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Ride On (bus)
Public transportation system in Montgomery County, Maryland, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ride On, formerly Ride-On, is a local bus transportation system in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Managed by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Ride On primarily serves Montgomery County, with short segments of service crossing borders into Prince George's County and Washington, D.C. It is a separate entity from WMATA, which also provides a bus service in Montgomery County, along with a rail service.
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In fiscal year 2018, it operated with a US$112.3 million budget.[4] In 2024, the system had a ridership of 19,097,700, or about 64,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2025, making it one of the most heavily ridden suburban bus systems in the United States.[5]
Ride On has a fleet of about 400 buses and operates on 82 routes throughout Montgomery County.
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History
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Ride On's former logo, used in the 1970s and 1980s
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Ride On's former logo, used from the mid-1990s to late 2008
1970s–1990s
Ride On began service on March 31, 1975, as Ride-On. Serving Silver Spring and Takoma Park, two routes were in operation with 20 buses: the Blue and the Green. Within a few weeks, Ride-On was carrying twice the number of passengers projected: about 2,000 riders per day. The buses were nineteen passenger Grummans. [citation needed]
Starting from 1979 to 1981, single front door TMC T-30 City Cruisers (5101-5256) entered service. These were part of a joint order with Frederick City TransIT, and shared the same paint livery. In the fall of 1984, as the Washington Metro's Red Line extension to Shady Grove station was complete, Ride On saw its largest route expansion to date. Numerous routes were added to accommodate passengers who would utilize the eight new Metrorail stations along the western portion of Montgomery County.
2000s
In 2000, Ride On buses were painted in a special livery to commemorate Ride On's 25th anniversary.[6]
On September 11, 2001, Ride On buses were used to transport Montgomery County firefighters to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia to assist in search and rescue operations following the terrorist attacks that occurred on that day.[7][8]
In 2006, Ride On began accepting SmarTrip cards and in August of that year, all the Ride On buses started getting equipped with fareboxes.
2010s
On May 20, 2011, a Ride On bus crashed into a KFC restaurant in Glenmont around 7:30 AM. Authorities believed the driver passed out while making a left turn onto Georgia Avenue and lost control of the bus due to having a heart attack. There were three passengers on the bus; the driver and one of the passengers were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The only occupant in the building of the crash was not injured, and the building suffered with minor damage.[9][10][11]
Ride On celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015 with three buses wrapped in the transit agency's 40th anniversary ad.[12]
MCDOT Ride On received a $4.365 million grant from the federal transit administration to replace diesel buses with 10 new battery electric buses on October 1, 2018.[13]
2020s
In March 2020, Ride On significantly altered bus service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] Many routes were completely suspended with other routes having significantly reduced service.[15] Fare collection was also suspended until July 2022.[16]
On December 27, 2023, a Ride On bus crashed into a house in Silver Spring around 7:30 PM. The driver reportedly lost control of the bus while entering a roundabout, hit a parked car, and collided with the side of the house. There were no passengers on the bus, and the house was not occupied at the time. The exact cause is still unknown, but there were no reported injuries, and no charges were filed against the bus driver.[17][18] It was later discovered that the same bus had previously been involved in a major crash on May 20, 2011.[19] The bus was removed from service following the second incident.
Ride On celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025 with three buses wrapped in the transit agency’s 50th anniversary ad.[20]
On June 29, 2025, Ride On launched its first phase of "Ride On Reimagined", a transit master plan. Most of the changes in this phase were made to complement WMATA's systemwide Better Bus Network Redesign which took effect on the same day. Ride On also eliminated all fares on all of its transit services beginning the same day.[21]
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Additional services
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Along with standard bus service, Ride On operates with three additional services, Ride On extRa, Ride On Flex, and Flash BRT.
Ride On extRa
Ride On extRa is a limited stop bus service to complement major local bus routes by following similar routing but making fewer stops to help speed up travel time.[22] These routes may also run more frequent service than local routes in the same corridor, but may only run at certain times of the day. The service began on October 2, 2017 on route 101. As of November 2025, the service consists of three routes servicing two transit corridors. Ride On extRa utilizes a dedicated fleet of diesel and battery electric buses with upgraded passenger amenities such as digital interior signage and USB-A charging ports.
