Yes, Heylucas, let’s hope the MTA remembers that low income communities are their “core” clientele. In turn, those folks should recognize that the City’s free Circulators cater more to the higher income downtown neighborhoods like Harbor East, while more of the lower income neighborhoods like Upton now get skipped, which also doesn’t seem fair, although the City Circulator does serve Mount Clare Junction and Hollins Market. Too bad the Safeway just closed.

I often shake my head in wonder when I see huge, empty, exhaust-spewing buses rumble through Baltimore’s neighborhoods. With the possible exception of business or school rush hours, when was the last time anyone saw a full bus motoring along city streets in Guilford, Homeland, Mt. Washington, Northwood or Roland Park? It is clear that many routes in neighborhoods across the metropolitan area would benefit from smaller shuttle-type buses that could ‘feed’ passengers to transfer points where the larger buses would continue the journey.

A plan like this would save fuel and curtail noise and air pollution. It would help traffic flow by eliminating the need for the currently-used behemoths to make difficult turns at tightly-designed intersections. And, smaller transit vehicles would (at least in theory) be able to stay in their driving lane.

Just sayin . . .

Jacob, can the MTA run the rail system any better than they run the buses? I look at the current lack of coordination between the rail and bus systems and am sure that having separate agencies running them would only make it worse. And looking at the MTA’s proposed Red Line makes it appear that they cannot even coordinate rail with more rail.

Louis, I think you’re on the right track about the kind of fare structure that the Smart Cards should engender. I only question whether more money will really make the MTA improve. They’ve gone from a 50% farebox recovery down to a 30% in recent years, which was supposed to be a big solution. And the effect of the cost of parking is more complex than Mayor Dixon made it appear. But that’s a topic for another article.

Now the State is proposing a huge $30 million annual cut in city transportation funding, according to today’s Sun. That would change the way the city does things !

Raise the cash fare to $2. Save boarding time and make it easier for people to pay. The circulator buses could be $1 and express buses could be $3. Any ridership losses will be made up by increased revenues, and the MTA could roll that money into better service.

People with smartcards (for sale at parking lots downtowns, major intersections, etc.) would pay reduced fares, depending on the time of day. People who pay to park downtown could ride the circ buses for free, keeping the spirit of the city’s plans. The city could also sell/give away day or weekend passes to conventioneers.

These two changes would improve the socioeconomic status of bus riders, which I believe is key to making public transit work in the city. Making it more expensive to park was a smart move by Dixon. Now we need to increase the service and cost of riding public transit.