TRANSPORTATION

Airplanes

Bridges

Bus

Highways

Light Rail

Railroad

Subway

Tunnels

BUS

[Color photograph of MTA Bus] MTA bus.
Photo courtesy of Mass Transit Administration,
Department of Transportation.

Bus transportation is provided by the Mass Transit Administration (MTA), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), and local buses. Statewide, MTA operates commuter bus routes linking metropolitan areas, funds general bus transportation for elderly and disabled persons, and supports local public transportation funding in many counties and small cities. MTA provides privately contracted commuter bus service from Annapolis, Charlotte Hall, Columbia, Crofton, Frederick, Hagerstown, Huntingtown, Kent Island, North Beach, Silver Spring, and Waldorf to Washington, DC, or to a Metrorail station. MTA also operates over 60 bus routes in the Baltimore area. With suburban service from Annapolis, Bel Air, Columbia, Havre de Grace, Laurel, and White Marsh to downtown Baltimore, 860 buses serve more than 250,000 passengers daily. In winter, MTA Shelter Shuttle transports homeless individuals and families to city-run shelters nightly.

Passengers with disabilities may use regularly scheduled lift-equipped service; Call-A-Lift on bus routes without regularly scheduled accessible buses; and Mobility, a van and taxi service for those who cannot use MTA buses.

In Montgomery and Prince George's counties, bus transportation is provided by Metrobus (WMATA), Montgomery County's "Ride-On" service, and Prince George's County's service called "The Bus."

LIGHT RAIL

[Color photograph of Light Rail Train] Central Light Rail train, Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo courtesy of Mass Transit Administration,
Department of Transportation.
Begun in 1992, the Central Light Rail Line of electric-powered trains runs 30 miles through the central corridor of Maryland from Timonium in Baltimore County, through the heart of Baltimore City, past Oriole Park at Camden Yards, to Cromwell Station/ Glen Burnie in Anne Arundel County. The entire line takes about one hour to travel. The Light Rail links to bus and subway lines with free parking at many Light Rail stops. Extensions to BWI Airport, Penn Station, and Hunt Valley opened in 1997. The Line is run by the Office of Transit Operations of the Mass Transit Administration.

RAILROAD

[Color photograph of MARC Train] MARC commuter train.
Photo courtesy of Mass Transit Administration,
Department of Transportation.

The State currently runs three commuter train lines. Two Baltimore-Washington, DC, lines (Camden Line & Penn Line), and one Martinsburg, WV-Brunswick-Washington, DC, line form the Maryland Rail Commuter Service (MARC), carrying over 20,000 passengers each weekday. Service also runs north of Baltimore on the northeast corridor into Harford and southern Cecil counties with routes ending at Perryville. The MTA contracts out operations for three freight lines on the Eastern Shore and two through Frederick and Carroll counties, covering over 150 miles. Additional service is provided for passengers by Amtrak and for freight by CSX Transportation and Conrail. Of historical note, the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad Company was chartered by the General Assembly in 1827 to construct a transportation link to the west, establishing the nation's first long-distance railway.

SUBWAY

[Color photograph of Baltimore Metro] Baltimore Metro train.
Photo courtesy of Mass Transit Administration,
Department of Transportation.

Subways operate in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, areas. They are provided by the Mass Transit Administration (MTA), and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The MTA's Baltimore Metro runs 15.5 miles from Owings Mills to Charles Center in Baltimore, carrying an expected 44,000 passengers daily. A northeast extension to Shot Tower/Market Place and Johns Hopkins Hospital stations in Baltimore opened in 1995. Metro now has 14 stations.

Commuters traveling through the Maryland suburbs, Washington, DC, and Virginia, use the Washington Metrorail, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority and partly funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation. Metrorail has 95 miles of track, 5 lines, and 76 stations. Two Maryland counties - Montgomery and Prince George's - are in its transit zone.

Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland at a Glance

Maryland Manual On-Line

e-mail: mdmanual@mdarchives.state.md.us

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