Officials representing Montgomery County and Rockville on Monday announced expanded bus service that will connect the emerging Rockville Town Center to other portions of the Montgomery County seat in addition to a new arrangement allowing SmarTrip cards on county buses.
The extension of Ride On’s route 45 bus service will mean that buses now will go to the Rockville Regional Transportation Center in the Fallsgrove Shopping Center and, once the city’s $300 million-plus town center is done, the commercial portion of that center.
County Executive Ike Leggett, in speaking Monday of the transit upgrade, said it is part of larger efforts to keep cars off county roadways, especially in growing areas such as Rockville’s downtown.
“Ride On’s partnership with Rockville will boost the accessibility of the new town center and other commercial areas,” he said in a statement.
In addition to providing more immediate service, the eventual plan is to bring a circulator bus to Rockville that will run along the route 45 by 2009. That endeavor would include the purchase of six new buses designed to get passengers around faster and more efficiently.
Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo said once shuttle buses can be incorporated along with the town center, it will be much easier for residents to use mass transit in all parts of the city.
Montgomery County is the first jurisdiction in the region to allow passengers to utilize SmarTrip cards, the rechargeable Metro fare cards, on all its Ride On buses.
Transportation leaders started installing fare boxes allowing for SmarTrip acceptance last summer in nearly one-third of the bus fleet. The boxes were put in the rest of the buses and activated a week ago. Eventually other counties in the area will do the same.
Officials said the advantage of the change is that riders can preload money onto a single card to make the transition between different public transportation sources smoother.
