The St. Mary’s Transit System (STS) will be changing the days and hours of operation for two of its bus routes. Beginning July 1, 2003, the Route 5 Express and the Calvert Connection will run from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. There no longer will be evening service past 6:30 p.m. and there no longer will be any Saturday service on these two routes. No other existing routes or schedules will be affected by the changes. The recent loss of State funding and the evaluation of ridership levels on these routes at this time are the reasons for the changes.
The State has provided funding for new routes that will be implemented in the northern end of St. Mary’s County during the mid to late summer months of 2003. The Golden Beach and Wicomico Shores areas, as well as Thompson Corner and Golden Beach Roads, will be incorporated as a part of the new service area. The new routes are expected to increase ridership throughout the system.
Overall, the STS bus system has seen large growth in the last few years. The total ridership for Public Transportation has increased from 54,395 riders in FY 2000, to 117,162 riders in FY 2001, to 178,152 riders in FY 2002, to an estimated 240,000 riders in FY 2003, to an estimated 300,000 riders in FY 2004.
For information and schedules on STS, please call 301-475-5100 or visit the County website at http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/dpw/.