Mta

Three minibuses were destroyed in an arson fire and another 13 vehicles were damaged by vandals over the weekend at a transportation company parking lot in Southeast Baltimore, according to the Maryland Transit Administration and state fire marshal's office. The three buses are owned by the MTA, but stored at a lot in the 4500 block of Curtis Ave. that belongs to MV Transportation Mobility Service. The company is under contract to provide transit services for the disabled under the MTA's Mobility program.

A dozen people were taken to area hospitals after a vehicle crashed into an MTA bus this morning in Essex, according to Maryland Transit Administration officials. A bus was stopped at Doolittle Road and Stemmers Run Road when a vehicle drove into the back of the bus, according to Terry Owens, MTA spokesman. The bus was stopped to let people off, Owens said. County fire department personnel responded to the scene around 10:30 a.m., according to Baltimore County public safety officials.

As I drove north on I-95 at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday and saw traffic come to a near stop at Caton Avenue, I exited and reversed course to park at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and take the light rail to the amazing Ravens stadium rally. That worked fine, but after the event ended at 1:30 p.m., I, along with hundreds of other Ravens fans, was stuck standing on a packed concrete ramp to the southbound light rail line for over two and a half hours with no trains and no information from the Maryland Transit Administration.

Frank Bond Sr., a retired Maryland Transit Administration bus driver and neighborhood activist who believed in the value of education, died Monday of colon cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. "Frank was a wonderful man who treasured education even though he was not an educated man," said W. Byron Forbush II, who retired in 1998 after 38 years as headmaster of Friends School. "His three children went to Friends as well as two grandchildren," said Mr. Forbush. "He was so devoted and proud that his family was part of that institution.

I would like to make a suggestion to the Maryland Transit Administration in light of the agency's recent report on a possible fare increase ("MTA says fares may increase 65 cents," Dec. 20). My husband and I ride the light rail from Timonium frequently. We purchase tickets, but I can't tell you the large number of people we see ride for free. They never buy a ticket. Once or twice I have been on the train when someone comes and verifies if we have purchased a fare, but not often.

The Maryland Transit Administration is a legally mandated monopoly over mass transit that politicizes pricing, caters to public employee union pressure for increased wages and benefits, and outlaws competition. It was created in 1970 when it took over the Baltimore Transit Company, a privately owned firm. Today, the MTA's costs far outpace its revenues, burdening Maryland taxpayers with a deficit of more than $600 million. The General Assembly, in its sessions that ended this week, pushed the MTA to increase bus and MARC train fares so that they cover 35 percent of operating costs rather than the current 28 percent to 30 percent, an increase the O'Malley administration opposes.

The Senate rejected a bill Monday night that would have prevented the Maryland Transit Administration from audio-taping passengers' conversations after a vigorous debate over the competing values of safety and privacy. The 23-22 vote to kill the measure was a victory for Baltimore senators, who were annoyed that they were not consulted in the development of a bill that disproportionately affects their constituents -- many of whom travel on buses through high-crime neighborhoods.

The unblinking eye of the camera is increasingly all around us. On the street corner, inside the convenience store, in office building lobbies - not to mention in the hands of everyone with a cellphone. So it's not surprising that the Maryland Transit Administration's plan to activate microphones on buses is raising concerns about privacy. But while there is a good conversation to be had about the slippery slope of lost privacy in Baltimore and elsewhere, this doesn't appear to be the place to draw the line.

The Maryland Transit Administration has appointed John E. Gavrilis as its new chief of police, overseeing 240 officers responsible for patrolling the state's public transit vehicles and stations. Gavrilis joined the MTA force in 2004 and has been the acting chief since July. Crime is down during his tenure, according to the MTA, which attributes the decrease to a program through which law enforcement analyzes crime trend data to determine how best to deploy officers. Gavrilis said his "primary goal" is to keep rising to the "security challenges posed in a post 9/11 world, while meeting the service needs of our patrons."

Maryland Transit Administration stations at the Shot Tower, Johns Hopkins and Charles Center were briefly closed Thursday afternoon in Baltimore while authorities investigated "reports of smoke. " Roman Clark, a spokesman with the city's Fire Department, said a conductor reported seeing sparks and called firefighters as a precautionary measure. He said service was stopped so firefighters could walk through the tunnel, but they did not find a fire. There were no reports of injuries, according to the Associated Press.

