Howard County to Celebrate One Million Annual Rides on Local Transit

Transit service in Howard County has evolved over the years since it was first implemented in the 1960’s as the the ColumBus – a service that was envisioned during the design of Columbia by the Rouse Corporation, and which included a number of minibuses operated by the Columbia Association throughout the planned community.

1975 – Howard County government enacted legislation to subsidize and expand the ColumBus into a more traditional transit system, though it continued to be operated by the Columbia Association. 

1988 – The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) recommended the ColumBus system focus service in high-density areas, and to/from industrial parks and key job centers.  It was also recommended to expand service beyond Columbia to areas like Ellicott City, Savage, and North Laurel.  Additional recommendations included longer operating hours and fixed bus stop locations. 

1989 – The Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber implemented the Corridor Transportation Corporation (CTC), a public-private partnership and demonstration project that provided public transportation across traditional jurisdictional boundaries along the Baltimore-Washington corridor.  In the first year of service, the CTC operated five fixed routes with a total of 9 buses.  

1989 – the Columbia Association operated six fixed routes in Columbia and Howard County.

1996 – Howard County awarded management of both operations to the Corridor Transportation Corporation (CTC), which grew from 9 to 70 buses and from 178,000 passenger trips the first year to 1.6 million in 2010.  This service operated under the name Howard County Transit.

2010 – CTC adopted a new name – the Central Maryland Regional Transit Corporation (CMRT) and also served neighboring jurisdictions.

The Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland (RTA) was launched in 2014 as a consortium of regional partners to streamline locally operated transit services in Central Maryland, initially serving Howard County, northern Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, and the City of Laurel. In 2023, RTA service was extended into Baltimore County via Route 505 service to Catonsville and is anticipated to begin serving Lansdowne this summer with the extension of Route 409.

One undeniable improvement that has been made in the last several years has been the implementation of so much transit technology on our buses. When service started real-time transit information wasn’t available, and certainly not in the palm of your hand. You needed to know the schedule and wait at the stop, hoping the bus would show up on time – or not. Now all fixed route bus stops are marked, and you can text a code from the bus stop sign to get real-time arrival information.

You can also use the Transit app, RTA’s officially endorsed mobile app, to track your bus in real time and even pay for your trip. Plus, other mobile applications like Google Maps and Moovit can also help you plan your route and check arrival times. 

When you board the bus, you no longer have push two rolled-up dollar bills into the farebox. Instead, you can simply scan your mobile app ticket against the contactless reader to validate your trip, indicating to the driver that you have paid. Drivers also no longer have to manually track each boarding because we have automated passenger counters (APCs) that county every rider.

While on board, you don’t have to anxiously follow the schedule to know when you will arrive at your stop, because automated voice annunciators announce the name of each stop as you approach. 

Our most recent investment in new RTA Mobility scheduling software is making scheduling trips more effective and efficient. This upgraded system enhances the experience for everyone: riders can manage their bookings and receive real-time updates through the RTA Mobility App (launching soon); drivers benefit from improved route navigation and communication tools; and agency staff can streamline operations to focus on providing service.

In recent years, one of Howard County's most important priorities has been to improve the state of the RTA’s bus fleet to make our system safer and more reliable.  We have worked very hard to replace aging buses and modernize the fleet with technological advancements (see "Technology in Transit Service in Howard County" above). In the last five years, through a combination of local, state and federal funding, we have purchased:

• 17 medium-duty transit buses
• 14 light-duty buses (primarily used for the RTA Mobility service)
• 6 RTA mobility sedans
• 1 pick-up truck (support vehicle)

In addition to these 38 new vehicles, we have placed an order for seven new medium-duty transit buses and plan to order two more by the end of the calendar year. In total, in less than six years, we will have replaced 47 RTA vehicles, more than half the fleet. This brings the fleet’s average age down to approximately six or seven years. We plan to request state and federal grant funding for at least two replacement vehicles each year allowing us to regularly replace vehicles when they start to wear out. This helps us maintain a generally young and “healthy” fleet for increased reliability, safety, and convenience for RTA passengers.

The current fleet includes:

• 11 vans/sedans
• 31 small buses
• 40 medium-duty buses