The Circulator is Lost, but Can be Saved
Where are the bottlenecks in the Charm City Circulator, and how do we remove them?
The Charm City Circulator launched as a system with a laudable goal: to offer free transit that gets people out of their cars and gets them around the downtown core. The website outlines it:
We service residents, downtown employees, students and tourists and anyone else who wishes to ride. The shuttle is intended to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas pollution by offering a convenient, reliable and eco-friendly form of public transportation. We encourage all of our residents and visitors to use this service — not only is it free, it’s efficient. A shuttle arrives every 10 -15 minutes at the designated stops on each route.
However, today’s version of the Circulator is running as a shadow of its former self. Now, its closer to this:
During a recent ride on the Circulator, I identified a few issues:
- The real-time tracking is inaccurate — Buses do not show up every 10–15 minutes
- Many stops lack benches or cover
- Stops that had lost their real-time tracking marquees
- Coaches make layovers in seemingly random spots without notice
- The temporary buses have been in use for a year, and they lack markings that show that they are Circulator buses
- The Banner, Purple, and Orange routes mirror MTA routes. The Green route seems directionless.
The other part of the Circulator is the Harbor Connector, a high speed, highly reliable system that uses our waterways to turn long trips into fun, short trips. However, the limited service-hours and real-time tracking undercut the strength of the system.
The issue is that the system is not regularly updated as preferences change, and it lacks a goal.
How do we fix it?
First, identify a goal for the system. Is this a shuttle for tourists, a free mirror of some MTA routes, a quick way for workers to get lunch while downtown, or a way to get people from remote parking to the city?
If the goal is to get tourists around, a fixed route system is not necessarily ideal. The Free Ride is a service that moves tourists around a predefined area. A fixed route system should mirror something like the ‘hop-on-hop-off’ buses that many tourist companies use in cities like Washington DC.
If the goal is to reduce congestion, then it needs to connect with parking garages on the border of the city that can connect people with places they want to go. Such a change would turn the system into a commuter bus, and a Friday/Saturday night bus, and require a change in maps.
Another option, and my preferred option is to use it as a testing ground for MTA changes. Right now, the MTA decides the routes and frequencies of their buses and does not have many additional to expand service. We could use the Charm City Circulator as a testing ground for MTA route changes.
For instance, there has been plenty written about how the state took the Red Line away from Baltimore City, but we have the power to bring it back. Why is rail more appealing than a bus?
- The dedicated right of way means it should only need to stop to pick up passengers
- Off-board fare collection means vehicles only need to dwell as long as it takes to alight and board passengers
- Stations tend to be higher quality, with seating and cover from the elements
- Buses have more capacity, which reduces the number of crush-bus incidents
- Service tends to be higher frequency
The DOT could implement a route from the I-70 park-and-ride to Bayview, by way of the Pratt/Lombard St dedicates lanes. The Circulator has the benefit of not requiring fare collection, which is a built-in speed benefit and using the downtown bus network. The DOT also controls the right of way, which allows it to provide a dedicated right of way, if possible. Combining the existing service into a single high-frequency route would help achieve the performance goals the system has struggled to hit in recent years. It would also make the connection for commuters, would not replicate an existing route, would connect to the Harbor Connector (Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Canton), and would provide the missing connection between the Canton Waterfront and Downtown.
First, we need to determine a goal for the system, then make a metric for success, which should probably be on-time performance and ridership numbers. We need to make sure we are good stewards of city resources, and should not keep the Circulator running because of institutional inertia.
