Misplaced Pages

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34-628: Many routes of the agency's current bus lines are based on the original streetcars operated by the Baltimore Transit Company and its parent companies between the 1890s and 1960s. All of these routes were ultimately converted to rubber tire bus operations, and many were consolidated, extended into newly developed areas, or otherwise reconfigured to keep up with the ridership demands of the times. Additional routes and extensions were added in later years to serve newly developed communities and to feed into Metro and Light Rail stations. With

68-545: A letter to National City Lines on 8 December 1955, the company's vice president, Kenneth E. Totten, traveled to Montgomery the following week. The boycott lasted for just over a year, and cost the company $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 8.4 million in 2023). The boycott ended only after the United States Supreme Court affirmed Browder v. Gayle , a ruling that black bus passengers had a right to sit in any publicly available seat. National City Lines acquired

102-523: A modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the Fitzgerald's operations were reorganized into a holding company in 1936, and later expanded about 1938 with equity funding from General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum for the express purpose of acquiring local transit systems throughout the United States in what became known as

136-509: A part of Bus Route 23 . The only one still provided by MTA is service to Victory Villa , on Route 4 . Dundalk Bus Lines provided service in various parts of southeast Baltimore County between 1940 and 1972. MTA serves some of these areas with Bus Route 4 . Operated in northeast Baltimore County to locales such as Lutherville and Jacksonville . The only route incorporated by MTA was Route 19A , which later became known as Route 105 . Discontinued in 2005. Operated several routes during

170-819: A white bus driver who claimed to be the Grand Wizard of the Baltimore Ku Klux Klan. A labor arbitrator ruled in favor of BTCO in this firing, which was in part spurred by other white drivers threatening to strike if the man was not dismissed. Old Court Bus Lines was a service that provided van transport in northwest Baltimore County. Its lines served places including Stevenson and Villa Julie College . These services have been provided by MTA since 1973, though much of them have been cut back or modified. Bus Route 60 serves Stevenson University, which used to be known as Villa Julie. Operated service in eastern Baltimore County. Most of its services later became

204-607: The Baltimore Streetcar Museum was designated in 1970 as Route 25 , and was renamed LocalLink 25 in June 2017. There was a bus redesign in June 2017 called BaltimoreLink. Route 31 Note: National City Lines National City Lines, Inc. ( NCL ) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of the Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota , United States, in 1920 as

238-561: The General Motors streetcar conspiracy . The company formed a subsidiary, Pacific City Lines in 1937 to purchase streetcar systems in the western United States . National City Lines, and Pacific City Lines were indicted in 1947 on charges of conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, and of forming a transportation monopoly for the purpose of "conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines." They were acquitted on

272-752: The Great American streetcar scandal (or 'General Motors streetcar conspiracy', 'National City Lines conspiracy'). In 1948, the United States Supreme Court (in United States v. National City Lines Inc. ) permitted a change in venue to the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois . National City Lines merged with Pacific City Lines the same year. In 1949, General Motors, Standard Oil of California, Firestone and others were convicted of conspiring to monopolize

306-522: The Hickey School . Also, express trips operated via I-95 . In 1987, Route 19 was split into two lines in order to improve schedule adherence on both sides of town. The new Route 19 ran from State Center north of downtown Baltimore, and the line served the Harford Road corridor. The new Route 91 operated from Sinai Hospital to City Hall , serving the western half of this route. During

340-633: The Montgomery Advertiser on December 3, 1955, Montgomery's Transportation Superintendent J. H. Bagley wrote: The Montgomery City Lines is sorry if anyone expects us to be exempt from any state or city law ... [w]e are sorry that the colored people blame us for any state or city ordinance which we didn't have passed." After Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Improvement Association wired

374-406: The 1960s. Most notably, Route H became known as the #7 Rosewood Express serving Rosewood Center for more than 30 years. The #7 Rosewood Express service ultimately became Route 102 in 2000, and was absorbed by Route M-17 in 2005. Route M-17, along with this service, was eliminated in 2009. Operated some of the routes around the city, such as what is now Route 51 . A track providing service at

