Analysis of the Potential Effects of Phase II

of

the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative

January 31, 2006

www.getontrac.org

getontrac@gmail.com

This analysis is based upon the two, differing MTA press releases of January 10, 2006 entitled MTA Announces Additional Improvements to Bus Schedule [Addendum 1] and Community Input Incorporated Into MTA Bus Route Implementation. The information in the press releases was very ambiguous and did not provide the necessary detailed descriptions of the new proposed routes; for this reason, the analysis herein is subject to modification as additional information becomes available.

In the below report, we have listed all proposals by the MTA to increase service frequency as having only positive impacts; however, in Phase I, the MTA made similar appealing assertions regarding its proposals [see Addendum 2 for more on Phase I]. Its basis for those higher frequencies of service was predicated upon faster running times; this assumption is not grounded in empirical reality. The MTA did not make test runs that verified the new running times. Without increasing the actual number of buses in service on a line or implementing short service on a line, the MTA has no way to increase service frequency. As a consequence of implementing an unachievable schedule, reliability has been sacrificed, timetables have become irrelevant, and overcrowding has worsened (thus leading to more patrons being passed by at bus stops). Because of this uncertainty with respect to the reality of any claims by the MTA regarding improvements of service frequency or travel times, such declarations are not as dependable as any proposals regarding changes in routing, connectivity, or service elimination.

Analysis of changes taking effect June 11, 2006:

