Route 40 (MTA Maryland) - Criticism

Criticism

Route 40 received a lot of criticism following its inauguration from riders, politicians, and the media. This criticism resulted in some changes being made to the route, schedule, and other details.

The service, which was projected to have a daily ridership level of 27,000, fell far short of that goal. Many riders waiting for other buses at common stops complained about seeing a lot of empty Route 40 buses. This resulted in its weekday frequency being reduced.

Low ridership and unrealistic time allocation initially being built into the schedule resulted in poor on-time performance and buses clumping together. As one bus fell behind schedule while busy picking up passengers, the one behind it got ahead after stops had been cleared of waiting passengers, and ultimately caught up to the earlier bus. This left larger gaps between buses.

Financial resources needed in order to operate this service were obtained by cutting back on the amount of local bus service along common streets of operation, mostly on Route 23, which had its level of service cut by nearly 50% when Route 40 was introduced. This brought the number of local buses on these busy streets below the demand.

The service's original route had an eastern terminus at Essex Park-and-Ride lot, which was more than a mile short of the transfer point for some other lines, including Routes 24 and 55. An extension in February 2006 to Middle River allowed riders to transfer directly to those routes.

On the west side of the route, there is no designated Park-and-Ride lot allowing motorists to park their vehicles and catch the bus. Security Square Mall has not allocated any spaces for riders of Route 40, and an existing park-and-ride lot at the end of I-70 is not within a practical or pedestrian friendly walk of a bus stop.

While rapid transit lines are generally modeled for commuter purposes, QuickBus is marketed only to those who do not own vehicles and depend on a neighborhood bus stop.