Maryland Transit Administration
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Template:Cleanup-date Image:MTAmaryland.gif The Maryland Transit Administration, sometimes called MTA Maryland to avoid confusion with other cities' agencies called MTA, is a state operated transit service serving all of Baltimore, Maryland and the surrounding counties. Besides operating the transit system in the Baltimore, the MTA also oversees the operation of a regional rail service, MARC, that services Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Western Maryland, as well as several Commuter bus routes throughout the state.
The MTA also oversees the operation of transit services in other jurisdictions in the state, with the exception of the Washington, D.C. area. Such transit systems, like Howard Transit, are also partially funded by MTA as well.
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History
The MTA was originally known as the Baltimore Metropolitan Transit Authority, then the Mass Transit Administration before it changed to its current name. The MTA took over the operations of the old Baltimore Transit Company on April 30, 1970.
Forms of MTA transit
Bus
Local buses
The Maryland Transit Administration current fleet of buses contains Flxibles (formerly known as Grumman Flxible) buses that were ordered from 1980-1995, North American Bus Industries (NABI) buses ordered from 1995-2000, a fleet of articulated buses from NABI in 1996, and in 2003 a set of low-floor buses from Neoplan. In early 2004, the Maryland Transit Administration ordered more low floor buses, this time from New Flyer.
Local bus service is divided into four types. Standard bus routes are numbered, and provide the majority of the service for MTA. For the most part the standard routs operate in a spoke like system, with routes starting out in the suburbs and traveling into the city towards the downtown.
Another local bus service is the “M” busses. These routes, designated as M with a number afterward, are designed to serve as feeder routes for the Metro Subway. The majority of the “M” routes are concentrated in the northwest part of the city, along the route of the Metro Subway.
MTA also operates so called “Express Buses”; these routes should not be confused with “Express service” on the local standard bus routes or the Commuter bus services. These routes, offer limited service from downtown Baltimore to several Park and Ride lots that surround the city is the suburbs.
Neighborhood shuttles
Neighborhood shuttles, also know as Shuttle Bugs, are another form of the Local bus service that MTA operates. Theses routes are focused on specific neighborhoods and the transportation of persons around these neighborhoods. Currently MTA Maryland operates two such routes.
The Hampden Shuttle Bug (route 98), identified by a ladybug, was the first of these so-called Neighborhood shuttles to begin operation. The shuttle make a circular route threw the Baltimore neighborhood of Hampden. Mondawmin Metro Shuttle (route 97), identified by a grasshopper, is the second shuttle service operated by MTA Maryland, the focus of its service is the area in and around the neighborhood of Mondawmin, specifically serving the Mondawmin stop on the Metro-Subway.
Plans were made to launch other shuttle services throughout Baltimore and into some of the suburbs, but the expansion of the service has been put on indefinite hold, with MTA putting its resources into other projects.
Commuter busses
MTA operates commuter bus service on 21 lines serving Baltimore and communities in Howard and Harford counties, as well as Washington, DC, and communities in western and southern Maryland counties. This service is provided during rush hours on weekdays only.
Rail
Template:Seealso Image:Balto metro train stctr.jpg Image:Baltimore light rail at BWI.agr.jpg The Maryland Transit Administration has two principal forms of rapid transit, the Baltimore Light Rail and the Baltimore Metro Subway. The light rail leads from Glen Burnie (Cromwell) to Hunt Valley, Maryland, with two spurs one going to BWI Airport and the other to Penn Station. The subway system leads from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to Owings Mills, Maryland.
The Maryland Transit Administration completed double tracking of its light rail system in early 2006. Meanwhile, it has been sending its Metro cars out to be rehabbed. The Maryland Transit Administration is also competing with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to obtain federal funding to build a maglev train route from Washington D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.
Image:Marctrain.jpgA third form of rail, the MARC commuter rail system, is also administered by MTA Maryland. It serves the Baltimore-Washington area as well as Western Maryland, but does not run on weekends.
Paratransit
MTA Maryland was among the first transit agencies to offer paratransit for persons with disabilities. This "Mobility Service" is a non-fixed route service and consists of fleet of specially converted Ford F-350's and Ford Crown Victorias. Some service is contracted out to MV Services and Yellow Transportation, but all vehicles are owned by MTA. Transportation is arranged in advance by caller reservation.
The one-way fare on these vehicles is $1.80, but those who qualify for parantransit have the ability to use their Paratransit ID card to ride any other mode of MTA transit, whether bus, light rail, subway, or water taxi, free of charge.
Taxi Access
A sub-service of the Paratransit program is MTA's Taxi Access program, designed with technology made by a company called MJM Management. The Taxi Access program ensures that any sufficiently physically disabled person that consistently requires for Paratransit service can also qualify for the Taxi Access program. The Taxi Access program allows the bearer of a Taxi Access card to take a taxicab door-to-door within the limits of anywhere MTA Paratransit vans go; i.e. within 1/3 of a mile of an MTA public transit stop of any kind. Once the trip is complete, total out-of-pocket cost for the customer is $3.00, and the MTA picks up the rest of the price of the fare, "paying" it to the driver in the form of a voucher that s/he later redeems at his/her cab company headquarters.
Fare structure
The one-way fare for local Baltimore services of MTA Maryland fixed-route public transit, including light rail and subway, is $1.60.
Criticism
Criticism of the bus system from everyday working class transit-dependent Baltimore residents include that the system is slow, that its buses (even the new ones) break down far too often; and that the system is too unreliable to ensure that workers on wage-based work can get to their jobs on time. In 2005, MTA responded to the latter complaint by restructuring several bus routes, but according to most, overall transit quality in the Baltimore region has not improved.