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408-559: The 1990s, the following changes were made to Route 19: In 2005, as part of the Greater Baltimore Bus Initiative , a comprehensive overhaul plan for the region's transit system, MTA first proposed to eliminate the Joppa Heights and Hickey School branches. No changes to this line were implemented along with Phase I in 2005. In 2006, a two revised plans were introduced. The first was to likewise shorten

442-613: The Baltimore streetcar took place between the years of 1947 and 1963, hastened by National City Lines ' acquisition, which said that buses offered lower maintenance and had greater flexibility in traffic. With its rails demolished, Baltimore was no longer a streetcar city. As transit needs and trends changed, rail transit did return to the city, with the Metro Subway opening in 1983 and the Light Rail in 1992. The track gauge

476-678: The Park-and-Ride lot, serving the Cub Hill area, and then followed Old Harford Road and shorter sections of other thoroughfares in Parkville and Towson not served by other bus service prior to reaching Charles Street in the Rodgers Forge area. From there, it continued directly downtown. The line was renamed Route 105 in 2000., In October 2005, Route 105 was discontinued due to its low ridership. No replacement service

510-473: The communities of Montebello, Hamilton , and Parkville . The bus route is the successor to the 19 Harford Avenue streetcar line . Route 19 was electrified as a streetcar along Harford Road in 1894. The line terminated in the north in Parkville and did not serve Carney. Service between Parkville and Carney was provided by Bus Route R from 1936 to 1948, and by Bus Route 53 from 1948 to 1956. The no. 19 line started providing service to Carney when it

544-697: The company obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum . In 1936, they bought 13 transit companies in Illinois , Oklahoma and Michigan , then in 1937, they replaced streetcars in Butte, Montana and made purchases in Mississippi and Texas . Sometimes these systems were already run down, but not always. Major investment had recently been made with improvements to

578-462: The current route downtown, then via the route of Route 27 the remainder of the way. These two lines would operate on an alternating basis with coordinated schedules between Northern & Harford and downtown Baltimore. These changes were not implemented, and GBBI was canceled in 2007. But the Joppa Heights and Hickey School branches were later eliminated in 2009, with no other changes to

612-466: The first charge and convicted on the second in 1949. The company has roots back to 1920, when E. Roy Fitzgerald and his brother began operating two buses in Minnesota , transporting miners and schoolchildren. In 1936 the company was organized into a holding company. In 1938, National City Lines wished to purchase transportation systems in cities "where street cars were no longer practicable" and replace them with passenger buses . To fund this expansion

646-441: The growth in popularity of the private automobile during the 20th century, streetcar and bus ridership declined, and the needs for public transportation changed. Mass transit in Baltimore and other cities shifted from a corporate operation to a service funded and run by the government. The amount of service provided was greatly reduced. Some areas once served by streetcars are now served minimally by buses or not at all. The demise of

680-533: The larger metropolitan areas in various parts of the country in 1943 merged with NCL in 1946. By 1947 the company owned or controlled 46 systems in 45 cities in 16 states. In 1947 National City Lines, with others was indicted in the Federal District Court of Southern California on two counts: ' conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation monopolize ' and 'Conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines' in what became known as

714-486: The line to Lexington Market . But a new revised plan was introduced later in 2006 in which the line would be split into two separate lines. One line, which would have retained the no. 19 designation, would have continued to operate from Carney to State Center, with a minor routing change in the downtown area, and would have operated every 30 minutes at most times. The other would have been known as Route 37 , and would have operated from Goucher & Taylor to Cherry Hill via

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748-471: The many sources detailing the cities in which, at one time or another, National City Lines owned or controlled transit companies. A star (*) indicates that NCL is understood to have had significant control but not ownership: Additional information: In Los Angeles the Los Angeles Railway (Yellow Cars) was controlled by NCL but not Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) Montgomery City Lines

782-480: The route. In 1973, a new Route 19A was introduced that also originated at the Carney Park-and-Ride, and operated to Downtown Baltimore via a different route. It was a replacement for a route previously provided by the defunct McMahon Services . The line provided one morning trip between Carney and downtown, and one evening trip from downtown to Carney. It operated to points on Harford Road north of

