Howard Transit bus riders could see some big changes to their routes next spring, from shifted arrival times at the Mall in Columbia to entirely rerouted lines.
“We?re not changing one route; we?re changing almost every route,” said Carl Balser, transportation chief at the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning.
If a proposed overhaul meets public approval, the perennial complaints from riders about long wait times and areas that don?t have service might be abated, he said.
The changes would stagger arrival times, reroute six lines and create a new line. It?s the largest overhaul in a decade, Balser said.
The bus system has evolved, and rather than continuing to modify the lines, officials said the entire system needed to be reworked.
Restructuring routes allows officials to address riders? concerns without pouring a lot more money into the system, he said.
To cut the wait time between each bus stop from one hour to 30 minutes, which many riders have advocated, officials would have to double the amount of services, doubling the $4.9 million in annual operating costs plus the cost of new buses, Balser said.
The changes would take effect in March, giving officials time to make final adjustments and create new bus stops and signs.
The restructuring will not increase operating costs, Balser said, because of savings from cut stops, but there will be some initial costs for signs and ads.
Routine changes to the bus route usually prompt the county to hold two public meetings, but this restructuring calls for three.
“We think overall, the changes are good, but any time you change a bus route, you confuse some of the people,” Balser said.
Dick Kirchner, chairman of the Transportation Advocates, an independent citizens? group, said there have always been concerns about long wait times and the jam of buses each hour at Columbia Mall.
ON THE ROAD
Proposed changes to Howard Transit system include:
» Some bus routes arriving at the Mall in Columbia at the top of the hour, and others arriving 30 minutes later. This could cut the wait time in half for some riders in Columbia, said Carl Balser, transportation chief at the Howard County Department of Planning and
Zoning.
» Cutting some underused stops, such as at the ARC of Howard County on Harpers Farm Road;
» Adding new stops, such as at the Department of Social Services in Columbia Gateway;
» Creating a new Gold Line, which would extend from the mall through east Columbia, said Ray Ambrose, a contract transit administrator with the county.
