Guest column: The county will consult community on bus plan | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

The county executive has instructed the Department of Planning and Zoning to reconnect with the public before moving forward with this bus route or other such routes. Even though this project was recommended in the small area plan, it is our responsibility to go back to the community for input.

Available information about people living in Glen Burnie led us to believe that more transit is not only needed but also welcomed by many of the people living there. We arrive at this conclusion based on Census data which tell us that Glen Burnie has a higher than average over 60-year-old population.

The Census data also show us that there is a higher than average amount of households with one or no automobiles while the countywide average for jobs per household is over one and one-half jobs per household. Also, we know that the Glen Burnie area does have a large number of public attractions and facilities (shopping and personal services, the community college, the hospital, senior housing, government services, and employment).

So we believe that Glen Burnie has a large number of potential transit users (elderly, lower income families, families with fewer automobiles, entry level employees seeking jobs) and attractions, in the town area.

Most of the transit currently available to the public in Glen Burnie does not provide good connections to local services, but does connect to Baltimore, Annapolis or areas along Gov. Ritchie Highway. The service proposed by the county is local in scope and small in size.

At the meeting which was held on April 14, we promised to meet with the communities, its employers and its services to create a route that serves the common purposes. We also promised to not operate the route on local streets. We further defined what was meant by local streets (naming Georgia Avenue, Oak Lane and Central Avenue) so anyone attending would understand what we meant by that term.

We did not assume and never said that the April 14 meeting would be the only or last opportunity to discuss this route with the communities and other interested people. It was, in fact, the first opportunity. What we promised that evening, we mean to do.

Our intention is to provide convenient, safe and accessible small bus service connecting communities with desired locations and with other forms of transit. Our intention is to carry passengers, so it is our obligation to work with the communities to achieve that intention.

The county executive has made it clear that no action will be taken on this or other plans without thorough consultation with the community and with public comment.

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George G. Cardwell is a planning administrator for Anne Arundel County and the lead official on the Glen Burnie bus project.