Commuter bus route proposed from Baltimore to Edgewood, Belcamp, Aberdeen Proving Ground

A &quot;reverse commute&quot; bus line for employees coming from Baltimore to Aberdeen Proving Ground and Edgewood has been proposed by the Maryland Transit Administration, which has been working on an overhaul of the Baltimore-area bus network.MTA is holding two public hearings on the proposed commuter line No. 425, which &quot;would serve workers traveling from Baltimore and White Marsh to job opportunities in Edgewood and the Aberdeen Proving Ground,&quot; according to a public announcement of the plan.The hearings are set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 19 at APG's Myer Auditorium and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Assembly Hall at Baltimore's War Memorial.The proposed route would run from the MARC Camden Station area and downtown Baltimore, east on Monument and Fayette streets to reach Harford County by way of Route 40.Stops include Paul Martin Drive in Edgewood, Bata Boulevard in Belcamp and seven sites at APG. The Belcamp stop would serve the nearby Riverside Business Park, Harford's largest concentration of warehouses and other industrial buildings, as well as the Water's Edge office complex.Buses would run six times daily, with three trips from Baltimore to Harford County starting at 5:10 a.m., and three return trips starting at 3 p.m., according to the proposed timetable.The route was recommended in feedback from APG and Harford County stakeholders, Danyell Diggs, MTA's deputy director in the Office of Planning and Programming, said Tuesday.&quot;The feedback we got is, 'Yeah, we've got a lot of folks that want to live in Baltimore, in this area, but didn't have transportation,'&quot; Diggs said. &quot;The goal would be to get this implemented and started Oct. 1.&quot;Fares would be between $3 and $5 for a one-way trip, with discounts available for multiple trips and seniors or those with disabilities. Those are in line with what Harford to Baltimore commuters pay to ride on MTA's three existing bus lines between the county and downtown Baltimore.The Baltimore – APG line is part of three service enhancements proposed for the state's commuter bus service, with the other two being a new line between Baltimore and Annapolis/Kent Island in Anne Arundel County and increased service between Baltimore and Columbia in Howard County.Demand for a reverse commute from Baltimore has not traditionally been as big as the inbound ridership to the city, Glenn Hoge, chief of statewide transit development at MTA, said.&quot;It's sort of an emerging market,&quot; Hoge said about &quot;reverse commuting&quot; from Baltimore.&quot;We are hoping to use this as a base to really grow this reverse market and see what we can do about that,&quot; he said.The state used to have a similar line called JARC that ran from White Marsh to Harford County, Steven Overbay, the county's deputy director of economic development, said.&quot;We are certainly in support of any means of transportation that would both remove single-occupancy vehicles from our roadways and get people to job centers in our county,&quot; Overbay said Thursday.He said the proposed APG line &quot;is kind of a state-funded initiative and they have actually done a really nice job of partnering with APG to continue mass transit on the installation.&quot;Many of those APG commuters &quot;choose to call Baltimore City and Baltimore County home, so this provides a way for them to get to their jobs,&quot; Overbay said.The enhancements are part of BaltimoreLink, a $135 million revamping of MTA's bus system announced last fall, according to The Baltimore Sun. The cost to implement the new line to APG is about $500,000 annually, MTA spokesperson Sandy Arnette said.The bus network is being rebranded with three levels of service - CityLink, LocalLink and Express BusLink – to fix &quot;routes that are antiquated, serve outdated job locations and are too long to manage reliably,&quot; according to BaltimoreLink.com.Three of MTA's five existing commuter bus routes inbound for Baltimore are in Harford County. They include Route 411 from Hickory/Bel Air, Route 410 from Churchville/Bel Air and Route 420 from Havre de Grace. All three are operated by private bus companies under MTA contracts.MTA also runs 27 privately-contracted routes aimed at Washington, D.C., commuters, according to its website.Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady said he is supportive of the bus service, and also hopes it leads to more interest and investment in Aberdeen, as well as better connections from existing county transit.&quot;APG has lots of great jobs. Whatever is good for the mission at APG is good for Aberdeen,&quot; McGrady said via email Wednesday.&quot;In Aberdeen, we are investigating easier ways to get folks from our MARC train station onto APG,&quot; he said. &quot;Of course, we want these folks to visit Aberdeen stores, eat in our restaurants, fall in love with Aberdeen and make it their home.&quot;Ultimately, however, McGrady would like more APG employees – and others who work in the area – make Aberdeen their home.&quot;Isn't living five minutes from work better than commuting from Baltimore?&quot; he said. &quot;And the homes are affordable and close to everything.&quot;More information about proposed Route No. 425 is available at http://baltimorelink.com/service/commuter-bus.

Commuter bus route proposed from Baltimore to Edgewood, Belcamp, Aberdeen Proving Ground

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