The Maryland Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to provide $87 million for pedestrian improvement projects and continued work on the Flash Bus Rapid Transit network in Montgomery County.
County Executive Marc Elrich spoke at the public works meeting to explain the importance of bus rapid transit.
While the Red Line was designed to take county residents to and from D.C., these proposed bus lines will enable commuters to travel within the county.
“It’s a real shift in focus where transit needs to be,” Elrich said Wednesday during his weekly press briefing. “It’s definitely going to support economic revitalization and development.”
Currently, a Flash bus operates along the Route 29 corridor. It connects Downtown Silver Spring with Burtonsville. Other lines are planned along Veirs Mill Road, New Hampshire Road, University Boulevard and Route 355.
These proposed lines will stop at colleges, businesses, hospitals and other large employers, Elrich said.
The $87 million will be used as the county’s match for two federal transportation grants, including the Federal Small Starts Capital Investment grant for Veirs Mill Road Flash bus rapid transit and the Federal New Starts grant for MD 355 Flash bus rapid transit.
Bus rapid transit is a limited-stop bus service designed to arrive every few minutes, have upgraded amenities, pre-boarding payment, priority traffic light signaling and dedicated lanes where possible.
Traveling in designated bus lanes will enable quicker and more dependable commuting times, Elrich said.
“These funds will allow us to invest in infrastructure that will be more equitable, efficient and reliable. Building out the Flash Bus Rapid Transit Network will help alleviate congestion while helping us achieve our Climate Action Plan goals of reducing 100% greenhouse gas emissions by 2035,” Elrich said.
“Flash is also important to our economic development and job growth efforts. If we want to see the kind of economic growth that Northern Virginia has experienced over the last decade, then improving our infrastructure is the key,” he said.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Budget includes a request for $1.7 billion for transportation projects, including completing the bus rapid transit corridors along Route 355 and Veirs Mill Road.
Nine routes are in the pipeline for the Flash network, including extending the Route 29 line into Howard County.
The state money also will enable the county to purchase zero emission buses and electric batteries.
Other improvements include work on the Norwood Road bike path, the Cherry Hill Road bike facility, the Great Seneca Science Corridor transit network, Bowie Mill bike trail and Oak Drive and Maryland 27 pedestrian upgrades.
