Getting around Glen Burnie might become easier with a new Anne Arundel bus service operated by the family of a county councilman.
Starting in May, a county-run bus will take commuters among the Cromwell/Glen Burnie light rail station, downtown Glen Burnie, Glen Burnie High School and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The roughly five-mile route will run once an hour for 16 hours a day between Monday and Saturday and is intended to supplement scaled-back service from a Laurel-based transit company that services Glen Burnie.
“Census indicators show that homes in Glen Burnie have more people than cars, that incomes are not overly high and a lot of businesses have entry-level jobs,” said George Caldwell, transportation director in the county?s planning department. “People need to get from the light rail to places in Glen Burnie, and people in Glen Burnie need to get to the light rail for work.”
The $250,000 bus route is funded mostly through a Maryland Transit Administration grant, with the county chipping in $50,000, Caldwell said.
The contract was awarded to Dillon?s Bus Service, a transit company for which Councilman Ron Dillon Jr. is the controller.
Caldwell said the county did nothing different in its bid process, and Dillon?s won the contract fairly over three other companies.
Councilman Dillon declined to comment because he said he has nothing to do with either the approval or business end of the contract.
The county Ethics Commission approved Dillon?s Bus Service?s bid in an August 2007 opinion because the bus service is owned by Councilman Dillon?s relatives, including his father, and the council does not directly control the grant.
“Any direct contact with the county is with myself or Ron Dillon Sr.,” said Nelson Cross, the bus company?s director of operations.
Councilman Dillon will not be able to vote on anything regarding the contract. He said he will likely recuse himself from the budget discussions that include the transportation grants, but will vote on the entire budget.
Dillon?s Bus Service does contract work for the MTA, providing long-range transit bus service among Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington.
