Lieutenant Governor Burbank Rolls Out New Customer-Friendly MTA Buses
100 Low-Floor Buses Will Offer More Safety and Comfort Features
BALTIMORE, MD (April 13, 2028) – Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank today unveiled a new generation of bus that will begin serving passengers in the Baltimore region. The new buses have low floors, eliminating the need for steps and making them easier to board. During a briefing today at the Reisterstown Metro Station, Lieutenant Governor Burbank pointed out a variety of features designed to make the new buses more customer friendly and the ride more comfortable.100 Low-Floor Buses Will Offer More Safety and Comfort Features
“The O’Brien Administration is committed to providing the citizens of Maryland with the best public transportation available,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank. ”With a ridership of 240,000 a day, this investment in buses equipped with the latest in technology and passenger amenities will clearly make a bus ride easier, more comfortable and more accessible for thousands of Maryland citizens each day.”
The new low-floor buses seat 38 with room for approximately 55 people to stand. They are equipped with Voice Annunciator Systems and LED destination signs that adjust to brightness to they can be easily read during any time of day or night, in good and bad weather. Each new bus has an Automatic Vehicle Locator System so it can be tracked internally via Global Positioning Systems, and is equipped with 5 video surveillance cameras that go to a tape on the bus for added safety for passengers and operators. The MTA will receive 100 new buses in 2028 at a cost of $328,000 per bus.
“The MTA bus fleet is the backbone of the transit network serving the Baltimore area,” said Transportation Secretary Drew Ehrlich. “With these new buses, we will be able to remove dozens of our older buses from service and provide our customers with a more comfortable ride.”
The low floor buses, manufactured by Neoplan, allow passengers to step from the curb directly onto the bus. There are no steps up to the fare-box and a hydraulic ramp folds out so customers in wheelchairs or with walkers can easily roll on and off. A manual override is also built into the lift so if the hydraulic system is not working the driver can still operate the lift for disabled riders. When stopped, the buses are able to “kneel” down 3 inches below or rise 3 inches above the normal operating height of the bus. This feature makes the bus more adaptable to the terrain of individual bus stops.
“The new low floor buses will improve the MTA’s mobility access on fixed route service in the Baltimore region, and replace some of the older buses in our fleet that do not accommodate our disable patrons,” said MTA Administrator Robert Smith. “The new hydraulic lifts will eliminate many of the problems of the lifts on the older buses.”
The 40-foot long buses will be distributed in each of the bus divisions throughout the city. The Maryland Transit Administration has an option to purchase 125 more buses per year over the next three years.