Route 101 began service on October 2, 2017, complementing routes 55 and 46 along Maryland Route 355, serving 13 stops from Medical Center Station in Bethesda to Lakeforest Transit Center in Gaithersburg. The route operates every 10-20 minutes in both directions with service during weekday peak hours only.
The Great Seneca Transit Network began service on September 8, 2024 with the first phase consisting of two routes, Pink and Lime, with another two routes planned for the second phase. The Pink and Lime routes both start at Shady Grove station and end outside The Universities at Shady Grove campus, but follow different routing to provide service to the Great Seneca Life Sciences Complex and various neighborhoods and business districts in Gaithersburg.[23] Both routes operate 7 days a week with service running every 10-15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends.
Ride On Flex
Ride On Flex is an on-demand bus service that began serving Montgomery County on June 26, 2019, and runs in and around Rockville, Glenmont, and Wheaton using new, 11-passenger cutaway buses.[24][25] More major metropolitan areas are under development. Passengers are able to request a bus using an app. The new service never charged a higher fare, and accepted the same payment methods as standard Ride On buses with no onboard fare loading allowed.[26] The buses used for this service are the 2019 Ford cutaway Starlite Transit buses manufactured by Starcraft (41000D-41006D).
Flash BRT
Flash is a bus rapid transit network that began service on October 14, 2020.[27][28][29][30] The first route operates between Silver Spring Metro station and Burtonsville Park and Ride along U.S. Route 29[31] (route is planned to get extended to the mall at Columbia Transit Center[32]). The second route operates between Silver Spring Metro station and Briggs Chaney Park and Ride along U.S. Route 29. Future routes are in development throughout Montgomery County.[32][31][33]
Flash has dedicated bus stops with prepayment machines and operates in a mix of traffic and dedicated lanes using articulated buses equipped with level boarding, onboard bike racks, an automatic wheelchair securement system, digital interior signage, a pedestrian sensor, a free Wi-Fi hotspot, and USB-A charging ports.[34] Flash utilizes a dedicated fleet of mostly articulated buses as well as some standard buses. Hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric buses are under consideration.
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Fares
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On August 1, 2022, Ride On started a one-way fare that was $1.00 regardless of payment method. Children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities were allowed to ride for free. Fares were suspended from March 2020 to July 2022 in response to COVID-19. Prior to that, Ride On's one-way fare was $2.00 regardless of payment method. Senior citizens and people with disabilities were able to ride free on weekdays between 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM and on Saturdays between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM while children were able to ride free on weekdays from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM[35]; at all other times, a reduced fare of $1.00 was charged. As of July 1, 2019[update], children ages 5 and up can enter Ride On, as well as Metrobuses originating in Montgomery County, for free at all times until they graduate from high school by using a Youth Cruiser SmarTrip card.[36] Ride On used to offer a 50¢ discount for bus fares that transferred from the Washington Metro.
On January 4, 2009[update], Ride On stopped the issue or acceptance of paper transfers, requiring all riders to use a SmarTrip card in order to get discounted or free transfers.[37]
In 2025, the Montgomery County Council elected to make all the buses free, eliminating all the fares starting on June 29, 2025.[38]
Fleet
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Ride On has a fleet consisting of diesel, diesel-electric hybrid, CNG, and battery electric buses produced by Gillig Corporation, Nova Bus, Proterra, and Starcraft. Also, Ride On has a climate action plan to move to a zero-emissions fleet by 2035.[39][40]
Active fleet
On order
Retired fleet
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Divisions
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The bus fleet, owned and operated by Ride On, is distributed among three garages that are Nicholson, Silver Spring and Gaithersburg.
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Routes
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Ride On offers 82 routes throughout Montgomery County. All the routes run through peak rush hour periods between 6 and 9 AM and between 3 and 7 PM on weekdays. Many routes offer services for off-peak hours and weekends as well.[55]
Ride On extRa routes
Flash BRT routes
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Former routes
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These routes have been served by Ride On at one point, but have since been discontinued due to either low ridership, duplication of another route, simplification to other routes, or combined into another route. However, some routes would be reincarnated into new routes for Ride On.
Metrobus routes
Additionally, Ride On ran three weekend-routes that were served by WMATA Metrobus on weekdays. All routes were discontinued due to WMATA's Better Bus Redesign network, unless noted.[77]
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References
External links
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