MTA Maryland Route 35
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- This article is about the current bus route from White Marsh to UMBC. For earlier MTA routes designated #35, see MTA Maryland former bus routes.
Route 35 is currently a bus route operated by the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore, Maryland, United States and its suburbs. It currently runs from White Marsh Mall to UMBC through the city of Baltimore, with selected peak hour trips to Landsdowne. The line serves the areas of Rosedale, East Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, and Elm Ridge, and the Landsdowne trips serve the Arbutus area.
The bus route is the successor to the 3 Wilkens Avenue and 6 Monument Street streetcar lines.
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[edit] History
Route 35 starting operating in 1970 between Franklin Square Hospital Center and downtown along the Philadelphia Road corridor in Baltimore County. In the city, the line operated along Pulaski Highway and Madison and Monument Streets, serving Johns Hopkins Hospital before reached its terminus at University of Maryland Transit Center. The line provided minimum amounts of service, especially outside of rush hour. During off-peak hours, service operated only as often as a single bus allowed, which at some times, was only once every 2-3 hours. All trips on this line until the mid-90s were considered to be express service, making limited stops on parts of the route, and requiring payment of an additional fare.
Over the years, certain special branches and deviations were added to selected trips on the line to serve various places. These included:
- Essex Community College
- Chesaco Park
- Marshfield Business Park
- Oliver Beach (This service has been provided by Route 24 since 1988)
- King Avenue (In 1994, all trips were extended to King Avenue)
[edit] Cutbacks
In the fall of 1992, MTA announced that weekend service on Route 35 would be eliminated in January 1993 due to low ridership. After public outcry resulting from these cuts, MTA arranged for a private contractor to provide weekend service along Philadelphia Road. This service was eventually cut. But in 2000, weekend service on Route 35 was restored.
[edit] Expansion
In 1997, Route 35 started to make its first comeback from its cuts earlier in the decade when all trips on the line were extended to White Marsh. There was no actual addition in the level of service provided when the route was extended. In fact, midday frequency was reduced as the single bus that operated had a longer route. But this became the most frequent service to White Marsh Mall, an area previously served by a minimal amount of bus service.
In 2000, Route 35 saw yet its biggest expansion. The line was combined with Route 62, which operated more frequently along a very similar route within the limits of Baltimore city. By using the operating budget of the two lines together to operate a single route, MTA was able to provide hourly service to White Marsh at all times, with other trips making short turns at the city line, and operating via Armistead Gardens, a deviation on Route 62.
In 2005, as part of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, a comprehensive overhaul plan for the Baltimore region, Route 35 was combined with Route 31, and extended west to UMBC. At this time, all trips were extended to White Marsh, with short turns no longer being made at the city line. In order to reduce confusion, the new combined line, during its first three months of operation, was identified as Route 31/35 before it once again assumed the Route 35 designation on February 5, 2006.
As a result of the overhaul, deviations from the main corridor of Route 35 were eliminated. While some were provided by other lines, others were no longer served by any MTA buses.
- Route 33 was extended south from Moravia to Eastpoint Mall. This route included Armistead Gardens, so bus riders in this area would not have to walk to Pulaski Highway.
- Route 4, which was supposed to terminate in the north at Franklin Square Hospital, was extended to the campus of CCBC Essex. Later, Route 24 was also extended there.
- Route 55 had already been serving the intersection of Golden Ring Road and Kenwood Avenue in Rosedale, and it continues to do so.
- Bus service is no longer provided to Chesaco Park.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Route 35 schedulePDF (636 KiB)
