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NEWS RELEASE

October 26, 2007

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Howard Transit Wins Award for Best Fixed Route System in Maryland

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced today that Howard Transit, the County’s bus system, was named “2007 Best Fixed Route” in the State of Maryland by the Transportation Association of Maryland (TAM). Presented last week during the annual TAM conference and tradeshow in Ocean City, Maryland, the award pays tribute to a locally-operated transit system that demonstrates innovative programming and commitment to service.

“We are honored to be the recipient of this award for the second time in two years,” said Ulman. “We would, however, be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that Howard Transit has faced serious challenges recently particularly because of vehicle breakdowns within our aging bus fleet. We don’t take this situation lightly and have taken immediate steps toward improvement.”

Over the past three months, the County initiated the purchase of seven new buses and four Toyota Prius sedans. While new vehicles have now replaced some of the older vehicles, the County will continue to replace vehicles in the fleet during fiscal year 2009 and in subsequent years. Considerable progress has also been made in correcting recent telephone hardware problems and paratransit scheduling software glitches.

In awarding this honor to Howard Transit, TAM officials noted Howard County’s commitment to making bus service more accessible for all passengers by improving sidewalk connections to bus stops, installing more bus shelters and purchasing low floor buses. Howard Transit was also cited for its leadership in being among the first local bus systems in Maryland to acquire environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles. Additionally, TAM praised Howard Transit for creatively restructuring several routes in order to provide shorter passenger wait times, earlier morning and later evening service hours, as well as service to new destinations. The route and schedule improvements were accomplished without raising fares or increasing operating costs.

Last year, Howard Transit carried more than 860,000 customers and estimates continued growth in fiscal year 2008 to well over 900,000 trips. “We are committed to providing safe, dependable service for our customers,” said Ulman. “This is not a just a slogan but the mission for Howard Transit.”