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County: University Boulevard bus‑only lane pilot cut bus travel times; BRT planning not yet funded
Summary
MCDOT reported the University Boulevard bus‑lane pilot (launched Feb. 2024) cuts average bus run times by about 7% and serves one of the state''s highest ridership routes, while the county has not yet programmed funding to advance formal BRT design/construction.
Montgomery County Department of Transportation briefed the Planning, Housing and Parks Committee on Sept. 29 about the University Boulevard bus‑only lane pilot and how it fits into the corridor master plan. MCDOT manager Corey Pitts said the pilot, which uses the curb lane between Amherst and Dennis avenues (about two miles), launched in February 2024 and serves the Metrobus M12 and other routes. "The Metrobus M‑12 route is among the highest ridership routes in the state of Maryland," Pitts said, citing roughly 11,000 weekday riders as of May.
Pitts told the committee the county's initial analysis showed about 1% non‑transit vehicle intrusion into the red lane during the pilot (with no active enforcement), a 7% reduction in bus run time for riders, and a roughly 7% increase in vehicle travel times on the studied segment. "Following the pilot performance period, we concluded ... that the lanes were providing a positive benefit to transit riders in the University Boulevard corridor with a minimal impact to drivers," Pitts said; he added that MDOT agreed in May 2025 to consider making the curb bus lanes permanent. Pitts also said no funding has yet been programmed to advance planning, design or construction for the full BRT facility identified in the 2013 functional master plan.
Committee members probed the tradeoffs between bus reliability and driver impacts and asked what near‑term measures — such as signal‑timing optimization — might reduce travel delays while improving safety. MCDOT said such signal‑timing and access improvements are part of ongoing work and that station locations in any future BRT design could shift as planning advances. SHA District 3 engineer Derek Gunn told the committee SHA supports locally led multimodal projects on state roadways but that they must be locally supported and data‑driven.
Why it matters: The pilot's ridership and performance numbers underpin the county's recommendation to prioritize bus mobility and to continue studying BRT on University Boulevard, but funding and design for a formal BRT project have not yet been secured.
