Howard Transit

[Tristan]

This isn't the MTA Discussion Board, so there is no appropriate thread, but let me take license to say that I think everyone here who has been to Baltimore knows exactly what 79MetroExtra is referring to.  Don't take it personally, but MTA has its problems.  That doesn't mean every MTA employee sucks and that there aren't any who are trying to do a good job -- what it does mean is that sometimes those efforts go against the culture of an organization that is not based on customer service and quality.

No amount of explanation by any level of MTA employee will make the system not...let's say suck, for lack of a better word.  The circumstances that cause it to "suck" are irrelevant, no one cares about budgetary conditions, space constraints, politics.....all that just contributes to the bottom line that the agency does indeed "suck" and that's what 79MetroExtra is talking about. 

His statement could be construed to mean "MTA needs to solve all its problems before it takes over anything else."  No offense intended to individual employees, so drop defense.

[btconet]

I a more perfect world, there would be more integration between the Baltimore and Washington systems that would largely hinge on connections between the two that were focused in Columbia, Laurel, and perhaps Arundel Mills.

The Corridor Transit/Howard Transit concept would still exist as more of the localized intra-region transit option.

A local option on Metrobus (Z30?) would exist between Silver Spring and Columbia Mall that ran daily, where connections could be made there.

MTA's 150 would extend to Columbia Mall as well, and offer base and Saturday service, making the connection there to HT and WMATA.

Routes like the HT Purple and Connect-A-Ride J would potentially be expanded and operated by MTA while routes like the D and G would be run by a DC agency with expanded service and hours.

The problem with the current thinking is too much intimidation by boundaries.