Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Request for Express Bus Service from Clarksburg

Good news for Upcounty residents: in a response to our request, the County Executive has advised us he is considering express bus service between Clarksburg and the Shady Grove Metro. We hope we will see it in his budget recommendation. Here's the full text of the memo:

December 4, 2015

TO:                 Nancy Floreen, Council President
                       Craig Rice, Councilmember

FROM:           Isiah Leggett, County Executive

SUBJECT:     Express Bus Service Between Clarksburt and Shady Grove Metro

Thank you for your memo of October 27, 2015, regarding your desire for a new express route from Clarksburg to the Shady Grove Metro. I have directed the Department of Transportation to provide to me the costs and parameters of such a route. You have my assurance that I will consider this route in my deliberations of the recommended FY17 operating budget and public service program.

Thank you for your interest in providing a high level of transit service for the growing Clarksburg area. Please contact Al Roshdieh, Acting Director, Department of Transportation, if you have any questions.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Nancy:

Hope that before MCDOT, the County Executive, and the Council rolls out this latest transportation solution for Clarksburg (tired of seeing County spending "scarce $$" to do everything else other than committing to the best alternative their own study determined - i.e., building M-83 - and then run an express bus along the route directly to Shady Grove Metro Station; regardless of former Council President George Leventhal's assertion at a meeting at Neelsville MS in Oct that M-83 will not provide any mass transit benefit?!), will hold couple of public meetings in Clarksburg. The Clarksburg community is often surprised to find that MCDOT could find $250K to install an unwarranted traffic signal, but has no resources to install a traffic signal at the much needed intersection of MD 355 and West Old Baltimore Road!! How about completing the design for MD 355 shared-use path and constructing it (improving walk access to and from transit) before actually spending any money to "study" express bus service for Clarksburg?! Has the County/MCDOT documented a need for express bus from Clarksburg to Shady Grove? There is already existing RideOn service to Shady Grove from Clarksburg (Route 79), which has minimal ridership from Clarksburg! Rather than spending money to come up with a new service, how about increasing the frequency of Route 79? The RideOn Route 94 that serves Germantown MARC Station hardly has any riders, but still runs the bus back and forth!! Well, what else one can expect from good old Montgomery County?