The Charm City Circulator (CCC or Downtown Circulator) is a privately funded, public transit downtown circulator shuttle service giving riders connection to historic sites, parking, and businesses throughout downtown Baltimore for free. The newest transit system in Maryland was established in 2008, but did not begin inaugural service until January 11, 2010 because of funding issues. The system operates four routes on major streets throughout downtown. The system also connects to the city's water taxi and

MTA Maryland The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washing ...

History

The Charm City Circulator started as a plan by former mayor

Sheila Dixon Sheila Ann Dixon (born December 27, 1953) is an American politician who served as the forty-eighth mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When the former mayor, Martin O'Malley, was sworn in as governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon, the president of the Bal ...

to make Baltimore an eco-friendly city and utilize transport throughout Downtown without the patron spending a dime. The plan was to launch three routes connecting across the inner-city, but delays in bus delivery caused routes to be implemented over 18 months rather than all at once. Service is seven days-a-week, with ten-minute intervals between buses. On January 11, 2010; the Orange Route became the pilot service for the Charm City Circulator travelling east-west via

Pratt Street Pratt Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It forms a one-way pair of streets with Lombard Street that run west–east through downtown Baltimore. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound di ...

/ Lombard Street, Central Avenue, and Baltimore Street. As soon as three months after service of the first line begin, the "CCC" reached the 100,000 riders milestone. Nearly six months later on June 4, the Purple Route began service travelling north-south via Charles Street &

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Light Street Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs from Solomons Island in Calvert County north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/ US 40 Truck ( North Avenue) in Baltimore. The route ...

s. The much anticipated Green Route recently began service just outside downtown connecting City Hall to Johns Hopkins Medical Center via

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

, and

President Street President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

. On August 15, 2011, the city of Baltimore received $1.6 million in federal funds to expand service to

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attac ...

in early 2012. The "Banner Route" or ''Blue Route'' was intended to relieve congestion and make it easier for visitors to get to/from the famous landmark in time for the War of 1812 bicentennial celebration.

Bus routes

Water taxi harbor connector routes

Bus fleet roster

* All current and future buses in fleet are hybrid or clean-diesel vehicles under the Cleaner, Greener Baltimore Initiative's plan. * Charm City Circulator (formerly operated by Veolia) bus yard located at 1400 Cherry Hill Road. Two blocks from

Cherry Hill light rail stop Cherry Hill station is a Baltimore Light Rail stop in Baltimore, Maryland. There is currently no free public parking at this station, but connections can be made to 3 of MTA Maryland's buses from here. The Cherry Hill stop is accessible to the s ...

and connection to MTA bus routes 27, 29, and 51. *As of February 2020, the Charm City Circulator is putting new buses into service manufactured by NovaBus, according to the

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

, the City of Baltimore plans to order new buses to fully replace the Orion buses that was put into service in 2012.

References

External links

* https://transportation.baltimorecity.gov/charm-city-circulator * http://godowntownbaltimore.com/ * http://baltimorecity.gov/ {{Baltimore Transit Maryland Transit Administration Transportation in Baltimore Intermodal transportation authorities in Maryland Passenger rail transportation in Maryland Bus transportation in Maryland Rapid transit in Maryland