Harford County Transit will request $3.5 million in state and federal funds to maintain and expand the county?s bus service, including the possibility of weekend and evening service.
The county?s annual transit plan presented Thursday in Aberdeen would take effect in July, and would restructure and expand some of the county?s routes to serve more areas ? including a crossing of the Susquehanna to link to Cecil County?s transit services, said Transit Coordinator Mike Hannan.
“We are a growing business,” Hannan said. “Harford County grows every day, and we?re growing, too.”
The route that runs from Bel Air to Havre de Grace may be split into two routes that meet in Aberdeen, while the routes circulating around Bel Air, Aberdeen and Edgewood may get some adjustments for traffic delays and new stops.
Though the Edgewood route may be extended to the MARC station there, maneuvering buses through the tightly packed parking lot could be problematic, Hannan said. The “reverse commuter” bus that runs from Baltimore would be extended another eight miles from Edgewood to Perryman.
Kevin Racine, vice president of the Transit Riders Action Council, boasted that his group had gotten the cooperation of Congressman Wayne Gilchrest in extending the buses from Havre de Grace into Perryville in Cecil County, making it possible for riders to take transit from Baltimore all the way to parts of Delaware and Pennsylvania.
That service is expected to begin around the start of 2007, he said.
The county is in negotiations with a New York-based company that could provide and install bus shelters throughout the county ? something left out of the state?s transit budget ? in exchange for placing ads in four out of every five shelters, Hannan said.
“We need those shelters,” said rider Geraldine Cox.
“Inthe summertime we almost faint because it?s so hot, and in the wintertime we freeze.”
