Buses scheduled in twilight zone

The Baltimore Sun

THE PROBLEM -- Bus arrival times listed at a Maryland Transit Administration stop in Baltimore County do not make sense.

THE BACKSTORY -- Say you want to board the M-1 MTA bus in Milford Mill and go to its last stop at the Mondawmin Metro station.

The schedule posted on a pole in the 8100 block of Liberty Road gives riders a long list of options. You can grab a bus at 4:52 a.m. and 5:29 a.m., which seems reasonable enough. But the next bus comes at 5:60 a.m. Then, a little while later, another bus is scheduled at 6:61 a.m., then other at 7:60 a.m., 8:64 a.m. and 9:61 a.m. (More strange times appear on the M8 schedule.)

Huh?

The information has been posted this way since Oct. 23, 2005, the day the MTA put into effect sweeping changes to its bus routes that left many riders angry over canceled or curtailed service in some areas.

Seems they've expanded into a new time zone.

Jim Janas, who lives on Liberty Road, noticed the sign and sent in photos to Watchdog. "I asked bus drivers but they didn't know anything about it," he said.

Cheron Wicker, an MTA spokeswoman, said 1,100 information boxes placed at some of the busiest stops along the 52 bus routes are made by hand. "Somebody made an error," Wicker said. "It's one that got overlooked."

The spokeswoman said the sign should be replaced by today "at the latest."

WHO CAN FIX THIS -- The MTA's Glenn Lipsinger, 410-767-8358.

update

This column reported in April that yellow caution lights still blink in front of two fire stations in South Baltimore that have been closed for years. Fire officials argued that the station at Fort and Riverside avenues is used by paramedic administrators, and they sometimes need to respond to emergencies.

On Saturday and Sunday, firefighters stored numerous vehicles inside the Fort Avenue station, which required them to briefly block the street.

Seems like a perfect time to turn the rarely used caution light to red. But it remained blinking yellow. A firefighter stood in the street to stop confused motorists, and at one point a passing city police officer put on his flashing lights to stop traffic.

So Watchdog again wonders: Why are the flashing lights necessary at this station, if they aren't used?

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