View source for Howard Transit

{{Short description|Public transit system in Maryland, US}}
{{Main|Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland}}
{{excessive detail |date=October 2013}}

{{Infobox Bus transit
| name            = Howard Transit
| logo            = Howard-transit-logo.png
| logo_size       = 250
| image           =
| image_caption   =  
| company_slogan  = 
| parent          = 
| founded         = 1975
| defunct         = 2014
| headquarters    = 
| locale          = 
| service_area    = [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]], [[Maryland|MD]]
| service_type    = [[bus service]], [[paratransit]]
| alliance        = 
| routes          = 10
| destinations    = 
| stops           = 
| hubs            = 5
| stations        = 
| lounge          = 
| fleet           = mixed variety
| ridership       = 
| annual ridership = 885,616 <ref>{{cite web|title=Report of the County Executives Transportation Commission|url=http://www.co.ho.md.us/portalservices/portaldocs/Final_Report_of_Transportation_Commission.pdf|accessdate=9 December 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329203431/http://www.co.ho.md.us/portalservices/portaldocs/Final_Report_of_Transportation_Commission.pdf|archivedate=29 March 2011}}</ref>
| fuel_type       = 
| operator        = [[Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland]]
| ceo             =
| leader_type     = 
| leader          =  
| website         = [http://www.howardtransit.com/ howardtransit.com]
}}
'''Howard Transit''' was the primary public transit system in [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]], [[Maryland]], which grew from the former ''ColumBus'' bus system in [[Columbia, Maryland|Columbia]], Maryland.  [[First Transit]] replaced [[Veolia Transport]] as the operating company in July 2007.<ref>{{Cite web| title = First Transit to run buses| work = tribunedigital-baltimoresun| date = July 2007| access-date = 2017-01-16| url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/07/01/first-transit-to-run-buses/}}</ref>

Howard Transit was replaced by the [[Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web| title = New route names, expanded service with RTA launch| work = baltimoresun.com| accessdate = 2015-06-10| url = http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/ellicott-city/ph-ho-cf-glances-rta-launch-20140701-story.html}}</ref>

==History==
In 1975, the Howard County Council announced plans to create a subsidized bus system for Columbia. Councilmembers [[Ruth U. Keeton|Ruth Keeton]] and Virginia Thomas introduced legislation for Howard County to manage public transportation with a nine-member board.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|title=Howard transit system pushed|date=1 October 1975}}</ref>

== Routes ==
Howard Transit operated eight routes designated by colors to various parts of [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]] and surrounding areas:

