Ocean City Transportation is a public transit agency serving the beach town of Ocean City in Worcester County, Maryland in the United States. The agency is a division of the town's Public Works Department. Ocean City Transportation offers bus service branded as Beach Bus and paratransit service called ADA Para Transit.
Services Beach Bus
Ocean City Transportation operates two regular bus routes serving Ocean City, the Coastal Highway Beach Bus and the West Ocean City Park-N-Ride Beach Bus, along with the Express Beach Bus for special events. The Coastal Highway Beach Bus runs the entire length of the city 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a year-round basis. The bus begins at the South Division Street Transit Center near the Ocean City Inlet and follows Baltimore Avenue northbound and Philadelphia Avenue southbound through downtown Ocean City to 15th Street. From here, the Beach Bus follows Philadelphia Avenue north to 33rd Street and continues north along Coastal Highway to 145th Street near the Delaware border, reaching its northern terminus at the 144th Street Transit Center. During the summer season, the city hires additional operators for the highest periods of ridership. These seasonal bus drivers are frequently retirees from other transit authorities as well as school bus drivers across the state of Maryland who are off during the summer season while schools are not in session.
The West Ocean City Park-N-Ride Beach Bus provides a park and ride service into Ocean City from the West Ocean City Park and Ride. Patrons can park their cars at the Park and Ride's lot in West Ocean City off U.S. Route 50 and take the bus into the city to connect with the Coastal Highway Beach Bus at the South Division Street Transit Center. This service also serves the Outlets Ocean City in West Ocean City. The West Ocean City Park-N-Ride Beach Bus operates in May for the Springfest and OC Cruisin' weekends, daily between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend, and in September for the Bikefest and Sunfest weekends. Service runs from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m, with service ending at 10 p.m. on the Sunday of the Springfest OC Cruisin', Bikefest, and Sunfest weekends.
The Express Beach Bus provides service for special events during the summer, providing service to events from remote parking areas. During the Springfest weekend in May, service is provided from Roland E. Powell Convention Center parking lot to the Springfest Fair grounds. For the OC Airshow in June, buses operate from the West Ocean City Park and Ride to 17th Street and Baltimore Avenue. During the White Marlin Open in August, service is provided from Roland E. Powell Convention Center parking lot to Jacqueline Avenue and 14th Street. For the Sunfest weekend in September, buses operate from the Roland E. Powell Convention Center to the Sunfest Fair grounds.
Ocean City Transportation buses offer connections to Shore Transit buses to lower Eastern Shore points at the West Ocean City Park and Ride in the summer and the South Division Street Transit Center in the offseason. Between May and September, DART First State's Beach Bus Route 208 bus connects the Coastal Highway Beach Bus at the 144th Street Transit Center with the Delaware Beaches.
ADA Para Transit Ocean City Transportation offers paratransit service called ADA Para Transit, which provides door-to-door service for disabled residents and visitors. Paratransit service is available during the same hours the Coastal Highway Beach Bus operates through advance reservations. MEDTRN service is offered on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to Ocean City residents to provide round-trip service to and from medical appointments in Salisbury, Pocomoke City, Cambridge, Baltimore, and Philadelphia by way of Shore Transit.
Fleet The Ocean City Transportation bus fleet consists mainly of ElDorado National buses, as well as a handful of New Flyer buses. They also formerly operated Thomas Built Buses CL960 model and the TL960 model, both in lengths, Blue Bird Xcel 102s in a length, and ElDorado National XHF buses in a length. In past years, Ocean City received somewhere about 10-17 articulated buses that were retired by MTA Maryland, which were built by North American Bus Industries in 1995-96. The buses were frequently borrowed every summer to maintain the increase in ridership and crowding of their current 40-foot vehicles.
ImageBuilder andmodel nameModel yearLengthNumbers(Total)Amount in serviceEnergy sourceEngine/Transmission Notes ElDorado NationalAxess 2011-2013 2109–2135(27 buses) 27 Diesel Cummins ISL9 Allison B400R 2109–2122 are 2011 models. 2123–2126 are 2012 models. 2127–2135 are 2013 models. New FlyerXcelsior XD60 2016 2136–2137(2 buses) 2 Cummins ISL9 Allison B500R ENCAxess 2018 2138–2141, 2147–2153(11 buses) 11 Cummins L9 Allison B400R New FlyerDE60LFR 2008 2159–2161,2165-2166(5 buses) 5 Diesel-electric hybrid Cummins ISL Allison EP-50 Hybrid system Ex. MTA Maryland buses, acquired in 2021 due to overcrowding on the Coastal Highway route. 2159 is Ex. 08027 2160 is Ex. 08001 2161 is Ex. 08030 2165 is Ex. 08008 2166 is Ex. 08013 New FlyerXcelsior XD60 2022 2162–2164(3 buses) 3 Diesel Cummins L9 Allison B500R 2024 2157–2158 2167-2168(4 buses) 4 Retired fleet Year Builder and model name Numbers Year Retired Picture Engine/Transmission Notes 1995 ThomasCL960 200 Caterpillar 3116To our knowledge this was the first "Beach Express" in Ocean City. In retirement, first used as Kiwanis Club field trip bus (Tattnall County, GA). Current Owners- Christopher Griffis and Courtney Morris purchased and converted the bus into an RV named "EXPRESS YOURSELF" located in Florida. (Accurate as of 4/10/2023) 2003 Motor Coach IndustriesD4500 200 2018 Detroit Diesel Series 60 Allison B500R 1997-2001 ThomasCL960 205–228, 233–235 2011-2016Caterpillar 3126 Allison B400R 2002-2003 ThomasTL960 239–242, 247–250 2016-2017 2005 ElDorado NationalTransmark RE 35 260–267 2020 Cummins ISL Allison B300R 2007 Blue Bird CorporationXcel102 2101–2108 2019 Cummins ISC Allison B400R
References
External links
Official website