Route 1	Ö Positive impact: Improved weekday frequency and increased trips to Sinai Hospital proposed. Extension from Sinai Hospital to the Mt. Washington loop connects the Sinai Hospital and Greenspring Avenue with the Light Rail uptown and provides a transfer between the Routes 1 and M-10. Ö Negative impact: Loss of service to Cold Spring Newtown. Replacement of Route 27 Mt. Washington service to the Route 1 means that Mt. Washington riders will have to travel farther intown to make transfers heading farther out of town. Ö Concern: The MTAºs statement that they will Ñsimplify South Baltimore routingæ may leave some territory beyond reasonable walking distance to a bus line.
Route 3	Ö Negative impact: The alignment to the routeºs southern terminus would risk transfers with the eastbound Route 31/35. Ö Concern: Will Northwood short service be continued to help keep this line on time?
Route 5	Ö Negative impact: Elimination of a downtown bus line through Reservoir Hill. Residents of that area would lose access to the crosstown Routes 13 on North Avenue and Route 21 and would have to double transfer to change to all but two downtown bus routes, all eastside routes, and Light Rail. Downtown-bound riders going to work would be forced to backtrack to Druid Hill and Fulton Avenues or Mondawmin Metro Subway Station in order to travel downtown. Ö Concern: The elimination of service along the Central Avenue and Federal Street Branches.
Route 7	Ö Negative impact: The MTA intends to extend the route into Cherry Hill to replace the Route 51. This proposal creates an imbalance because ride demand is much higher going through Cherry Hill than it is along Pennsylvania Avenue, leading to overcrowded buses in Cherry Hill that pass riders by and underutilized buses along Pennsylvania Avenue. Additionally, the northbound terminus of Penn North Metro Subway Station will force another transfer to reach all the bus routes (except the M-3) servicing Mondawmin. Forces double transfers to the Route 3 and 11, even though both of these routes and the Route 7 serve the downtown area. No transfer to the Route 64 until the end of the line in Cherry Hill. (A six block walk is not a transfer!) With the changes to the Routes 7, 11, and 27, it will now be necessary to take three buses if order to travel between Penn Station and the Greyhound Station.
Route 11	Ö Positive impact: The proposal connects GBMC and Sheppard Pratt and the Charles Street Corridor with the eastside waterfront district. Ö Negative impact: Combined with the Route 3 proposal, it appears that this realignment will force a transfer for those traveling from Sheppard Pratt to Towson: riders will be compelled to change to the Route 55 at GBMC. There will be no direct connection between the Routes 11 and 8 in Towson, so that Towson is undermined as a transit hub. See note regarding Penn Station and the Greyhound Station at Route 7. Ö Concern: No short service to Rodgers Forge.
Route 16	Ö Negative impact: The removal of service from Violetville Industrial Park continues the Administrationºs program of eliminating al service industrial areas without replacement. Furthermore, the rerouting of the Route 16 onto Poplar Grove Street will leave Ashburton Street and portions of Lafayette Avenue without bus service.
Route 17	Ö Negative impact: Loss of service to most if not all of the business parks presently served. See note regarding loss of service to industrial parks under Route 16. (The very purpose of this line is to take low income workers to industrial jobs in the suburbs!)
Route 19	Ö Positive impact: The removal of Sunday bus service from Hickey School is justified as that facility is now closed. Ö Negative impact: The removal of service from Joppa Heights will leave the entirety of the Taylor Avenue, Perring Parkway, Old Harford Road, and Cub Hill communities without any bus service. Removal of service to State Center means that there will now be no bus service whatsoever on Howard Street.
Route 22	Ö Positive impact: The doubling of midday service is needed as this route is used all day long. Ö Negative impact: Loss of Lombard & Kane Streets service eliminates transit access to a community whose location makes it difficult to serve.
Route 27	See Route 64.
Route 29	Ö Positive impact: Bi-directional routing, Sunday service, and an extension to Port Covington are all welcome. Ö Concern: There is no mention of increased service frequencies to compensate for loss of the Route 51 service to Cherry Hill.
Route 33	Ö Positive impact: Midday service frequency doubled.
Route 36	Ö Positive impact: The switch of the Washington Boulevard service from the Route 11 to the Route 36 was made necessary when the Route 11 was rerouted to Canton. The Route 36 is a much better match for Washington Boulevard than the Route 11. Ö Concern: Will the MTA continue short service to Tunbridge Road?
Route 51	Ö Positive impact: The extension to Seton Business Park protects a dialysis center from loss of access that would have otherwise occurred because of the Route 27ºs elimination. Improved weekend frequency. Ö Concern: It is unclear whether Cherry Hill service will be eliminated or cut back to once an hour. It is also unclear if service to Seton Business Park will connect with the Route M-9.
Route 55	Ö Positive impact: Improved midday frequency and institution of Sunday service. Ö Negative impact: The elimination of all bus service from Marshfield Business Park will force employees to walk from Rossville Boulevard. See not at Route 16.
Route 61	Ö Negative impact: The Route 11 will provide peak hour service to Roland Park; evening service will be eliminated forcing the few passengers who utilize the service to walk to Falls Road. Additionally, students at Roland Park School will be unable to return from after school activities without evening inbound services. In the event of an early school closing, over a thousand students will be stranded with absolutely no bus service. Ö Concern: Combining the Route 61 into a Route 11 branch seems to violate the MTAºs own policy of route simplification that they have used to justify the elimination of so many routes and branches. What are their criteria?
Route 64 (Merged with Route 27)	Ö Positive impact: Northbound routing along Charles Street through Federal Hill should improve traffic flow. Combining both lines will improve some transfer connections from one side of town to another. Ö Negative impact: The removal of all service from Riviera Beach will leave residents of that community without any bus service. Combined with the changes to the Route 19, this appears to result in the elimination of all service on Howard Street, although more than one hundred million dollars were spent to convert it into a transit mall. The elimination of all service between Reisterstown Plaza Metro Subway Station and the Mt. Washington bus loop will lengthen the distance that bus riders have to travel to the Metro Subway. Riders on the Route M-9, who used to have a one seat ride connecting with all downtown bus lines will now have to take at least three buses to get downtown if they do not or cannot ride the Metro Subway and four buses if transferring to any route downtown (except the Routes 1, 5, 7, or 91). All transfers at Rogers Avenue Metro Subway Station will be lost, as will transfers to the Routes M-2 and M-3. See note regarding Penn Station and the Greyhound Station at Route 7. Ö Concern: Will the northbound portion of the route go back from Charles Street to Calvert Street via Montgomery Street or via Pratt Street? The choice affects connectivity, the distance between bus stops, and traffic congestion.
Route 91	Ö Negative impact: This route is slated to terminate at Lexington Market and will therefore go downtown but connect only with the Routes 5, 15, and 19. This will eliminate transfers to all buses that must be reached from Fayette Street, Baltimore Street, Lombard Street, Pratt Street, Hopkins Place, Charles Street, St. Paul Street, Calvert Street, South Street, and Gay Street. This kind of truncation of downtown bus routes has been repeatedly rejected by the public at public hearings and public meetings.
Route 97	Ö Negative impact: This route is slated to replace the Route 5 to Reservoir Hill. See Route 5 for details. This proposal will turn Reservoir Hill into a transit Bantustan.
Route 98	Ö Positive impact: Two way service on Roland Avenue.
Route M-3/ Route M-8	Ö Positive impact: Restores all transfers lost when the Route M-8 was moved to Rodgers Avenue Metro Subway Station and provides even more transfers opportunities at Mondawmin Station. Offers better service to Randallstown because of more transfers to other lines. Through service improves trip travel time.
Route M-9	Ö Positive impact: Increased midday and weekend service frequency. Ö Negative impact: With the elimination of the Route 27 serving Reisterstown Plaza Metro Subway Station it now requires three bus rides for M-9 riders to reach downtown and four bus rides to transfer to the vast majority of downtown bus routes. Ö Concern: If the Route 51 does not connect with the Route M-9, then people on a line which used to go downtown will now have no connections to any downtown, crosstown, or crosscounty bus lines.

