[[link removed]]

FREE BUSES CAN BE A REALITY — JUST LOOK AT MARYLAND  
[[link removed]]


 

Alexis Goldstein
December 1, 2025
Truthout
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Zohran Mamdani’s plan for free buses is not a pipe dream.
Montgomery County, Maryland, made its buses free this year. _

, Alessia Grunberger/Patch

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic downturn,
many people couldn’t pay their transportation costs, and often
didn’t. In New York City in 2021, some 21 percent of bus riders did
not pay the fare, a figure that grew to 48 percent in 2024
[[link removed]].
Some local governments, including New York City, responded with
reduced or free fare programs. From 2023 to 2024, New York’s
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) ran a zero-fare bus pilot that
served around 43,000 riders
[[link removed]].
The pilot
[[link removed]],
championed by then-assembly member Zohran Mamdani, offered free trips
on one bus
[[link removed]] in
each borough.

To expand this small pilot to universal zero-fare buses throughout New
York City is a tall task, with a total 2024 bus ridership of 409
million [[link removed]] and 6,300 buses
[[link removed]]. As mayor-elect Mamdani and his
administration look to grow zero-fare buses in New York, they have a
stellar example just a few hours south of New York, in Maryland.

The largest free bus program in Maryland by ridership is in Montgomery
County, a suburb north of Washington, D.C.

Montgomery County first made its “Ride On” buses free to all
riders under 18 in 2019
[[link removed]].
Then on June 29, 2025, it made all of its buses fare-free for all
passengers. The system has a fleet of nearly 400 buses, 80 routes, and
provided 19.2 million
[[link removed]]
rides in the 2025 fiscal year. In the three months since free fares
were instituted, ridership has increased by 5.4 percent
[[link removed]].
Phil McLaughlin, General Manager of Transit Services for Montgomery
County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), said an estimated 1
percent to 2 percent of that ridership increase came from instituting
zero fares.

One reason Montgomery Country’s City Council adopted the zero-fare
program was financial. Montgomery County reduced fares during the
pandemic from $2 to $1
[[link removed]] and
saw lower fare revenues (dropping from $10 million to roughly $1.6
million
[[link removed]])
overall. When faced with the need to upgrade its fare collection
systems to tap-to-pay in order to align its fare boxes with Washington
D.C.’s Metro system, it became clear that replacing the fare boxes
would cost more than they would recoup: The cost was estimated at $22
million
[[link removed]]
and would take approximately eight years to begin turning a profit
[[link removed]].
In addition, it cost the county $557,000 annually
[[link removed]]
to collect fares. Montgomery County was faced with either paying
police to enforce fares or going fare-free. County Executive Marc
Elrich proposed a fully fare-free bus system in his 2026 fiscal year
proposed operating budget
[[link removed]],
and the county council adopted it soon after.

Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass, chair of the Council’s
Transportation & Environment Committee, told _Truthout_ that fare-free
buses are “bringing real impacts for Montgomery County residents”
and the increased ridership shows that “cost barriers make a real
difference. In a county with a median income of $115,000, compared to
$35,000 for the average bus rider, fare-free transit is fundamentally
about equity.”

The oldest free bus program in Maryland is likely Baltimore’s Charm
City Circulator (CCC), first established in 2010 by then-mayor Sheila
Dixon and funded
[[link removed]]
through state transportation department grants. In 2024, the CCC
provided 1.43 million rides, according to the Baltimore City
Department of Transportation. The CCC has over 100 stops along five
routes
[[link removed]], with
buses arriving every 13-20 minutes, and operates on an $8 million
budget. Its impact has been overwhelmingly positive: a 2022 rider
survey showed that over 40 percent of people who use the CCC would
have used single-occupancy vehicles to make their trips, if not for
this free service, thus reducing overall traffic congestion and
vehicle emissions.

These programs, while crucial, still need to be built upon.
Previously, local residents have pointed out that the bus service has
a history of disproportionately serving majority-white neighborhoods
and tourist mainstays
[[link removed]],
and has connected primarily to the city’s largest predominantly
white institutions such as Johns Hopkins and the University of
Maryland, while not offering the same level of service to
majority-Black neighborhoods or Baltimore’s historically Black
colleges and universities, such as Morgan State University or Coppin
State. More public investment in the city-wide transit programs can
help bridge the gap. In one promising improvement, Baltimore mayor
Brandon Scott recently announced an expansion of the CCC to three East
Baltimore neighborhoods
[[link removed]]
beginning on December 7. The Baltimore City Department of
Transportation told _Truthout_ that the expansion is aimed at
“improving equity of city services” and that it will add fast,
free transit options to “communities that have relatively low
vehicle ownership.”

