has the highest farebox recovery rate of all MTA bus lines, recovering nearly its entire cost.
The current bus route is the successor to the 13 North Avenue and 22 Washington Street–Canton streetcar lines.
History
Route 13 was Baltimore's first streetcar line, having started it operation in 1890 along North Avenue. In 1898, the no. 22 streetcar line on Washington Avenue began operation; this ran until 1938 when it was absorbed into the no. 34 streetcar. The no. 33 bus started operating along Milton Street in 1950, and was absorbed into Route 13 in 1954, the same year the no. 13 streetcar was converted into a bus. In 1975, the Highlandtown portion of the no. 34 bus became a part of today's Bus Route 22.
Throughout most of the years of its operation, few other routing changes were made to Route 13. In 2005, as part of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, a comprehensive overhaul for the region's transit system, MTA announced that the following changes would be made to Route 13:
All these plans were implemented on October 23, 2005.
Even before these plans were finalized, they drew a lot of controversy. Of particular concern were the changes in the route between North Avenue and Monument Street, and the removal of buses from Washington/Wolfe Streets and Milton Street. This required elderly residents of these communities to walk up to six blocks extra in order to reach the line.
After the implementation of these changes, a large uproar among riders was held. Riders demanded that Route 13 return to its old route immediately, and local media picked up on the story.
On February 5, 2006, MTA implemented new changes to Route 13, partially returning buses to their old route. All trips to Canton and Fells Point now operate via Washington/Wolfe Streets rather than Patterson Park Avenue. A new branch on the line was formed, which operated along North Avenue, then looped via Milton Street, Federal Street, and Patterson Park Avenue. This branch, which operates every 30 minutes on weekdays from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, and has more limited Saturday service, meets the needs of senior citizens in these areas.
In theater
In 2010, Run of the Mill Theater created six 15-minute plays based on the Route 13 bus. The plays were created by riding the bus and interviewing random passengers.
Hopkins Express
In the past, trips from various other locations that were designated as Hopkins Express operated to the area of Johns Hopkins Hospital. These were designated Route 13, and provided express service along the corridors of other bus routes on weekdays to Johns Hopkins Hospital.
In 2000, these lines were redesignated. The Towson branch, which had operated along the route of Route 8, was redesignated Route 103. The Cromwell Bridge Park-and-Ride branch, which had operated along the corridor of Route 3, was redesignated Route 104.
In 2005, as part of GBBI, both Routes 103 and 104 were proposed to be eliminated. Route 103 was eliminated as planned. But Route 104 survived and remains in operation to this day.
The Route 104 (Hopkins Express) operates one-trip southbound during morning peak-hour and one-trip northbound during evening peak-hour.