Baltimore to get free shuttles
by Lori Barrett | May 28, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Posted in Baltimore, travel
It’s time for the circulator — well, in 14 more months or so.
The potential routes and prices for the circulator have been debated for some time now. But at a news conference today, Mayor Dixon announced the plans for the Downtown Shuttle Bus system — one north/south route, one east/west route, one route from Shot Tower to Johns Hopkins Hospital, and all free.
A fleet of 20 buses will begin service in July 2009, with expansion possible if the demand is high enough. Buses are planned to run every 10 minutes and will connect to existing transit, including Penn Station and the light rail.
The program will be paid in part by a tax on daily and monthly parking spaces. Said Dixon in a press release: “The new bus service will reduce car traffic, air pollution and increase the appeal of living, working and visiting Downtown Baltimore.”
So I’m curious — how many of you would ditch your cars if your workplace was on the shuttle’s route?
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May 28th, 2008 at 8:37 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Free? I dunno. I need to check my itemized tax bill. Ohhhhh... we don't get those? Regardless, still a good thing I suppose.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:48 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
a route from shot tower the Johns Hopkins? That's called the subway. THey still have that, right?
If my job were on a mass transit line and it didn't take 1 1/2 hours to get 3 miles I'd take it every day. And free? I hope they run it on the weekends too.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Oh, and now I'm gonna be saying "It's time for the circulator" over and over again at work today.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
I was confused by the Shot Tower route as well, but finally found a PDF of the proposed routes, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-shuttle0568-pdf,0,2333194.acrobat" rel="nofollow">which you can download here.
That particular route first circles through Fells Point, then continues on its way to JHH.
The east/west route runs from the fringes of Fells out to the Hollins Market area.
North/south runs from Lafayette Ave up Light St. past the harbor, to the edge of Federal Hill.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:20 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
The routes look good and it’s smart funding the service with Parking Authority money. However I think they will have a lot of difficultly running these buses during rush hours---the main problem with MTA buses in downtown. Without dedicated bus lanes downtown, buses will continue to be stuck in traffic and never live up to their schedule or potential.
June 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
It's a nice start, although I'd personally like to see them extend the coverage to serve Canton and Charles Village. Any idea what hours these routes will be in service?
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:20 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Good question with no apparent answer. Although the routes aren't even finalized yet, so maybe some other important details like schedules haven't been decided either. I'll post whenever more definite info is available.