Maryland is making major investments in public transportation, but some riders say reliability issues and inaccurate tracking apps are causing frustration.
The state is putting $1.4 billion toward modernizing the light rail. Another $400 million will be used to buy 78 new rail cars and upgrade communication systems so trains can talk to one another.
This Earth Day, eyes are on the environmental benefits of public transportation. Joe Davis, chief operating officer with the MTA, said whether it is a bus or train, there are many environmental benefits.
Maryland is investing billions in public transit, but MTA bus riders say delays and app issues are causing frustration. Watch for the full story:
"The more folks we can get out of single occupancy vehicles, we cut down on emissions, we cut down on traffic congestion," Davis said.
But for some Baltimore County residents like Jahtavia, the negatives of taking the bus have been outweighing the positives lately.
"I feel like as though they’re making us go to work late, they’re making us go to school late at any time of the day girl," Jahtavia said.
Jahtavia said inaccuracies on the MTA app make the situation even worse.
"That MTA app that everybody is on, girl don’t believe it," Jahtavia said.
"It’s nothing but cap on it. The bus be talking about ‘it’s going to come it five minutes’ girl that bus ain’t coming until nearly two hours later, no shade. And that’s why I just can’t stand it if it’s going to come in five minutes, come in five minutes on the dot," Jahtavia said.
Davis said the MTA is pushing on reliability.
"We can write the most pristine schedules and then we run that schedule that day and oh, we got a pothole repair, or we have utility work, or we have a steam line rupture, or somebody has a medical emergency on a bus," Davis said.
With the metro giant of Washington, D.C., to the south, there is still a burning question of whether Baltimore will expand to that level.
"Will we ever be as big as DC? Probably not because of the multiple train lines and they go all over the place. They’re a rail centric transit system. Here in Baltimore, we were born as a bus company," Davis said.
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