{|class=wikitable
|-
!Route
!Terminus
!Major Corridor (s)
!Connections
!Transfers
|-
!Brown Route
|
*[[Mall in Columbia]]
*King's Contrivance
|
*Little Patuxent Parkway
*Oakland Mills Road
*Homespun Drive
*Guilford Road
|
*Columbia Medical Plan
*Oakland Mills
*Owen Brown
*Snowden River Park & Ride
|
*'''HT:'''
**Gold, Green, Orange, Red, Silver, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
|-
!Green Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*[[Howard Community College]]
|
*Twin Rivers Road
*Cedar Lane
|
*Wilde Lake Shopping Center
*Hickory Ridge
*Harper's Choice
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Gold, Green, Orange, Red, Silver, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
|-
!Gold Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*Maryland Wholesale Food Center
|
*Little Patuxent Parkway
*Kilimanjaro Road
*Tamar Drive
*[[Maryland Route 175|Waterloo Road]]
|
*Columbia Medical Plan
*Oakland Mills
*Longwood Apartments
*Long Reach
*Columbia Crossing
*Snowden River Park & Ride
*Sherwood Crossing
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Silver, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
|-
!Orange Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*King's Contrivance
|
*Little Patuxent Parkway
*Sunny Springs Lane
*Cedar Lane
*Shaker Drive
*Guilford Road
|
*Old Columbia Road
*Atholton Shopping Center
*Hickory Ridge Place
*[[Howard Community College]]
*[[Howard County General Hospital]]
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Gold, Green, Red, Silver, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929
|-
!Purple Route
|
*[[Towne Centre at Laurel]]
*[[Elkridge, Maryland|Elkridge]]
|
*[[U.S. Route 1 in Maryland|Washington Boulevard]]
|
*[[Savage (MARC station)|Savage]]
*Maryland Wholesale Food Center
*Meadowridge Road
*[[Dorsey (MARC station)|Dorsey]]
|
*'''HT:'''
**Gold, Silver
*'''CRT:'''
**A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J
*'''MTA:'''
**202, 320
*'''Metrobus:'''
**87, 88, 89, 89M, Z9, Z29
*'''MARC:'''
**Camden Line
|-
!Red Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*Columbia Gateway
|
*Little Patuxent Parkway
*[[Maryland Route 175]]
*Tamar Drive
*Dobbin Road
*Robin Fulton Drive
|
*Longwood Apartments
*Long Reach
*Columbia Crossing
*Dobbin Shopping Center
*Snowden Square
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Gold, Green, Orange, Silver, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
|-
!{{anchor|silver route}}Silver Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*[[BWI Airport|BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport]]
|
*[[Broken Land Parkway]]
*[[Snowden River Parkway]]*[[Maryland Route 175|Waterloo Road]]
*[[U.S. Route 1|Washington Boulevard]]
*[[Maryland Route 100]]
*[[Maryland Route 170|Aviation Boulevard]]
|
*Owen Brown
*Broken Land Park & Ride
*Snowden Square
*Maryland Wholesale Food Center
*Meadowridge Road
*[[Dorsey (MARC station)|Dorsey]]
*[[BWI Rail Station]]
*[[Arundel Mills Mall]]
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Gold, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow
*'''CRT:'''
**E, J, K
*'''MTA:'''
**17, 99, 150, 201, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
**'''Blue Line'''
*'''Metrobus'''
**B30
*'''MARC'''
**Camden Line
**Penn Line
|-
!Yellow Route
|
*Mall in Columbia
*[[Ellicott City, Maryland|Ellicott City]]
|
*Little Patuxent Parkway
*Columbia Road
*[[Maryland Route 108|Clarksville Pike/Old Annapolis Road]]
*[[Maryland Route 100]]
*[[Maryland Route 103|Montgomery Road]]
*Rogers Avenue
*[[U.S. Route 40 in Maryland|U.S. Route 40]]
|
*Dorsey's Search/Selbourne House
*Executive Park
*Long Gate Park & Ride
*Long Gate
*Main Street & Ellicott Mills
*Howard County Government Center
*[[U.S. Route 40 in Maryland|U.S. Route 40]] & Rogers Avenue
*Heartlands
|
*'''HT:'''
**Brown, Gold, Green, Orange, Red, Silver
*'''CRT:'''
**E
*'''MTA:'''
**150, 310, 320, 915, 929, 995
|-
|}

Notes:
*Transfers:
**'''Blue Line''' = [[Baltimore Light Rail]] (operated by MTA Maryland)
**'''CRT''' = [[Connect-a-Ride]]
**'''HT''' = Howard Transit
**'''MARC''' = [[MARC Train|Maryland Area Regional Commuter]] (operated by MTA Maryland)
**'''Metrobus''' = [[Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)|Metrobus]] (operated by [[WMATA]])
**'''MTA''' = [[Maryland Transit Administration]] or MTA Maryland
*All routes except ''Purple Route'' have connection to the [[Mall in Columbia]]. The '''''Purple Route''''' meets the ''Gold and ''Silver Routes'' at the Maryland Food Center. The ''Red, Silver, and Brown Routes'' all meet at Snowden Square shopping center in east Columbia.

== Defunct routes==

*'''Blue Route''' -- traveled from [[Clarksville, Maryland|Clarksville]] to the [[Mall in Columbia]].  Service eliminated as of July 9, 2010.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060809170928/http%3A//www.howardtransit.com/ Howard Transit website]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_J3RsIVj0 Video of Howard Transit Bus activity]

{{MTA Maryland}}
{{Howard County, Maryland topics}}
{{Columbia, Maryland}}

[[Category:Bus transportation in Maryland]]
[[Category:Howard County, Maryland]]


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