Maryland transit police are warning travelers to be alert on trains and buses, amid a long-running rash of mobile-device thefts targeting riders who were texting, listening to music or talking on the phone. The Maryland Transit Administration has logged more than 200 such incidents since it began tracking them at the beginning of last year in response to a series of customer complaints. A spike in these crimes followed the 2011 release of Apple's iPhone 4S, and the trend has kept up, with thieves taking music players, e-readers and tablet computers.

MARC train and commuter bus patrons can purchase tickets online, the Maryland Transit Administration announced Friday. The consolidated ticketing service, http://MTA.CommuterDirect.com , will begin April 1. It will accept SmartBenefits, vouchers and employer-sponsored credit cards as well as split credit card payments and renewable orders. Weekly and monthly passes for MARC and commuter bus service will continue to be accepted for rides on MTA local bus, Metro subway, light rail, express bus and neighborhood shuttle service.

Baltimore's oldest cab company and the Maryland Transit Administration are updating their fleets for wheelchair-using customers, replacing small buses and minivans with an SUV-like vehicle that provides a smoother, more civilized ride. The MV-1 is designed specifically to transport disabled passengers and already is in use in cities such as Pittsburgh, Chicago and Dallas. Built in Indiana, it is the only production vehicle that meets Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. Yellow Cab and sister company 1010 Sedan purchased 10 MV-1s and began using them this week.

The Senate rejected a bill Monday night that would have prevented the Maryland Transit Administration from audio-taping passengers' conversations after a vigorous debate over the competing values of safety and privacy. The 23-22 vote to kill the measure was a victory for Baltimore senators, who were annoyed that they were not consulted in the development of a bill that disproportionately affects their constituents -- many of whom travel on buses through high-crime neighborhoods.

As I drove north on I-95 at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday and saw traffic come to a near stop at Caton Avenue, I exited and reversed course to park at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and take the light rail to the amazing Ravens stadium rally. That worked fine, but after the event ended at 1:30 p.m., I, along with hundreds of other Ravens fans, was stuck standing on a packed concrete ramp to the southbound light rail line for over two and a half hours with no trains and no information from the Maryland Transit Administration.

The state Department of Transportation reported an accident on Interstate 95 at Exit 50 (US 1/Caton Avenue) around 9:12 a.m. No additional information was given. MTA reported minor delays on MARC trains as at 9:12 a.m.

MTA chief Ralign Wells should not be applauded for his candor after last week's snow storms ("Snow is no excuse," Feb. 23). An effective administrator would have had a contingency plan in place to meet the challenges of this storm, not let the storm control the system. That Mr. Wells has only been at this position for several months is not an excuse. Such contingency plans should have been "on the shelf" long before his tenure began. Any effective organization would have such plans at the ready, but we're dealing with a state agency, where inertia is the modus operandi.

The Maryland Transit Administration has begun a $3.5 million project to upgrade its Mondawmin Mall transit hub in Northwest Baltimore, where the Metro subway and 11 bus routes converge. The project at the hub, a busy transfer point for students, has been timed to begin as school ends. It will include a repaving of the bus loop, which will be closed until just before classes resume in late August. Other work will include improvements to lighting, bus shelters, pedestrian pathways and an elevator tower.

The Maryland Transit Administration is experiencing "massive delays" on local bus lines and the light rail system, a result of thousands of football fans attending the Baltimore Ravens parade and breaking through barricades controlling their routes through the city. "We put every available resource we had out on the system today, and the crowds were simply larger than the system could accommodate in the short time frame in which people were attempting to ride," said Terry Owens, a MTA spokesman.

Rail service between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., which had been suspended for about five hours because of the electrical problem on the Penn Line MARC Train 415, has been restored, said the Maryland Transit Administration. MTA released a statement around 12:30 p.m. Friday, saying that Amtrak crews repaired most of the damaged catenary lines allowing MARC to resume service. Amtrak and MARC halted service on the rail at approximately 7:30 a.m., when the Penn Line MARC Train 415 experienced a problem between BWI-Thurgood Marshall Airport and Odenton.