As some Howard Transit bus riders experienced shorter wait times and new stops, some community leaders say the changes don?t go far enough.
“It?s only a partial solution,” said Vincent James, an adviser to Alpha Achievers, a leadership group for young men of color.
After three public meetings, Howard Transit unveiled the changes on April 2, including half-hour frequency at routes serving Columbia mall, and earlier and later service on some routes.
But on other routes, buses still come hourly, and not all areas have bus access, James said. This can be particularly tough for teens and low-wage workers trying to get to their jobs, he said.
“The question is: What is going to happen next?” he said.
He said he wants to see shortened wait times on all routes.
That?s the same question on the mind of Hector Rodriguez, organizer of People Acting Together in Howard County, an activist group of mostly religious leaders.
Although the latest system revamp is a “great first step, there are still a lot of improvements that need to be made,” he said.
Transportation Advocates, a local group, approved of the changes as a good first step, but Chairman Richard Kirchner said that as the county continues to grow, so does the demand for more extensive service.
“We would like to see longer-term improvements,” he said.
Much of the challenge lies in cost. Officials were able to restructure the most-used routes without adding to the expenses. Cutting wait times on all routes could mean doubling the operating costs, county officials said last fall before the public meetings began.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said recently: “We do have a good system, but it?s a system we know we need to approve upon.”
