OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore County runs the free circulator bus. The Loop has been running in Towson since 2021. The county’s transportation department has been looking at expanding the service in other areas, including Owings Mills and Catonsville.
They decided on Owings Mills based on a feasibility study that included a public survey.
“Data from the study concluded that there would be higher ridership and need in Owings Mills," said Audrey Bagby, communications manager, Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation.
The area has seen the addition of a few new shopping centers in recent years, including Foundry Row where Wegman’s is; and Mill Station, the open-air shopping center sitting where Owings Mills Mall used to be. The shopping centers are bringing in people from other areas. But without a car, it’s tough to get there.
One of the two proposed routes would connect to the Randallstown area. Right now, there is no bus that connects Randallstown to Owings Mills. Ryan Coleman, president of the Randallstown NAACP, says that would help seniors get to where they need to go.
Three supermarkets in the Liberty Road corridor have closed in the past decade.
“We’re looking at ways to help them get around,” Coleman says. “And a circular bus like the Loop in Towson would help, to connect them to grocery stores, to the community centers, to Owings Mills station and other different things in the community.”
Coleman says the Loop bus would also benefit CCBC Randallstown, which he hopes could boost their enrollment.
“What people tell us about CCBC Randallstown is that there’s no way to get there,” he says. “That the bus service is not on time and available when they would need to actually come to CCBC Randallstown. So we’re also hoping that a circular bus would help get college students around as well and help CCBC Randallstown.”
The Loop could also help train riders like Ciara Williams and Breonna Ruben, who take the Metro from Baltimore. The women are students at Empire Beauty School at the Valley Centre shopping center on Reisterstown Road.
They say the MTA bus is either late or doesn’t come when its scheduled, and they’ve walked to school, two miles away, to be on time for class at 9 a.m.
“We catch the train at the same time every day to make sure we leave out two hours early, so we won’t be late,” said Williams. “And we could be here at 7:00 and still almost be late because one bus, that one 89, that takes us around there, never comes.”
“It’s, it’s very frustrating, very, and I really hope that they can find something that can work for everybody,” Ruben said.
The county has no timeline for the expansion and is seeking grant funding to pay for it. Bagby says the public can still share their comments and opinions on the project by email, trafficeng@baltimorecountymd.gov.
