For the last nine years, weekday mornings for Linda Larkin have looked the same. Up before the sun, she catches a bus from the Harry S. Truman Park and Ride in Annapolis to Washington for work, hopping off at one of the many stops along K Street about an hour later.
Her routine could change soon, however, if the Maryland Transit Administration’s proposal to cut some commuter bus lines and reduce service on others is adopted.
Larkin, a Bostonian who relocated to Annapolis nearly a decade ago, said the accessibility of public transportation weighed on her decision to buy her first home here. Taking it away, however, could prompt her to leave Annapolis.
“There was a way for me to get to work on the commuter bus, live where I wanted to but still be able to get to my job in D.C.,” she said. “And now they’re just ripping that rug out from under us.”
The proposed changes, released in late January and set to take effect July 1 if adopted, would discontinue service on eight of the lowest performing routes, which include three lines into Washington from Annapolis, Kent Island, and Severna Park and Davidsonville. Two other routes from Annapolis and Severna Park would also see a reduction in the number of trips, while another route from Kent Island would retain all of its daily trips.
These lines are among many proposed discontinuations or reductions in service across the state. Others include a route between Columbia and Bethesda, as well as two routes from Harford County to Baltimore.
Public hearings were held in March to allow commuters an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed changes. While no other meetings are planned, the MTA is accepting comments through April 29, which can be submitted online, via email at hearingcomments@mdot.maryland.gov or by mail.
The state transit agency plans to make a final decision by May 30 on the proposed commuter bus line changes, according to Veronica Battisti, an MTA spokesperson.
Larkin isn’t alone in her frustration. More than 400 people have signed a letter opposing the MTA’s proposal to cut commuter bus routes from Anne Arundel County and Kent Island into Washington.
The plans are designed to ensure a “minimal level of service” within the state’s commuter bus service area is retained, according to the proposal. However, the letter argues that the plans are “less than fair” and break trust with longtime commuters who work along North Capitol Street, Massachusetts Avenue and the K Street corridor.
Additionally, the letter urges the MTA to explore alternative options, including reducing the number of buses on all routes or pursuing a “blended approach” — modifying existing routes and adding additional stops or transfer options, preserving one of the routes from Annapolis to Washington or returning to a single loop route that encompasses K Street and Capitol Hill.
Annapolis Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, a Democrat from Ward 5, has taken the same route as Larkin for nearly a decade, often catching the bus at the park and ride or biking to a stop on West Street in Annapolis three days a week. The commuter bus offers a convenient way to travel into Washington, he said, without the stress and expense of parking or putting extra mileage on his car.
If the changes are adopted, Schandelmeier would likely drive to New Carrollton to take the Metro into the city, he said — a similar commute time, but with the added costs of car maintenance, gas and train fares.
“It’s just all of these extra things that I haven’t had to worry about in years of commuting [that] are now going to be more front and center to my mind,” he said.
The decision to propose reductions to the commuter bus service came as the state tries to erase an expected $3.3 billion transportation budget shortfall. At first, the MTA anticipated eliminating the commuter bus service entirely, but in January, Gov. Wes Moore said he planned to restore $150 million of the anticipated cuts, including $28 million of a proposed $64 million cut to the commuter bus service.
The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on work schedules contributed to the proposal, too. More flexible schedules and a rise in remote work have become “more commonplace,” the MTA website states, and demand no longer aligns with the current level of commuter service.
Before the pandemic, the state’s commuter bus service operated 635 trips across 36 routes, with an average daily ridership of 12,000, the MTA said in a January news release. Now, the commuter bus runs 599 trips across 35 routes with an average daily ridership of 5,100 — less than half of what it was before the pandemic.
For those who take the bus from Annapolis and Kent Island, the state’s decision to cut some of the routes doesn’t make sense, especially considering that the preserved routes only include stops around Capitol Hill, not K Street. Many riders who get off along K Street would need to walk or take the Metro to complete their commute into the city, among other options.
The riders’ letter to the MTA also scrutinizes the state’s ridership data, arguing that it doesn’t reflect rising numbers caused by increasing in-office requirements since last fall, particularly federal government agencies. Current commuter bus riders have anecdotally reported seeing more people on the bus, as well.
“We recognize that the Commuter Bus service reduction will have a significant impact on many Marylanders,” Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said in a January news release. “We encourage riders to visit our website to learn about alternate transit options.”
To Schandelmeier, who believes transit ridership is more sustainable fiscally and environmentally, it’s frustrating that the state agency “seems to be forgetting” that investing in transit is a good thing.
“I think a lot of the riders understand the need for maybe scaling back operations, they’re open to that, but to just eliminate these routes completely is short-sighted,” he said.
The proposed cuts affect more than Anne Arundel residents, too. Several Eastern Shore riders signed the letter, with hometowns stretching into the upper and lower portions of the Shore and Delaware.
Chester resident Tom Murphy has been taking one of the Kent Island bus routes into Washington for the last decade. The federal employee enjoys the convenience of taking the bus, which stops several blocks from his office in the city. But his office may move this fall, and the Kent Island route that’s been preserved in the proposal won’t stop anywhere near the new site.
“I’m not averse to walking in D.C. — D.C.’s a walking city — but when you’re talking about being on the bus for an hour and a half, and then having to walk another 20-some minutes possibly — that makes for a very long commute,” he said.
Though Murphy is nearing retirement within the next two years, a commute into Washington without the route he currently takes will possibly mean driving — something he’s not opposed to, but he prefers to rely on the bus.
“It’s just comforting to know in the evenings, after you had a hard day at work, that you can sit on the bus and sit back and listen to music, continue to do some work, sleep if you want and let somebody else do the driving,” he said.
Eliminating one commuter bus line from Kent Island will also mean more cars will be traveling on U.S. 50 and the Bay Bridge, increasing carbon emissions, Murphy added.
Judi O’Brien, a federal employee who lives in Chestertown, has taken the bus from Kent Island for 14 years. Her one-way commute already takes nearly two hours, and involves driving from her home to one of the island’s two bus stops before heading into Washington.
With the cuts looming, O’Brien is unsure which of her options would be preferable: taking the remaining bus from Kent Island, then switching to Metro to get closer to her office, adding even more time to her lengthy commute, or driving over the Bay Bridge and catching a MARC train into the city, adding the costs of tolls, gas and car maintenance to her budget.
“Any number of creative solutions could have been applied,” she said of the plan, “but instead, they just sort of hacked away at it with a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel.”
For some, the bus is more than a ride to work.
Stevensville resident Cathy Knox rode the bus from Kent Island for 26 years to travel to her job as a legal secretary in Washington. The possibility of her bus route being cut, however, contributed to her decision to retire several months earlier than planned.
Though Knox knows she’s fortunate to have been able to retire, and she still uses the bus to travel to medical appointments in the city, she’s well aware of the “snowball” effect the cuts could have on those who still rely on the bus to commute, from modifying schedules to switching to a new job that’s closer to home.
“I just don’t think that the government understands what they’ve done and what this is going to do to people, to people’s lives,” she said.
