Committee approves FY26 Mass Transit Fund changes, adds pilots and CIP amendments

The Transportation and Environment Committee on April 29 recommended approval of the County Executive’s FY26 operating budget for the Mass Transit Fund, endorsing a roughly $17.5 million (about 9%) increase in total transit operating expenditures and several companion capital amendments and pilot programs.

What the committee approved: Staff summarized that most of the operating increase—about $17 million—reflects personnel compensation and nondiscretionary adjustments across transit services. The executive’s package included three specific additions to the Mass Transit Fund and two reductions that staff flagged during the work session.

Key additions and pilots

- Howard County Flash expansion: The budget includes a roughly $1.1 million operating addition to extend the U.S. 29 Bus Rapid Transit (Flash) service from within Montgomery County into Howard County. Staff said the extension is funded by an intergovernmental transfer from Howard County; however, as of the committee meeting the Howard County appropriation had not been finalized. Montgomery County staff recommended retaining the line item to avoid a mid-year supplemental appropriation if Howard County later provides the funds.

- Transit Ambassadors ($250,000): As part of the Ride On zero-fare rollout, the executive set aside $250,000 annually for a Transit Ambassadors program for outreach, behavior management and limited field presence. Committee members asked staff to provide clearer tasking, a more detailed breakdown between overtime and contracted services and measurable outcomes; the committee placed this item on the reconciliation list pending fuller documentation to the full council.

- Automated bus-lane enforcement pilot ($160,000 operating): Staff described a WMATA partnership that would place cameras on buses to collect footage for bus-lane enforcement on county corridors (staff cited Georgia Avenue as the initial alignment). WMATA would cover capital equipment costs; Montgomery County would retain operating and processing costs. The package assumes fee revenue from violations will offset pilot costs and staff characterized the pilot as budget neutral.

CIP amendments

The committee reviewed several Capital Improvement Program amendments associated with Ride On and regional Bus Rapid Transit (BRT):

- Ride On fare-equipment and fleet procurement: Making Ride On fare-free reduces or eliminates planned fare-equipment replacements and removes fare equipment from new-bus procurements, producing the capital savings described in the fees discussion.

- Maryland (MD) 355 Central BRT: State-level funding changes prompted a reprogramming of state aid across the MD355 BRT components. Staff explained the central segment is being re-timed and partially re-scoped to extend the southern terminus to Rockville Metro Station; other components, including north segments to Germantown and beyond, remain under review and timing is subject to state funding decisions.

- Veirs Mill Road BRT: Staff proposed a $10.2 million increase funded largely by the State Bus Rapid Transit Fund and clarified a $2 million federal-aid adjustment that reflected eligibility of earlier expenditures.

- Hydrogen fuel cell buses and fueling site: Staff presented an administrative swap of $1.4 million in federal aid to current revenue to align the CIP with FTA grant agreement categories and clarified that a small design/contracting delay—not a funding shortfall—accounts for a one-year schedule shift.

Procedural and scheduling notes: The committee noted that some items had been transmitted after initial public hearings; those items are scheduled for a separate May public hearing. Staff also said some grant-funded projects will not spend County funds until state or intergovernmental partners trigger service starts.

Vote: The committee recorded unanimous support for the operating and CIP recommendations as presented; members asked staff to track conditional items and return to the full council with additional documentation where requested (notably for the Transit Ambassadors program and the Howard County reimbursement schedule).

Ending: Staff will forward the committee actions and requested clarifications to the full council as part of the FY26 budget review process.