816-1052: The sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by NCL and other companies; they were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies. The verdicts were upheld on appeal in 1951. The corporations involved were fined $ 5000, their executives $ 1 apiece. There is considerable uncertainty and variability amongst sources as to where National City Lines operated. The 1948 ruling stated that: "Forty-four cities in sixteen states are included. The states are as widely scattered as California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas and Washington. The larger local transportation systems include those of Baltimore, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Oakland. The largest concentrations of smaller systems are in Illinois, with eleven cities; California with nine (excluding Los Angeles); and Michigan with four. The local operating companies were not named as parties defendant." This table attempts to bring together

850-587: The streetcars systems in Beaumont, Texas . The Butte system, while sound, deliberately replaced to lower the load on the overtaxed electric system, which was primarily used for commercial uses, including electrolytic refining of copper and zinc. In 1938 the company entered into exclusive dealing arrangements and obtained equity funding from companies seeking to increase sales of commercial buses and supplies, including General Motors , Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum . The company

884-466: The trucking company Los Angeles-Seattle Motor Express (LASME) in 1959. In 1968, LASME merged with DC International and T.I.M.E. to form T.I.M.E.-DC . National City Lines sold its transportation management division in 1978. National City Lines was later acquired by Harold C. Simmons early in 1981. T.I.M.E.-DC ceased operations in 1988. The company continued as a fully controlled subsidiary of Simmon' Contran operation until December 31, 2007, when it

918-603: Was 5 ft  4 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,638 mm ). This track gauge is now confined to the Baltimore Streetcar Museum . The following bus companies operated many of the services later provided by the Maryland Transit Administration: The Baltimore Transit Company (BTCO) was a privately owned public transit operator that provided streetcar and bus service in Baltimore from 1935. It

952-610: Was absorbed by what is now the Maryland Transit Administration in 1970. The BTC oversaw the elimination of streetcar service in favor of bus service in 1963 when the last streetcar routes, the number 8 providing service from Catonsville to Towson and the number 15 (Overlea to Walbrook Junction) were eliminated on November 3, 1963. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement , the BTCO fired

986-554: Was converted to a bus in 1956. In 1952, it was combined with the no. 31 streetcar , and extended to serve the corridor of Garrison Boulevard in West Baltimore. In 1956, the operation was converted to rubber tire buses. Over the next few decades, the line was expanded. The route was extended along Belvedere Avenue to Sinai Hospital and north to the Carney Park-and-Ride, and branches were formed to Northern Parkway and McLean Boulevard , Walther Avenue , Joppa Heights, and

1020-466: Was dissolved. Walter C. Lindley (January 3, 1951). "UNITED STATES v. NATIONAL CITY LINES, Inc., et al" . United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit . Archived from the original on 2008-06-08 . Retrieved 2009-04-05 . Route 19 (MTA Maryland) Route 54 is a bus route operated by the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore and its suburbs. The route

1054-776: Was formerly known as Route 19 prior to 2017. The line currently runs from the State Center Metro Subway Station to the intersection of Harford Road and Northern Parkway . From there it splits into two branches. About one half of buses continue operating along Harford Road to the Carney Park-and-Ride just north of the I-695 interchange, and the other half to the intersection of Goucher Boulevard and Taylor Avenue in Towson via Northern, McLean Boulevard , Hillsway, and Taylor. The line serves

History of Maryland Transit Administration - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-734: Was indicted in 1947 and was later convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to the local transit companies that they controlled. Over 1938 and 1939 the company made purchases in Alabama , Indiana and Ohio . and by 1939, it owned or controlled 29 local transportation companies in 27 different cities in 10 states. American City Lines, which had been organized to acquire local transportation systems in

1122-541: Was the National City Lines subsidiary that operated the municipal transit system for Montgomery, Alabama . On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a Montgomery City Lines bus. This led to the Montgomery bus boycott . Montgomery City Lines was placed in the middle of a dispute between Montgomery's black citizenry and Montgomery city laws. In a letter published in

1156-640: Was the successor to the old United Railways and Electric Company , formed in 1899 to consolidate and operate Baltimore's streetcar lines. The company was purchased in 1948 by National City Lines and the streetcar system was then run down in favor of buses, a process repeated in many places, which became known as the Great American Streetcar Scandal . The last streetcar ran in 1963. Between 1940–1959, Baltimore Transit also operated trolley buses (or "trackless trolleys") on six lines, including Howard Street and Federal Street. BTCO

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