Analysis of changes taking effect February 5, 2006:

Route 4	Ö Positive impact: Timetable will show Ñinvisibleæ trips to Yellow Brick Road that already exist. Ö Concern: The MTA states that changes are, Ñlikely not reflected in the [existing] timetable. Why does the MTA not know for sure what its own printed timetable states?
Route 8	Ö Positive impact: MTA claims additional weekday trips.
Route 9	Ö Positive impact: MTA claims additional peak trips to compensate for reduced service initiated when the Routes 8 and 9 were separated in GBBI Phase I. Ö Concern: This likely will not be as frequent as Route 8 service was before the Route 9 was split off.
Route 10	Ö Positive impact: New short service to Dundalk should help improved botched service frequency from GBBI Phase I.
Route 12	Ö Positive impact: Rerouting of the Route 12 will along Cranbrook Road restores lost service to an area originally served by the Route 8 prior to the implementation of GBBI Phase I. Ö Concern: Service will not be as frequent as it was prior to the GBBI Phase I separation of the Routes 8 and 12.
Route 13	Ö Positive impact: Restoration of service on Washington and Wolfe Streets. Addition of short service at Milton Avenue and Moreland Avenue. Ö Negative impact: Removal of bus service from Patterson Park to Washington/Wolfe Streets rather than restoration of both Washington/Wolfe Streets service and Milton Avenue service means that riders wishing to travel north or south who live east of Milton Avenue have to walk even farther than they did after GBBI Phase I. Ö Concern: Will service and bus stops be restored along Aliceanna Street?
Route 15	Ö Positive impact: MTA has compensated for reality by changing the layover point to adjust to the loss of access during Owl Service hours.
Route 20	Ö Positive impact: Layover change is the same as for Route 15; see above. Short service change is the same as for the Route 10; see above. Addition of westbound peak afternoon trips from Charles Center to Edmondson Village should mean that fewer people are left stranded for long periods of town in downtown.
Route 33	Ö Positive impact: New access to Eastpoint provides transfers to Routes 4, 23, 40, and 160.
Route 35	Ö Concern: The MTA states that changes are, Ñlikely not reflected in the [existing] timetable. Why does the MTA not know for sure what its own printed timetable states? Furthermore, the MTA states that service on the Route 35 will be supplemented to Lansdowne; however, the Route 35 goes to UMBC and Halethorpe, not Lansdowne.
Route 40	Ö Positive impact: Extension of the Route 40 to Stemmers Run Road creates new transfers to the Routes 24 and 55, providing much better downtown service for Route 24 patrons. The reduction of service frequency on a bus line that is usually empty allows the transfer of equipment to other lines that need service much more. Ö Concern: Increasing headways by just two minutes at peak hours and five minutes in midday and evening hours will still mean empty buses running up and down the street.
Route 44	Ö Concern: Restoration of selected trips to the Social Security Administration does not adequately replace all of the lost service, nor does it address the issue of lost service along Gwyn Oak and Belvieu Avenues created by the termination of the Route M-6.
Route 77	Ö Positive impact: Addition of a 12:30 AM trip from Old Court Metro Subway Station to Security Square Mall late Sunday evenings.
Route 120	Ö Positive impact: ÑTrip time modifications during both morning and afternoon peak periods.æ This is so vague as to make unclear the impacts.

Addendum 1:

MTA ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO BUS SCHEDULE

MTA Continues Dialogue with Community to Develop Solutions

           BALTIMORE, MD -- The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) announced today additional improvements to bus service that would be effective beginning Sunday, June 11, 2006 in conjunction with its regular Summer Schedule Change.  The MTA makes adjustments to scheduled operations three times a year during the winter, summer and fall months coordinating with school schedules.  

ÑThis is our next phase of improvements to tailor a bus system that will meet the needs of todayºs citizens in the Baltimore region,æ said Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan.  ÑWith this list of schedule changes, we will continue our unprecedented effort to receive community input as we look forward to our implementation in June.æ

The additional improvements are a continuation of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative and reflect the input from the public hearings and record developed after the original proposal was introduced last spring.  

MTA Announces Summer Schedule Improvements

            ÑThe MTA listened and continues to listen to what our riders, our employees, community and civic groups, major employers, transit advocates, clergy members, hospitals, legislators, police departments and others told us last year when we proposed the first comprehensive adjustments to bus routes in more than 30 years.  We are now taking the opportunity to partner with our valued stakeholders on these revised improvements to see if we got it right,æ said MTA Administrator Lisa Dickerson.  "The MTA is continuing to make public transportation consistent, safe and reliable, reflecting our commitment to ongoing quality improvements.æ

             Dickerson said a series of meetings, with these groups to review the revised improvement plans that reflect citizen feedback, are being held during the months of January and February.  Interested organizations that have not already been contacted by the MTAº s Office of Community Outreach may contact the MTA at 410-767-3433 to schedule meetings.

