Two Circulator routes to be fully restored Thursday

Two Charm City Circulator routes will be fully restored beginning Thursday and two others will have more frequent service — weeks after the free bus system’s schedule was reduced during a change in vendors, according to a Twitter announcement.

The Circulator, which transports riders throughout downtown and Central Baltimore neighborhoods, has been gradually increasing bus frequency on each of its routes since it resumed service on Jan. 9.

Starting Thursday at 7 a.m., frequency will increase again, the service announced.

According to the latest schedule, the Purple Route will run every 12 minutes; the Orange Route will run every 20 minutes; the Green and Banner Routes, which will both be fully restored, will run every 20 minutes.

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The Circulator was out of commission from Dec. 30 to Jan. 8 because it was transitioning to a new vendor, First Transit, which took over operations on Dec. 31. RMA Worldwide Transportation, a Rockville-based chauffeur service, had operated the bus service for four years.

“Standard practice is for the new contractor to inspect all vehicles and create initial condition reports before placing any vehicles in service,” transportation spokesperson Marly Cardona-Moz said in an email to The Banner at the time.

First Transit also had to hire and train new drivers, order parts, and repair buses, according to social media posts.

The Circulator returned on Jan. 9, with the Banner and Green routes operating every 40 minutes and the Purple and Orange routes operating every 60 minutes.

cadence.quaranta@thebaltimorebanner.com

Cadence Quaranta

cadence.quaranta@thebaltimorebanner.com