County Launches First Bus Rapid Transit Line In Maryland

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County on Wednesday launched a 14-mile bus rapid transit line that connects downtown Silver Spring and Burtonsville.

The system, called FLASH, is the first of its kind in Maryland, and is designed to provide reliable transportation for county residents, ease congestion on roadways, and encourage economic growth in the area, according to officials.

It operates along the US 29 corridor and offers more frequent service with fewer stops than existing Ride On buses. The 80-passenger, fuel-efficient FLASH buses are scheduled to run every seven minutes during rush hours and every 15 minutes during off-peak hours.

They travel in a dedicated shoulder lane along the northern section of US 29 and in mixed traffic along the southern section of the corridor. The buses also get transit signal priority at a number of congested intersections.

County Council Vice President Tom Hucker says the new system helps "address long-standing transportation inequities" in the area.

"We owe this to east county," said Hucker. "Many years ago, there was discussion about running the Red Line up this corridor. But that never happened. Partly due to that expectation, thousands of people moved to White Oak and Burtonsville because of the affordable housing there.

"Those residents deserve first-class transit, just like the people who can afford to live within walking distance of a Metro station."

More than a decade ago, County Executive Marc Elrich, who was then an at-large county councilmember, was the first to propose a bus rapid transit system.

The county broke ground on the line two years ago.

"I'm most excited about bringing high-quality transit service to the east side of the county," said Elrich. "We have a huge population that has a very difficult time getting to work if they don't drive. I wanted to make sure that residents have a transit network that is efficient and gets them where they want to go."

The cost of the project was nearly $40 million, of which $10 million was funded by a U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant, according to officials.

"I'm really proud of the entrepreneurial spirit our team has shown," said Chris Conklin, the county transportation department's director. "They had a fixed timeline, they had a fixed amount of money to make this project happen, and we've achieved both of those marks. It's being delivered on time and on budget and it's taken collaboration among all of the groups within MCDOT to make that happen.

"Everything from traffic signals to our transit operators, to the design and construction teams — it has all come together as we wanted it to."