Towson's free ride, The Loop, is planning to expand to other areas in Baltimore County.
It's a free, safe, and efficient service for those in Baltimore County.
The number of riders taking the orange and purple loop lines has increased over the past year.
"I think it's great; I like that it's free, and I like that it takes me right to where I need to go,” said Kameron Wooderum, who rides The Loop.
The Towson Loop has been operating since October 2021.
Each bus holds 25 passengers, with 42 bus stops between two routes. Using the Passiogo app or Transit app, one can find the times and locations where the hop-on, hop-off bus will be coming near them.
"I use my phone and use the app, and I can track when the buses are coming, so it is very convenient and very easy, so I don't have to wait most of the time,” said Razendra Bista, who rides The Loop.
With such positive feedback, the county is looking to expand its services to the Owings Mills and Catonsville areas.
“We found that it's working in Towson so we want to be able to give that to other areas in the Baltimore County region. So, we just feel as though it's a good fit for here and we're figuring it's going to be an even better fit for the areas that we are looking at,” said Marchel Simmons, who is the general manager for the Towson Loop.
Although the number of riders is lower than anticipated in Towson, Simmons says they are still pleased with the turnout over the past year.
"We're happy with what we have right now with our service. The projected goal was over 100 thousand and unfortunately, we were just coming out of covid. We're coming up on our second year, and first year was just around 50,000, and right now we are at 80, 80 plus thousand" said Simmons.
The expansion is currently undergoing feasibility studies for the two locations, looking for key spots to add stops for the added locations.
"We'll take that information out to the public and see what they like, what they dislike, and we'll go from there,” said Simmons.
Simmons says Baltimore County and the state fund the free service.
"Right now the project is about a $3 million project so I would imagine the next one will be about the same,” said Simmons.
The service is offered Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until midnight and from 10 a.m. until midnight on Saturday.
Simmons says they are looking to have the expanded service up and running within the next year or two.
