Shuttle Service from Odenton Station to Fort Meade Now Operational

By Alan J. McCombs, Soundoff! staff writer
This article originally appeared in Soundoff! — Fort Meade's Installation Newspaper — Feb. 19, 2009.

After months of work on the details, the Fort Meade garrison launched a shuttle service for employees and post residents that runs between the Odenton MARC Station and the post on Feb. 17.

The shuttle — operated by the National Security Agency (NSA) — will transport any passenger with valid DoD identification or a Fort Meade visitor pass from the station to the post. The shuttle will also pick up garrison employees bound for the station.

There is no charge for the shuttle service.

The new travel option builds off an existing service of the NSA, which has been running a shuttle between the MARC station and its own Visitor Control Center along Route 32 and Canine Road since 2005, said Jerry Stitely, an NSA transportation specialist.

"As the installation grows, leveraging mass transit is crucial for an efficient community and protecting the environment," said Army COL Daniel L. Thomas, Fort Meade’s installation commander. "And the fact that NSA is generously sharing their service with everyone demonstrates their care of the entire Fort Meade community."

Under the new plan, a 28-seat NSA shuttle will operate Monday through Friday.

The shuttle will make seven departures from the MARC station to Fort Meade beginning at 5:52 a.m. and will begin return trips to the station at 3:25 p.m. The shuttle will make stops at the Post Theater, Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, and at the intersection of Ernie Pyle Street and Mapes Road.

Service, however, will operate on the NSA schedule. The shuttle will not run on federal holidays or when the agency is closed, Stitely said.

The shuttle service is technically a pilot program, but there is no set timeline for how long it will run, Stitely said.

"There isn't an end date yet, and I doubt there will be if it is successful," he said.

With the installation's roads facing nearly $50 million in repairs and upgrades, according to a recently completed traffic analysis, this mass transit option could help reduce traffic on post.

Opening the NSA shuttle service to a wider post public is the result of discussions tracing back to April 2008. Multiple organizations, both public and private, have explored the feasibility of running a shuttle service between the post and local mass-transit hubs. The installation's own effort to use a government vehicle for shuttle service was set aside, as it could not service as many trains as the NSA shuttle, said Mick Butler, director of the post's Environmental Division.

"[Providing a shuttle service] has been a priority because we must continue to grow and improve our transportation infrastructure and methods of service to the community," Thomas said.