History
Ride On's former logo, used in the 1970s and 1980s.
Former Ride On logo, used as the primary logo from the mid-1990s until mid-2009. It is still used on some older buses that entered service in the 2000s.
1970s–1990s
Ride On began service on March 31, 1975, as Ride-On.[5] Serving Silver Spring and Takoma Park, two routes were in operation: The Blue and the Green. Within a few weeks it was carrying twice the number of passengers projected: about 2,000 riders per day. The Buses were nineteen passenger Grummans. Starting in 1983, single front door TMC City Cruisers entered service. These buses were part of a joint order with Frederick City Transit, and shared the same paint livery. In the fall of 1984, as the Washington Metro's Red Line extension to Shady Grove was complete, Ride On would see its largest route expansion to date. Numerous routes would be added to accommodate passengers who would utilize the eight new metrorail stations along the western portion of Montgomery County. At that time, Ride On would begin to replace a few WMATA routes that operated in Montgomery County. OBI Orion I 30' foot buses would be introduced that same year to allow for the added service. In 1989, 57 30-foot Gillig Phantom buses, the first buses in the second-generation blue-and-white scheme, went into service. In 1991 and 1992, 45 new Orion I 30' buses - Ride On's last Orion Is - entered service.
In the spring of 1996, Ride On's first CNG buses, the 1996 35 feet Orion V buses, went into service. These buses retired in 2009.
2000s
In 2000, Ride On buses were painted in a special livery to commemorate Ride On's founding's 25th anniversary.[6]
In September 2001, Ride On buses were used to transport Montgomery County firemen to the Pentagon in Virginia to assist in search and rescue operations after the attacks which were on September 11, 2001.[7][8]
In 2001, the 2001 35 feet Orion V Diesel buses (5580-5591 and 5612–5623) went into service.
In 2002, the 2002 35 feet Orion V Diesel buses (5592-5611) went into service. These were the last high floor buses, until the RideOn Flex buses.
In early 2004, Ride On's first low-floor buses, the 2003/2004 35 feet Orion VII CNG buses (5900–5932) went into service. They replaced all of the remaining 1989 30 feet Gillig Phantom buses (which were also Ride On's last buses without wheelchair lifts), therefore resulting in an all-accessible fleet.
In 2005, 15 New Flyer C40LF buses (5822-5836) went into service.
In 2006, Ride On started accepting SmarTrip cards. All of the ride on buses would be equipped with GFi GENFARE by August 2006.
Also, in 2006, the 2005 35 feet Orion VII CNG buses went into service (5933-5957). Additionally, Ride On's first five hybrid-electric buses, the 2006 40 feet Gillig Low Floor aka Gillig Advantage buses (5300-5304, formerly 5750–5754), went into service.
In 2007, 8 Gillig Advantage Hybrid 40 feet buses (5305-5313, formerly 5755–5763) went into service. Also, in 2007, an order of Champion cutaway buses (5182–5231 and 5285–5296) went into service. All of these buses had fire damage and they all were retired 5 years later, on July 18, 2012.
Between summer and fall 2008, Ride On's first low floor diesel buses, the 2008 29 feet Gillig Advantage buses (5001-5006) and the 2008 40 feet Gillig Advantage buses (5726–5746) went into service. All of these buses were the last buses in the second-generation blue-and-white paint scheme.
In 2009, Ride On introduced a new logo and a blue/yellow/green paint scheme. Also, in 2009, the Gillig Advantage 29 feet diesel buses (5007-5031), the 40 feet Gillig Advantage diesel buses (5747-5757), and the 40 feet Gillig Advantage Hybrid buses (5314-5348) went into service.
2010s
On autumn 2011, 12 of the Ride On's 40-foot Gillig Low Floor hybrid buses (5349–5360) and one clean diesel bus (5758) went into service. All 13 of these buses were purchased with funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Seven additional 40' Gillig Low Floor hybrid buses (5361–5367), which were also purchased with stimulus funds from the ARRA, went into service in mid-2012.
In 2011, the 2008 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (5726-5746) and the first 3 2009 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (5747-5749) all transferred to the Gaithersburg bus depot.
The rest of the 2009 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (5750-5757) transferred to the Gaithersburg bus depot in the fall of 2011.
In July 2012, Ride On retired all 62 of its 2007 Champion cutaway buses due to fires and replaced them with 30 1999 30-foot Orion V buses (renumbered 5100–5129). All 30 of these units were formerly operated by Washington's WMATA.
On September 19, 2013, 12 new 40-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5759–5770) went into service. A week later (September 26, 2013), 28 new 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5032–5059) also went into service. Also, the 2013 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses replaced all of the 2003 model shuttle transit vehicles (STV) that were formerly operated by Pittsburgh's Port Authority of Allegheny County.
