As you may have seen in the news, MDOT is showing reductions in the recently released six-year draft Capital Transportation Program, due to fiscal constraints. MTA does not have funding programmed to implement the BMORE Bus plan, but it is important to plan for an aspirational future and to be positioned to leverage additional resources when they are available.

BMORE BUS is an important part of that planning effort, utilizing public feedback and data analyses to show a vision for what bus service could look like in the region once additional resources are available. The plan will also help stakeholders understand the specific levels of investment required for recommended service improvements.

Good public transit means better access to opportunity for those who live and work in the Baltimore region. And when more people have better access to opportunity, the economy grows stronger. More than 80 percent of MTA core bus riders come from households without a personal vehicle available. Riders depend on MTA transit, especially the bus, to provide service and/or connections to nearly 800,000 jobs, over 200 employment centers, 180 grocery stores, and 29 hospitals in the Central Maryland region. 

Reliable access to employment, retail, and other destinations is not only important for quality of life, but it’s also important for the region, as almost 90 percent of trips on public transit directly impact the local economy. In fact, every $1 invested in public transportation generates $5 in long-term economic returns to the region. And for every $1 billion invested in public transportation, nearly 50,000 jobs are created or sustained across the entire economy. Investing in affordable, accessible bus service improvements like those recommended in BMORE BUS can help reduce race and income disparities.

MTA implements changes to bus routes—both where the routes go and how frequently they come—each Fall via the annual service plan process. These regular service updates ensure that MTA is responsive to the latest travel patterns and needs of riders. However, with the annual service plan process following a one-year planning and implementation cycle, there’s little room for service planning beyond reacting to current trends.

With the BMORE BUS short-range transit plan, MTA is taking a proactive and comprehensive look at what bus service improvements could be implemented over the next five to ten years with additional resources. BMORE BUS will also identify the operational and capital resources needed for each recommended improvement; this will help stakeholders understand the levels of investment required for different types of service improvements.

BMORE BUS is a short-range transit plan, not a network redesign. Rather than creating a new bus network from scratch like a network redesign would, BMORE BUS uses the current network as a starting point for improvement recommendations over the next five to ten years.

The BMORE BUS plan considers all services in MTA’s core bus network:

These modes are not the focus of the BMORE BUS plan (although adjustments to the schedules of these modes may be considered, depending on the bus system recommendations). MTA is separately pursuing improvements to Light Rail and Metro Subway, including new railcars, station wayfinding, and a range of reliability enhancements.

BMORE BUS will focus on MTA’s core bus service area—which includes service on CityLink Bus, QuickLink Bus, LocalLink Bus, and Express BusLink—as well as connections to the broader Central Maryland region as we consider potential service improvements. The BMORE BUS plan will not make recommendations for other, non-MTA locally operated transit systems, although connections to these other local transit systems may be considered. Click here to learn more about MTA’s Office of Local Transit Support (OLTS) and other transit systems across Maryland.