County Plans to Launch Glen Burnie Bus Service
By SEAN PATRICK NORRIS Staff Writer
The county will launch a new bus service connecting the Cromwell light rail station next month to parts of Glen Burnie, county officials said this week.
George Cardwell, head of the county Traffic Planning Division, said the four-mile long route would help people without cars navigate the area.
“It’s a matter of connecting people to the light rail station so they have better opportunities,” he told the Maryland Gazette on Wednesday.
“They can use the bus and the train if they don’t have a car. It’s about connecting people to social and cultural and economic opportunities in Baltimore and vise versa,” he said.
Although the service is set to start in late April, the exact locations of the stops has not been determined. Glen Burnie currently is served by the Corridor Transportation Connect-a-Ride service, which also stops at the light rail station.
Mr. Cardwell’s office will hold a public meeting to hear where area residents want the bus to run. A date for the meeting has not been set.
As currently planned, buses would travel a four-mile route through the area. They would loop around once an hour during a 16- hour day, helping minimize waiting time for transfers from the bus to the train.
Mr. Cardwell said the county eventually hopes to get the frequency up to every 30 minutes.
Dillon’s Bus Service of Pasadena has won the contract to provide the service, although terms have not been finalized, said Mr. Cardwell.
He said the cost of the service will be covered with county and state funds, with up to 15 percent of the cost coming from the fare box.
Mr. Cardwell said the buses will run every day except major holidays.
“We know from census and planning information that there are several indicators that Glen Burnie is a logical place to be running transit service. (County Executive John R. Leopold) has a vision of using transit to support existing communities,” Mr. Cardwell said.
Glen Burnie is home to several public facilities that could benefit from public transportation.
The Glen Burnie Town Center is home to a mix of restaurants and other small businesses, a satellite campus for Anne Arundel Community College, county offices in the North Arundel Center and a District Court.
Michael Livingston, CEO of the Bank of Glen Burnie and head of the Glen Burnie Town Center Committee, hadn’t heard about the bus service and declined to comment until he learned more about it.
Barb Moeller, president of the Glen Burnie Improvement Association, also declined to comment.
Improving transportation in the county has been a major recommendation by various groups studying the impact of new federal jobs anticipated over the next several years.
County planners anticipate around 22,000 new jobs arriving at Fort George G. Meade by 2014. About 5,700 will come from the federal Base Realignment and Closure process, a nationwide consolidation of military bases that will transfer jobs, most from Northern Virginia, to the post.
The state also operates a commuter bus service with routes running from Baltimore through Glen Burnie and south to Annapolis.
County Councilman Ron Dillon, whose family runs a contract service for the Maryland Transit Administration from Annapolis to Washington, D.C., declined to comment on the county contract.
The bus service comes as Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to make significant investments in public transportation.
For fiscal 2009, the MTA will have a $358.7 million capital budget, compared with $323.5 million this year. Projects include $27 million to improve the Camden, Brunswick and Penn MARC commuter rails and $4 million to start developing the 16-mile Purple Line from Bethesda to New Carrollton.
A plan to study possible expansion of light rail to Annapolis is expected to die in the General Assembly this year.
Mr. Cardwell said the hope is that the Glen Burnie bus route will be followed by others.
“If we are successful with ridership, then our hope is to expand. We are not certain where,” he said.
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