It takes Herbert Eberhart about 45 minutes using green Howard Transit buses to get to his part-time job at Howard Community College from Owen Brown Village Center, but he's not complaining.

Walking took him 75 minutes, he said. "I don't have a car," Eberhart said, adding that he has been riding the local buses for a year while riding faster commuter buses to downtown Baltimore to reach his full-time state government job.

The studious-looking man in the Orioles baseball cap is one of a rare but growing group of Howard County commuters, people who don't drive or don't own a vehicle and rely on buses to get to work or stores.

In Howard County, 70 percent of households have two vehicles or more, according to 2000 census figures. But public transportation is becoming more important for labor-starved businesses and for people who can't afford private transportation or who don't drive.

About 4.3 percent of Howard households (nearly 4,000) have no vehicle, compared with 3.2 percent (fewer than 2,200) in 1990, according to the 2000 census data released last week.

The latest figures from Howard show that the county's 24 buses on regular routes carried riders on 61.6 percent more trips in April than in that month last year, a trend that has continued since July. The system also provides unscheduled rides for disabled people.

A survey filled out by 518 riders during a week in March found that 70 percent don't drive or don't own a vehicle, and that 60 percent use the buses for transportation to work or to school.

"Our expectation is there will be continual growth in the system," transit administrator Ray Ambrose told the county Public Transportation Board at a meeting last week in Ellicott City.

"From what I see, the results are very encouraging," board member Richard Kirchner said.

Ambrose said the increased ridership is largely attributable to expanded service offered since November, when waiting times were reduced, extra hours and destinations were added, and conveniences such as electronic message boards showing arrival times for buses began to appear at some locations.

From July 1 through March, the system carried riders on 330,102 trips at a cost of about $2.3 million, an average of $6.78 per rider.

Federal and state funding pays 57 percent of that bill. The county contributes 40 percent, and fares and advertising on the buses account for 3 percent.

Ambrose said no service expansion is planned for the next year, which will provide time for system managers to concentrate on gaining riders on existing routes.

He said most Howard buses make 20 to 30 round trips on their routes each day, though the Red express route, which goes from Columbia to Arundel Mills mall and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, makes close to 40 trips a day.

In March, the system carried an average of 7.2 passengers an hour, shy of the industry goal of 10 passengers an hour, Ambrose said.

The survey found that 69 percent of riders use the bus service four days a week or more and that nearly 55 percent ride between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Nearly two-thirds of the riders are ages 19 to 44, and those 60 or older make up 10.6 percent. Riders ages 12 to 18 account for nearly 12 percent.

Although Eberhart walks several blocks to the transit stop at the Giant supermarket at Owen Brown center and has to transfer at The Mall in Columbia, he said he appreciates the bus.

"I think it's very convenient," he said.