Baltimore County Releases Draft Transit Development Plan, Announces Virtual Public Input Meeting

November 22, 2021

The Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) today released a final draft of Baltimore’s County’s updated Transit Development Plan (TDP), a county-wide roadmap for improving and expanding transit service over the next five years.
 
To ensure community members will be able to share their feedback regarding the draft report, County officials will host a virtual public input meeting on Tuesday, November 30 at 6 p.m.

“Expanding access to easy, efficient, reliable transit is an essential element in our vision for a better Baltimore County,” Olszewski said. “We are so proud of our unprecedented efforts to build a stronger local transit system and look forward to finalizing this plan which help guide our efforts in the years ahead.”

Funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation, the draft updated TDP assesses current transit services and identifies opportunities to improve mobility in Baltimore County. While the County’s prior TDPs have focused primarily on supporting existing CountyRide service, the Olszewski administration has expanded the scope of this report to examine public transit opportunities across Baltimore County, including services like The Loop and microtransit.

Baltimore County’s Draft TDP update, developed in partnership with Maryland-based transit consultant KFH Group, Inc., assesses current transit services, identifies unmet transit needs, and offers recommendations to improve service over the next five years. This process included a CountyRide customer survey, stakeholder interviews, a community survey and input from County departments.
 
The draft report released today includes a number of recommendations for short-term, medium-term and long-term improvements, including:

Short-Term Improvements

  • Expanding CountyRide service hours from Monday through Friday until 8 p.m. to provide customers with greater flexibility in accessing key destinations.
  • Piloting on-demand microtransit service in the Owings Mills community to provide a first mile/last mile mobility option that better connects residential and commercial areas.

Medium-Term Improvements

  • Consider expanding CountyRide services to Saturdays.
  • Explore expanding microtransit services in additional communities, such as Arbutus/Halethorpe, Essex/Middle River, Lochearn/Milford Mill, Southwest Baltimore County, and the Towson area.
  • Creating crosstown microtransit bus routes in Dundalk, Essex, and Middle River, which can better connect residents with Tradepoint Atlantic, a major economic engine.

Long-Term Improvements

  • Expanding The Loop service in additional communities, like Owings Mills  
  • Expanding crosstown bus routes along key corridors to create a countywide microtransit network

County to Host Public Input Meeting on November 30

During the virtual public input meeting on November 30, community members will have the opportunity to review the recommendations and provide feedback on the draft TDP.
 
Additional details regarding the virtual public input meeting is available online here.

Residents can also submit feedback by emailing publicworks@baltimorecountymd.gov.
 
Since taking office in 2018, the Olszewski administration has worked to reimagined Baltimore County’s approach to transportation, putting a greater focus on transit and multimodal transportation than ever before. Recently, the Administration launched the Towson Loop, the County’s first ever fixed-route local transit system.
 
More information on the County’s Transit Development Plan is available here

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