Dickerson added, ÑTo ensure that the transit needs of the communities are being met, direct input and ongoing dialogue from those who are impacted by our proposals are vital to our success.æ

MTA Announces Summer Schedule Improvements

The following is a comprehensive list of the revised improvements being discussed in the outreach meetings:

June 2006

Line	Revised Modifications to Route
1 (1, contd.)	Increase Weekday Frequency Run every trip to Sinai except peaks Simplify South Baltimore routing and eliminate Coldspring Newtown Loop
3	Increase Sunday Frequency Add Hillendale Branch to selected service, provide a simplified branch to Towson, and serve Sheppard Pratt on 11 and 55 Lines Simplify routing to layover point Downtown
5	Simplify routing by running on Druid Hill and McCullough instead of through Reservoir Hill Run Consistently through East Baltimore on Patterson Park Ave and Preston St
7	Extend the service proposed to run every 30 minutes from Cherry Hill via Greyhound to Lexington Market further along Pennsylvania Ave. to Cumberland and Carey (Penn North) Run service via Cherry Hill Multipurpose Center
11	Simplify routing to include Sheppard Pratt; provides consistent service to Sheppard Pratt from Downtown, allows service to GBMC in both directions due to layover issue New service to waterfront development in Harbor East, Fells Point and Canton
16	Increase frequency Weekdays and Saturdays, eliminate selected service to Violetville Industrial Park and alter route to serve Poplar Grove corridor Revised routing change to continue service to Coppin State
17	Simplify routing to include 30 minute frequency on this line going only as far as Arundel Mills during peak periods and offering minimal service at other times (except when Light Rail not running), without most of the deviations into various business parks
19	Eliminate Joppa Heights and Hickey School branches Shorten line to Lexington Market
22	Double Midday and Sunday frequency, improve Saturday frequency Eliminate selected service to Lombard and Kane
64/27	Combined with 27 Line, providing better connections across town Accommodate National Federation of the Blind by changing southbound routing to Saint Paul Street at North Avenue and northbound routing to Light Street between Wells and Fort Accommodate concerns of elderly on Roland Avenue by change in Hampden Shuttle routing Elimination of Mount Washington to Reisterstown Plaza service with extension of 51 Line through Seton Business Park; elimination of Riviera Beach service
29	Simplify and Expand Routing Provide bi-directional routing, Sunday service, extend to Port Covington
33	Double Midday frequency and improve Weekend service
36	Combine with southern part of 11 Line to Riverview, with short-turns at Monroe Street, improve Midday and Weekend frequency Expanded Routing provides better connections across town
51	Simplified and Expanded Routing Improve weekend frequency, eliminate Cherry Hill branch, run all trips to Patapsco Light Rail through Baltimore Highlands
55	Improve Midday frequency, introduce Sunday service, eliminate selected service to Marshfield Industrial Park
61	Implement peak period branch service on 11 Line
91	Increase Weekday and Saturday Frequency Shorten line to Lexington Market
97	Routing change to serve Reservoir Hill using Druid Lake Park Dr. to provide service to Lakeview Towers
98	Routing Change to operate on Roland Ave. instead of Falls Rd. to serve elderly not served by 64/27 routing Eliminate Remington section in order to improve timing of Light Rail connections
M3/M8	Combine lines with short turn at Milford Mill Metro; provides better connections, requires slight adjustment of Weekday service
M9	Increase frequency Midday and Weekends

Source: http://www.mtamaryland.com/GBBI_PART_2.cfm

Addendum 2:

Effects of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, Phase I

Route 2/10	Ö Buses overcrowded and late constantly, riders from the east side do not have a direct ride to St.ate Center. Ö One operator said she has not been on time on a single run since the change. Ö No longer any service to Inverness (a peninsula community in Dundalk) and Sparrows Point.
Route 3	Ö Buses overcrowded, not picking up passengers north of Fayette even at off-peak hours. Ö Overcrowded due to loss of #31 on Charles St.
Route 4	Ö Service along Merritt Blvd, German Hill Rd. and Lynch Rd. removed, area included low-income apartments and shopping. Ö No longer connects to #15 bus or #420 bus because it no longer goes to White Marsh.
Route 8	Ö Buses late. Ö Bus stops removed. Ö Transfer required from Northern Parkway to north of Lutherville Station to crosstown bus at Northern Parkway.
Route 9	Ö Buses overcrowded and late. Ö No longer any transfers to crosstown or cross-county service of any sort. Ö The fastest route to Randallstown involves 3 transfers and travel to Lexington Market.