The Ride On bus system serves as a critical transportation link for people who live and work in Montgomery County—the most populous county in Maryland. To meet the evolving needs of its ridership, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) engaged VHB to lead the Ride On Reimagined Study, a comprehensive evaluation of the county’s transit systems and guide for the future of the Ride On network through a new Service and Implementation Plan. The plan, now complete, provides a framework for transportation recommendations and implementation strategies based on community input.
Ride On Reimagined encompasses a network of 100 bus routes for commuters, seniors, and students, including regional Metrobus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Flash Bus Rapid Transit line. Located adjacent to Washington, DC, Montgomery County continues to experience population growth, shifting demographics, and changing land use. To accommodate these changes, the Ride On Reimagined Study helped establish goals, and recommended changes and implementation strategies for how future transit will operate. Goals were established under three priority areas: safety and vision zero; environmental and climate resiliency; and economic development and equitable access.
During the first phase of the study in 2022, VHB analyzed the current context of the Ride On system's service area—from socioeconomic conditions to land use development, and transportation usage. Community engagement also played a key role. VHB conducted four pop-up engagement events and a customer satisfaction survey that identified 11 main goals for the project in alignment with MCDOT priority areas.
“This project is focused on the people who will be most impacted by it—the riders,” said Nat Grier, PE, ENV SP, Senior Transportation Panner. “Engaging with the community and gaining a better understanding of their overall transit experience provided the insight for safer, more equitable, and more resilient transit for years to come.”
For Phase two of the project, VHB engaged the local community again by establishing five focus groups representing different geographic areas of the county. From the input gathered, the VHB team developed a preliminary draft of the new conceptual network that was reviewed by the focus groups. This was followed by an extensive public outreach process to solicit feedback on the draft network and ultimately yielded the final recommendations. The effort was closely coordinated with WMATA’s Better Bus Network Redesign.
The final recommendations build off the County’s plan for an extensive BRT network which will be supported by a system of high-frequency, express, commuter, and local fixed-route service. It also introduces 16 Flex zones and three deviated fixed-routes to expand coverage while addressing low-productivity on a handful of fixed routes.
The MCDOT also recently celebrated the launch of the Great Seneca Transit Network’s two new bus lines. VHB worked with MCDOT to lead the planning and design process to enhance transit accessibility and convenience for riders.
To learn more about Ride On Reimagined, visit the project website or contact Nat Grier via email or LinkedIn.
