Montgomery County in Maryland has announced plans to extend the U.S. 29 Flash bus rapid transit (BRT) service into neighboring Howard County by 2026. The project will build on Montgomery County’s existing Flash BRT corridor, expanding it northward to include four new proposed stops within Howard County.
Upon completion, this extension will mark the inaugural BRT service for Howard County, offering high-frequency transit connections to major employment and activity centers across both counties. The expanded service is intended to enhance regional accessibility and to provide crucial connections to Metrorail, MARC Train, and the Maryland Transit Administration’s future Purple Line. The current U.S. 29 Flash service operates between downtown Silver Spring and Briggs Chaney, with weekday rush-hour service extending to Burtonsville. The planned project will add four additional bus stops at the northern end of the route in Howard County, providing Flash BRT service to these locations during weekday rush hours.
Through this collaborative effort, the existing U.S. 29 Flash route between Silver Spring and Burtonsville will be extended to include new stations in Maple Lawn, downtown Columbia, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Construction of these new bus stations in Howard County is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2025, with completion expected by the summer of 2026. Montgomery County is also preparing to receive four additional 40-foot Flash buses in the summer of 2026 to support the expanded service.
The U.S. 29 corridor is the first of a planned total of eight Flash BRT routes in Montgomery County. A second corridor along Veirs Mill Road, from Rockville Pike to downtown Wheaton, is expected to begin construction in 2026. Flash BRT corridors feature upgraded stations with raised boarding platforms, real-time information displays, lighting, seating, bike racks, and enhanced pedestrian infrastructure. Montgomery County has noted that this Flash BRT extension has been recognized as a regional transportation priority at the federal level, with Maryland’s congressional delegation securing $4.1 million in federal funding to support the project in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, including $3.35 million in congressionally directed spending awarded to Montgomery County for the purchase of new Flash buses and $750,000 in 2023 for Howard County for the design and construction of new BRT stations. Howard County has also committed approximately $3 million in local funding to support station construction and the acquisition of BRT vehicles.