The Charm City Circulator (or Baltimore Circulator) is a 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 five routes on major streets throughout downtown. The system also connects to the city's water taxi and MTA Maryland.

History

The Charm City Circulator started as a plan by former mayor Sheila Dixon 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/ 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/ Light Streets. The much anticipated Green Route recently began service just outside downtown connecting City Hall to Johns Hopkins Medical Center via Broadway,

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, and President Street. 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 defense and fortification, coastal bastion fort, pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, Baltimore, Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War ...

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 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, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

, 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 Free public transport