In April 2014, 19 of the brand-new 2014 40-foot Gillig Low Floor CNG buses (5837–5855) entered service. These replaced Ride On's first 40 ft CNGS (5803-5821). They are Ride On's first new CNG buses in almost a decade (2005 35' Orion VII CNG buses, which went into service in 2006).
Between September and October 2014, 32 of the new 29-foot Gillig Low Floor clean diesel buses (5060–5091) went into service, and replaced all of the 1998 30-foot Orion V buses (5100-5129) that were formerly operated by WMATA.
Ride On celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015, with 3 buses (1 from each of the 3 bus divisions) wrapped in the transit agency's 40th anniversary ad.
On the year 2016, between April and May, 40 of the new 40 ft Gillig LF clean diesel buses (44000D-44039D), 1 bus which is 29 ft Gillig LF clean diesel (42000D) and 16 of the 40 ft Gillig LF CNG buses (44040c-44055c) entered service. And with the new buses came the new five-digit numbering system for Ride On, along with the addition of suffixes denoting engines with a ("C" for compressed natural gas, "D" for diesel, "E" for electric and "H" for hybrid).
Ride On extRa, a new limited-stop bus service along Maryland Route 355, began on October 2, 2017, between Lakeforest Transit Center and Medical Center Metro Station. As of September 17, 2018[update], the route serves 13 stops. Ride On added 59 Gillig 40-foot buses in summer and the fall 2017; 42 buses replaced some of the oldest vehicles in the fleet. Seventeen buses (4056D-4072D) are specially branded and used exclusively for Ride On's new extRa service that began October 2, 2017. This limited-stop service runs along Route 355 from Lakeforest Transit Center to Medical Center Metro Station. All of the 59 buses are manufactured by Gillig; 25 run on clean diesel (4056D-4080D) and 34 use compressed natural gas (4081C-4114C).[9] Four additional 40-foot CNG buses (4115C-4118C) entered service in the winter of 2018.
Ride On was award a $1.75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to purchase the county's first four electric buses and charging stations. Ride On is partnering with Proterra, the bus manufacturer, and the Center for Transportation and the Environment, a nonprofit that develops technologies and implements solutions to achieve energy and environmental sustainability. The Montgomery County Department of General Services, which purchases and maintains the Ride On buses, greatly assisted with the grant application. The four Proterra Catalyst 35 ft electric buses are scheduled to serve Route 18 in Takoma Park starting in 2019. The county has applied for a separate grant to help buy 10 more electric buses through FTA's Bus and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program. The county expects to hear back around the end of the year if its application was approved.[10][11]
MCDOT Ride On received a $4.365 million grant from the FTA to replace diesel buses with 10 new, electric buses on October 1, 2018.[12]
Ride On added 26 Gillig 40-foot buses in spring 2019; replacing all the remaining Orion VII's. These buses introduced a brand new paint scheme with a wave pattern and are painted blue, dark blue, light green, and a touch of white.[13] 23 use compressed natural gas (4119C-4141C) and 3 run on clean diesel (4142D-4144D).
On April 28, 2019, Ride On announced Ride On Flex, an on-demand bus service that runs in three major metropolitan areas in the county using new, 11-passenger cutaway buses (1000D-1006D).
2020s
MCDOT has a climate action plan to move to zero-emissions fleet by 2035. On September 4, 2020, Ride On's first four fully-electric buses (43000E-43003E) entered service on the routes 18 and 25 in Silver Spring and Takoma Park. They are manufactured by Proterra and can run on a single charge all day long. That same year, 39 of the 29 feet buses (42001D-42039D) and 9 of the 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (44145D-44153D) entered service. These replaced the 2008/2009 29 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses, and the 2006/2007 Gillig Advantage Hybrid buses.[14]
On October 14, 2020, Ride On launched its brand new BRT Flash service on US 29. The orange route operates between Silver Spring and Briggs Chaney every 15 minutes daily while the blue route operates between Silver Spring and Burtonsville every 15 minutes only during peak hours (5:30AM to 8:30 AM and 3:30PM to 7:00 PM) Monday-Friday. Ride On's very first articulated (62 feet) buses (46000D-46015D) operate on the Flash service, which replaced route 129.
In 2022, all of the ride on buses changed their announcement narrator, getting a new announcement narrator to replace the old narrator. The new narrator says all of the bus stop names 2 times.
On Friday, September 30, 2022, all of the 2008 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (5726-5746) retired. This led to the Gaithersburg bus depot getting 9 of the 2013 40 feet diesel buses (5762-5770) from Silver Spring Garage in December 2022 to replace the 2008 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses.
In March 2023, Ride On's first Gillig Plus Battery Electric buses (44154E-44163E) entered service. 44158E entered service on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
In July/August 2023, Ride On brought back 3 of the 2008 40 feet Gillig Advantage Diesel buses (5737, 5744, and 5746) to operate for the FLASH BRT service.
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