Route 27 (MTA Maryland) - History

History

The northern portion of the present Route 27 is nearly identical to the No. 25 streetcar line that operated during Baltimore's streetcar era. The Hampden line in Baltimore was the first electric streetcar that operated in the United States. The no. 25 designation was used for service on Falls Road up until 1959. Service on Falls Road was provided by Route 10 between 1959 and 1982, then by Route 27 since 1982.

The no. 25 streetcar started operating in 1897. The initial route of the line was along the Falls Road corridor (current location of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum). The ultimate goal of the construction of the line was to provide rail service to Pennsylvania. The line then operated to Gwynn Oak Junction (later the terminus of several other streetcar and bus lines), and had branches to Cheswolde and Pikesville. In 1901, the route was modified to serve Remington and Hampden. In 1923, the line was shortened from Pikesville to Key Avenue in Cheswolde. In 1936, Camden Station was made into the southern terminus. .

The conversion from a streetcar line to buses took place in stages in 1949. First, the no. 25 bus line operated from Mt. Washington to Camden Station, and the nos. 47 and 48 streetcars from Mt. Washington to Key Avenue and Belvedere loop respectively (service to Gwynn Oak was provided by other lines). The Mt. Washington to Belvedere section became a part of the no. 25 bus in 1951. No. 47 service would eventually be absorbed into Bus Route 5, and later become a separate line identified as Route 58. The no. 25 bus line would become a part of Route 10 in 1959, which it would remain a part of until 1982. There were two routings through North Baltimore between 36th Street and Coldspring Lane: one along Falls Road, and the other via Roland Avenue (the original routing of Route 10). This structure remained in place as part of Route 27 until 2008.

In 1970, the no. 25 designation was assigned to a line that is operated by the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.

In 1982, Route 10, which at the time was operating from Pimlico to Dundalk, was once again split to allow better schedule adherence. But with no. 25 being unavailable due to its use for the streetcar museum, the new line for the north end was given the No. 27 designation that it has today. The two lines at the time of the split had overlapped between State Center and Little Italy, though both lines have since been modified, and their routes presently do not overlap, but do intersect in the downtown area.

The no. 27 designation had previously been used for one other service in Baltimore transit history. The Washington Boulevard streetcar line, which started operating in 1905, was designated no. 27. This was converted into an electric trolley bus in 1938, and a rubber tire bus in 1957, when it absorbed then Route 52, and was extended to Lansdowne. In 1959, this route was combined with Bus Route 11, and remained a part of Route 11 until 2008, when the service was split from Route 11, and became a part of Route 36.

In 1992, in conjunction with the opening of the Central Light Rail Line, Route 27 was truncated to Camden Yards. Service between Howard Street and Little Italy, and selected trips to Canton were eliminated. The line's frequency was also reduced, as the line duplicated light rail service.

In 1996, Route 28 was eliminated except on Sundays. Service on Route 28 was provided by other routes from this time on, and selected Route 27 trips were extended south of Camden Yards to the Cherry Hill Light Rail Stop. Additionally, selected late night trips were extended to either the Cherry Hill community or to Baltimore Highlands.

Additional modifications in the coming years resulted in all trips being extended to Port Covington via Cherry Hill, and Route 27 in the Cherry Hill area became a supplement to service offered by Route 29.

In 2004, the main Baltimore Greyhound bus terminal relocated from the center of the city, an area accessible by Metro, light rail, and many bus lines, to an area off Russell Street where Route 27 had been the bus serving the area since 1996. At that time, service provided in this area by Route 27 was more limited compared with the overall route. Local officials, concerned about the lack of public transportation to this location, which many access by public transportation, scrambled to find a way to provide service to the new transportation center.

Soon after the terminal's opening, service on Route 27 in this area was increased, and the route of buses passing through the terminal's area was modified to deviate into the station's parking lot.

In 2005, as part of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative, a comprehensive overhaul plan for the region's transit system, MTA proposed to discontinue Route 27, and to provide all of its service on other lines. These included:

• An extension on Route 15 to Sinai Hospital that would have served Belvedere Avenue.
• A new Route 28 (no relation to the former Route 28) that would have operated between Sinai and Mt. Washington.
• Route 64 would have been extended north from North Avenue to Mt. Washington.
• Route 29 would have provided all service along Russell Street and to Cherry Hill.
• Initially, there would be no service to Seton Business Park, on Roland Avenue, or to Port Covington.

As a result of public outcry pertaining to Route 27 and other routes, in 2006, MTA delayed any changes to Route 27 and made the following modifications to the proposals:

• Route 15 would not be rerouted to Sinai Hospital, but Route 91 would continued to serve Belvedere Avenue along with a new Route M-5, that would have served Mt. Washington.
• Route 98 Hampden Shuttle would be modified to serve a portion of Roland Avenue where a lot of senior citizens live. This change was implemented on February 17, 2008.
• A new proposed Route 37 would have served Russell Street and Cherry Hill, and Route 29 would have been extended to Port Covington.

In June 2007, GBBI was canceled. In October of the same year, MTA proposed new changes that route keep Route 27 operating, while making minor changes that included:

• Consistently running service along Falls Road through Roland Park, and modifying Route 98 as proposed earlier to serve Roland Avenue.
• Modifying route from 27th Street to 28th and 29th Streets in Remington in order to improve ease of operating buses.

In February 2008, the first of these changes took place, while the latter did not.