Dr. Lawrence Brown, a research scientist in the Center for Urban
Health Equity at Morgan State University, told _Truthout_ that while
“there is still work to be done,” the changes to the CCC since
2020 — including the Cherry Hill line addition in 2024
[[link removed]] (which serves a
neighborhood that is 90 percent Black and historically redlined) —
“represents a change in the right direction.” Dr. Brown elaborated
that “The Green line changes are definitely an improvement from an
equity perspective as it extends into historically redlined central
East Baltimore,” but “the Brooklyn/Curtis Bay community is still
being left out although it also has tremendous transit needs.”

In an interview, Minister Glenn Isaac Smith, co-founder and president
of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, told _Truthout_, “We had
long advocated for the extension of the circulator” including its
expansion into Cherry Hill, and called the November changes “a
welcome addition.” He continued, “The East Baltimore extension
will service people who need transportation and a lot of times cannot
afford it, especially if they are on a fixed income and need to travel
to doctor’s appointments, or need to travel to buy groceries since
it’s a food desert.”

West of Baltimore, the more rural but quickly-growing Frederick County
made all of its mass transit free at the start of the COVID-19
pandemic
[[link removed]]
and never went back. Transit Services of Frederick County, which
includes buses and a paratransit service called Transit Plus, served a
little shy of 1 million riders in fiscal year 2025
[[link removed]]
[928,650 riders], a record ridership for the county (up from over
540,000 trips in FY2022). It operates on a $9.3 million budget and has
15 routes and a fleet of 48 buses, four of which are all-electric and
powered by a solar array at the Frederick County landfill, according
to an emailed statement from Mary Dennis, Communications Manager for
Transit Services of Frederick County. Its buses also serve many of the
local food banks in Frederick, a fact advertised on Frederick
Transit’s homepage
[[link removed]].

Frederick resident and Transit Plus rider Jose Gabriel Coronado
Flores, who uses a wheelchair, told _Truthout_ that “I’m glad
price is no longer a concern.” Coronado Flores pointed out that
Transit Plus’ scheduled hours interfere with civic participation for
the elderly and disabled people who rely on it, as many Frederick
County government meetings happen later in the evening, when Transit
Plus no longer schedules trips. This “keeps out many disabled people
from participating in the processes which have to do with them,”
Coronado Flores said.

Christian Benford, a candidate for Frederick County Council, told
_Truthout_, “It is fantastic to have a program that provides
alternative travel, reduces carbon emissions, and is at no-cost to
residents.” Benford also pointed out improvements could be made to
accessibility in the county overall, adding, “Frederick, as a whole,
is not very walkable. So, while there are stops at key locations, it
still requires crossing dangerous intersections or moving on uneven or
poorly maintained public infrastructure.”

Like New York, Maryland faced reduced fare collections on buses in the
state during the pandemic. Rather than increasing enforcement,
Montgomery County and Frederick County, implemented temporary reduced
or zero-fare measures. Seeing the financial and public benefits, both
counties went fully zero-fare permanently. Zero-fare buses address a
key equity gap noted in a 2024 report by Montgomery County called
“Ride On Reimagined
[[link removed]],”
which found that 27 percent of Montgomery County residents in Maryland
make less than $20,000 a year, showing the need for free public
transit to connect residents to jobs and education. Maryland’s
zero-fare bus programs provide an important model to the incoming
Mamdani administration and others who want increased equity in their
cities.

More can and should be done in Maryland, as these advancements in
buses are coming amid a $2.1 billion statewide shortfall
[[link removed]]
in public transit funding, leading to the elimination of many new road
and transit projects. In Baltimore, a light rail extension called the
Red Line was cancelled in 2015, and “set transportation in Baltimore
back ten years,” said Smith. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has made
getting the Red Line built one of his platform promises
[[link removed]],
and Smith said, “We look forward to further expansions into the
east-west corridor” of Baltimore.

Like in New York, there is much coordination that needs to take place
between state, city, and county governing bodies to make public
transit deliver better for all its residents. But Benford, at least,
sees opportunity in what’s left to be done: “This is a great
instance to foster better partnership between the county and city
councils to engage with constituents. We may have different governing
bodies but should always look for meaningful ways to work together.”

 

_Alexis Goldstein is a former Wall Street professional who now works
on financial policy. She is a proud rank-and-file member of the
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 335._

 

_Truthout is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing
independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social
justice issues. Since our founding in 2001, we have anchored our work
in principles of accuracy, transparency, and independence from the
influence of corporate and political forces.  Truthout is an
indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers
everywhere. Please make this work possible with a __quick donation_
[[link removed]]_._

* mass transit
[[link removed]]
* free fast bus service
[[link removed]]
* Maryland
[[link removed]]
* New York City
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Bluesky [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]