Plans for Md. Bus Service Stall
By Teresa Ann Boeckel, York Daily Record, Pa.
Aug. 24–An express bus run to Maryland might be delayed up to a year because Rabbittransit didn’t receive any of the $1.4 million it asked for in federal transit funding.
“We’re disappointed, to say the least,” Richard Farr, executive director of Rabbittransit, said Thursday. “That certainly puts us a little bit behind.”
Five metropolitan areas — Miami, the Minneapolis area, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle — were recently selected to be part of a new Urban Partnership Program aimed at reducing traffic congestion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Those cities received the $438 million available through the bus program to support their transit efforts.
It was one-time discretionary money that the Federal Transit Administration had to distribute because appropriation bills were not passed, said Wes Irvin, a spokesman for the agency.
The department decided to put it toward bigger projects rather than doling it out in tiny bits, he said.
Rabbittransit asked for $1.4 million so it could buy four new buses — three for a new Maryland express service and one for the Harrisburg run, Farr said.
The Harrisburg express service is so crowded that sometimes riders sit on the steps, Farr said. That’s why Rabbittransit needs a bigger bus for that run.
Laura Kyle, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott in Hunt Valley, Md., said an express bus would be nice.
The other day, it took her more than two hours to get to work from her home in Hopewell Township because of a crash, she said.
“It would be such a blessing to not have to worry about driving,” Kyle said.
Rabbittransit had hoped to start the run to Baltimore this year. Farr said officials plan to talk to legislators about it.
“We’re doing everything we can to secure the funding,” Farr said.
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