Baltimore National Heritage Area Preliminary Transit Analysis and Partner Engagement - Baltimore, MD

U.S. DOT Volpe Center

Total Project Budget: $65,000 (~480 Volpe staff hours between five employees plus travel for one site visit)
Project Timeline: September 2023 – July 2024
Project Partners: National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways, U.S. DOT Volpe Center, Baltimore National Heritage Area
Project Deliverables: (BNHA_Preliminary Transit Feasibility Analysis); and 2) Preliminary Transit Analysis Report and Presentation (BNHA Transit Feasibility Report Final Presentation).

Project Request and Purpose

National Park Service (NPS) Chesapeake Gateways (CHBA) partnered with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Volpe Center (Volpe) to conduct a preliminary transit feasibility analysis and partner engagement for the possible implementation of a transit shuttle service connecting the natural, cultural, and historical points of interest within the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA), the communities that host them, and other sites of interest in the City of Baltimore, Maryland to support BNHA.

Project Purpose: To assist BNHA to better understand the need and next steps for improving transit service to BNHA sites in order to increase visitation and equitable access to the Heritage Area sites. The project provided BNHA with information to support and inform future decision-making and next steps for partnering to implement a proposed service. The service route options provided within the report are based on existing public transit services, historic visitation patterns (as available), a possible dedicated BNHA shuttle service, anticipated implementation requirements, and other administrative and operational factors.

U.S. DOT Volpe Center

Project Background

The BNHA comprises historic structures, landscapes, cultural traditions, parks, museums, and other resources that collectively convey the unique heritage of the City of Baltimore. BNHA’s mission is to promote, preserve, and enhance Baltimore’s cultural and historic legacy and natural resources for current and future generations. BNHA staff express a need to increase visitation and equitable access to Heritage Area sites through improved transit between sites. A dedicated transit service route is envisioned as one way to connect the BNHA sites, while also providing unique visitor experience that gives visitors and residents a cohesive story about Baltimore’s heritage.

The project investigated scenarios for improving transit service to BNHA sites, either through a new partner-operated service or through enhanced collaboration with the City of Baltimore on the existing Charm City Circulator, which is the City’s public transportation service that currently provides connectivity to many of the BNHA sites. However, BNHA staff indicate that current service connections do not connect visitors to these sites in an intentional and sufficient way. For example, there are gaps in service connections to some sites, and schedule and operating conditions are not tailored to Heritage Area visitor needs.

This study was informed by the 2019 Baltimore Heritage Bus Tour Business Plan (the business plan), developed by the John Hopkins Carey Business School for BHNA. The business plan addressed a concept for a Baltimore Heritage Bus Tour (BHBT) to provide transportation to key historical tourist destinations, conducted a market analysis and financial projection, as well as identified and outlined key functions of the transit system to include organization and management, marketing/sales, service/product, funding, and next steps. The business plan envisioned the BHBT as a “hop-on, hop-off" tour circulator through key historical areas within the city.

U.S. DOT Volpe Center

Project Activities

The project team conducted a preliminary transit feasibility analysis and partner engagement for the implementation of a dedicated transit shuttle service or augmentation of current transit routes to connect the points of interest and communities within the BNHA and other sites of interest in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, which included:

• Field investigations of the City of Baltimore, specifically the BNHA and partner sites of interest, to evaluate existing conditions of its existing transportation network, conduct on-the-ground observations, and receive input from partners in the BNHA and the City of Baltimore.

• Partner engagement and coordination with the City of Baltimore and Heritage Area sites to better understand needs and opportunities for the transit service at individual sites.

• Peer research for three peer shuttle systems – the D.C. Circulator, the Discover Niagara Shuttle, and the City of Havre de Grace, MD’s “The Tide” Trolley – to better understand the operations of similar transit systems in other regions and developing three case studies documenting similar example transit services.

• Collection of visitation and existing public transit service data with the assistance of partners and gathered and reviewed other sources of information (i.e., prior studies) to inform the preliminary feasibility analysis.

• Evaluation of three possible operating scenarios for a transit service route to serve BNHA based on input gathered from on-the-ground observations, the City’s existing public transportation services/routes, and conversations with BNHA, NPS, and project partners.

