Tag Archives: MDOT MTA

Bus Photo of the Month: August 2025

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New Flyer XD40 17070

Location: Paca Street at Lombard Streetת Baltimore, MD
Operator of Vehicle: MDOT MTA
Date of Photo: November 23, 2018

I’ve lived most of my life in Maryland and don’t entirely understand the fascination that some people have with its state flag.  However, I find it very appropriate that the Maryland Transit Administration has opted for the past eight years or so to lean in heavily to the colors of the state flag in designing its current bus liveries.  Considering the literally “vanilla” liveries that preceded this one (the vehicles were white with a single blue stripe or a relatively small Maryland flag image depending on the livery), this is certainly an improvement from an aesthetic standpoint, in my opinion.  What do you think of it?

For more photos of MDOT MTA Core Bus services, please click here.  

Bus Photo of the Month: November 2024

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New Flyer XDE40 13013

Location: Charles Street at Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD
Operator of Vehicle: MDOT MTA
Date of Photo: November 25, 2018

This Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and many transit systems will be offering free rides in order to facilitate getting to polling places so constituents can cast their votes.  I’ve seen notices of various agencies providing fare free travel on Election Day in recent years, including Minneapolis in 2014.  Other systems that I am aware of providing fare free travel on Election Day include Ride On, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, LA Metro, CapMetro, Knoxville Area Transit, Denver RTD, and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority.  

Are you aware of other US transit systems that are offering free transit on Election Day?  Does this practice exist in other countries?  Leave a comment if you know the answer to either question.

For more photos of MDOT MTA Core Bus Services, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: April 2022

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ABB LRV 5043

Location: Camden Station, Baltimore, MD
Operator of Vehicle: MDOT MTA
Date of Photo: June 16, 2009

On this date in 1992, the Baltimore Light Rail began revenue operations.  The line’s initial segment operated from Timonium to Camden Yards, adjacent to the Orioles new stadium that opened the same day.  Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer advocated for the construction of the line in order to facilitate travel to the new ballpark.  The line was constructed without federal funding, which is a rarity for US rapid transit construction, using the right of way previously used by several interurban streetcar and commuter rail routes, the Northern Central Railway, Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway and Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad.  Service was extended such that by 1997, the system reached its current extent, operating as far north as Hunt Valley and as far south as BWI Airport and Glen Burnie.  There is also a short spur line to Baltimore Penn Station.

Initially, much of the line outside of downtown was single track in order to save money during construction.  This limited service to 17 minute frequencies, so the line was closed down in portions in order to double track it between 2004 and 2006.  The original rolling stock still operates on the line, though it received a mid-life overhaul in the mid-2010s.  Also in 2017, the system was rebranded “Light RailLink” in conjunction with the BaltimoreLink bus network redesign.

For more photos of the Baltimore Light Rail, please click here.

Enough Teases, Here’s What’s New and Updated for the Start of 2021!

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Ventura County Railway No. 2
Anyone who knows where I’ve traveled or has visited the site with some frequency over the years may have noticed that the Bus Photo of the Month for January 2021 was from a city that had not been included on Oren’s Transit Page before, and that I’ve been highlighting a number of new website sections over the past few weeks. 

The biggest and most noteworthy additions are the brand new sections for Baltimore, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin.  As I noted in a recent post, there was a certain amount of irony to the fact I grew up 40 miles from Baltimore and am an avid Orioles fan, yet the city had not been featured on this site until recently.  Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin were destinations that I traveled to in late 2019 and early 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to make those trips when I did.  

I also took advantage of some time I had recently to move some photos that had been on the Uncaptioned Photos page for quite awhile and put them in more appropriate places on the website, most notably, the photos of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway now have their own page.  Perhaps you found the new material on your own, but if not, here is the full listing of where new photos were recently added to the site, with new sections highlighted in bold and italics.