The following key observations of existing transit services providing both water-based and land-based access were identified during the field investigations:

• Downtown and Harbor Area sites are well served by existing transit services like the Baltimore Water Taxi, which provides access to many BNHA points of interest such as the National Aquarium, the World Trade Center, and many BNHA sites in Fell’s Point, and the Charm City Circulator, which provides access to many centrally located downtown sites within the BNHA as well as direct access to the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine via the Banner Route.[1]

• Other BNHA sites, specifically in the northeast area surrounding Clifton Park and the northwest / west areas surrounding Gwynns Falls / Leakin Park do not have a direct, accessible transit stop connection (i.e., citywide across the existing public transportation options, available transit service does not cover 100 percent of the BNHA sites / points of interest).

• There may be a lack of public awareness of public transportation options available to BNHA sites. Given this, tourists may not be utilizing the existing bus services within the city, but rather relying on personal vehicles, transportation network companies such as Uber or Lyft, and taxis instead.

• The Charm City Circulator has significantly less ridership than the MTA service, which may be due to a recent history of inconsistency in management and widely public financial instability.

Project Outcomes

The project provided BNHA with further information, such as proposed shuttle route scenarios demonstrating how transit service might be integrated into a managed access program for BNHA, to support and inform future decision-making and next steps for partnering to implement the proposed service.

The report recommended that BNHA coordinate with the City of Baltimore Charm City Circulator to identify whether the existing service could accommodate a BNHA route that serves the needs of BNHA and visitors. If the Charm City Circulator is not a suitable option for implementing the service, BNHA could solicit a Request for Information (RFI) to identify a partner to own and operate the service. Once a partner is identified, BNHA and its partner will need to undertake a more detailed transit feasibility study to consider the specific requirements of the owner/operator and other factors.

The study identified several initiatives BNHA could start in the interim to include:

• Collect data to better evaluate the proposed transit scenarios and next steps for the BNHA. Visitation data could provide insight into the travel needs of visitors across time of year, day of week, and time of day and could include both quantitative data as well as a qualitative visitor survey (i.e., how visitors access sites and transportation challenges to reaching destinations). More detailed visitation data would also provide insight into which sites might benefit from improved transportation service and targeted outreach. Importantly, visitation data would allow the BNHA to project potential ridership which could be used to inform financial analysis and partner engagement.

• Conduct a financial analysis to inform partner discussions and further evaluate feasibility. A financial analysis will be essential for potential funding partners and will help the BNHA weigh the most cost-effective strategies to improve transportation access in the Heritage Area. Market data and input from community partners will develop the evaluation criteria necessary to establish financially based alternatives.

• Coordinate with existing transit providers in the region (e.g., Baltimore City Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Transportation) to understand existing transit services and opportunities for connections. This may include improved signage and wayfinding to direct visitors to sites and indicate which transportation services provide access to key destinations. Additionally, the BNHA could explore the inclusion of transit information in its marketing materials.

• Pilot a shuttle route, in partnership with Heritage Area sites, to help gather data to refine service details and inform full implementation.

• Develop a request for information (RFI) to gauge whether private or public transit service operators are interested in providing the pilot service. Such an RFI could ask respondents which type of vehicle they would operate, the number of vehicles they have or would need to purchase, and the fee structure (daily flat rate, per service mile or hour). The RFI responses could help BNHA and its partners further define service details and potential operating costs. The RFI responses may also help BNHA to determine whether the service would qualify for grants from the State, Federal agencies, or other organizations.

---

[1] Maps illustrating existing multimodal public transportation services within BNHA boundaries that further illuminate the context for a possible future shuttle service are included in the Multimodal Access Section of the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) Preliminary Transit Analysis and Partner Engagement Report (Figures 4 – 13, pgs. 9 – 24).

• 

  Baltimore National Heritage Area

  Contact: Shauntee Daniels, Executive Director, [e-mail]

• 

  NPS Chesapeake Gateways

  Contact: Wendy O'Sullivan, NPS CHBA Superintendent, wendy_o'[e-mail]

• 

  U.S. DOT Volpe Center

  Contact: Emily Maciejak, NPS CHBA Portfolio Manager, [e-mail]