Flash BRT

Flash BRT
Overview
Owner	Ride On
Locale	Montgomery County, Maryland
Transit type	Bus rapid transit
Number of lines	1 operational and 7 under development
Number of stations	12 (operational) ~45 (overall)
Headquarters	Rockville, Maryland
Website	http://www.ridetheflash.com
Operation
Began operation	October 14, 2020 (U.S. 29 only)
Operator(s)	Ride On
Number of vehicles	19
Technical
System length	14 mi (23 km) on U.S. 29 [1]
System map Flash BRT Legend US 29 Silver Spring Fenton Street Four Corners Burnt Mills Oak Leaf Drive FDA White Oak Transit Center April Lane Tech Road Castle Boulevard Briggs Chaney Park and Ride Burtonsville Park and Ride All stations are accessible. MD 586 Wheaton University Boulevard Norris Drive Connecticut Avenue Randolph Road Robindale Drive Aspen Hill Road Twinbrook Parkway Atlantic Avenue Edmonston Drive Rockville Montgomery College's Rockville campus MD 355 Bethesda MD 355 at Woodmont Avenue Medical Center Grosvenor-Strathmore North Bethesda Twinbrook Rockville MD 355 at Mannakee Street Shady Grove Gaithersburg Lakeforest Mall Transit Center MD 355 at Middlebrook Road MD 355 at Germantown Road MD 355 at Ridge Road Clarksburg Outlets This diagram: view talk edit

Flash is a bus rapid transit network in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, with one corridor in operation and seven future corridors under development ^[2] . It is part of Montgomery County's Ride On bus system.

Corridors

Existing and planned corridors

U.S. 29 corridor

In the corridor which is currently in operation, the Flash BRT service has two routes designated as Blue and Orange running along U.S. 29, both beginning at the Silver Spring Metro station and extending northeast. Route Blue has six total bus stops, ending at Burtonsville Park and Ride (route is planned to have nine total bus stops and end at the mall at Columbia Transit Center ^[3] ). Route Orange has eleven total bus stops, ending at Briggs Chaney Park and Ride.

The two routes (Blue and Orange) started on October 14, 2020, replacing Ride On route 129 and Metrobus route Z11 ^[4] . All the buses go along the shoulder of U.S. 29 along the northern end of the route, with the remainder of the service using mixed-traffic roadways. The buses receive signal priority at some intersections ^[1] .

Howard County has studied the possibility of extending the Flash Blue line on the U.S. 29 corridor from Burtonsville Park and Ride to the mall at Columbia Transit Center through Maryland Route 99 in Ellicott City ^{[3] [5]} .

Stations serving the U.S. 29 corridor

Station name	Location	Connections	Facilities
Silver Spring	Bus Bay 229 8400 Colesville Road Silver Spring, MD 20910	Washington Metro Red Line MARC Train : Brunswick Line Purple Line (future) Metrobus: 70, 79, F4, J1, J2, J4, Q1, Q2, Q4, S2, S9, Y2, Y7, Y8, Z2, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z11 Ride On: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28 MTA Maryland Bus: 915, 929 Shuttle-UM: 111 Peter Pan Bus	Transit center (existing) Capital Bikeshare
Fenton Street	Colesville Road & Fenton Street Silver Spring, MD 20910	Metrobus : F4, Z2, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z11 Ride On : 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 28 MTA Maryland Bus : 305, 315, 325	Capital Bikeshare
Four Corners	Northbound: Colesville Road & Lanark Way Southbound: Colesville Road & University Boulevard Silver Spring, MD 20901	Metrobus : C2, C4, Z2, Z6, Z8 Ride On : 9, 19, 21
Burnt Mills	Burnt Mills Shopping Center Silver Spring, MD 20901	Metrobus : Z2, Z6, Z8, Z11 Ride On : 21, 22	Capital Bikeshare
Oak Leaf Drive	Northbound: Lockwood Drive & Northwest Drive Southbound: Lockwood Drive & Oak Leaf Drive Silver Spring, MD 20901	Metrobus : Z2, Z6, Z8	Capital Bikeshare
FDA	Northwest Loop Road White Oak, MD 20903	Metrobus : C8, K9 MTA Maryland Bus : 203, 204
White Oak Transit Center	Lockwood Drive north of New Hampshire Avenue White Oak, MD 20904	Metrobus : C8, K6, Z6, Z8 Ride On : 10	Capital Bikeshare
April Lane	Stewart Lane & April Lane White Oak, MD 20904	Metrobus : Z6, Z8 Ride On : 10	Capital Bikeshare
Tech Road	Columbia Pike & Tech Road Silver Spring, MD 20904	Metrobus : Z6, Z7, Z8 Ride On : 10	130 parking spaces
Castle Boulevard	Castle Boulevard & Castle Ridge Circle Silver Spring, MD 20904	Metrobus : Z6, Z8, Z11	Capital Bikeshare
Briggs Chaney	Gateshed Manor Way & Briggs Chaney Road Silver Spring, MD 20904	Metrobus : Z6, Z8, Z11 Ride On : 21, 39	Capital Bikeshare 240 parking spaces Public restrooms
Burtonsville	National Drive & US 29 Burtonsville, MD 20866	Metrobus : Z6, Z7, Z11 MTA Maryland Bus : 201, 202, 203, 305, 315	Bus loop/drop off 500 parking spaces

Veirs Mill Road (MD 586) corridor

Scheduled to open circa 2028, the Veirs Mill Road (MD 586) corridor is planned to run along Veirs Mill Road between Wheaton and Rockville Metrorail stations. The initial plan includes 11 stations, with a possible future extension to Montgomery College's Rockville campus ^{[3] [6]} . This corridor will use hydrogen cell buses.

MD 355 corridor

Scheduled to open circa 2029, the MD 355 corridor is planned to begin at Friendship Heights Metrorail station and run northwest along Maryland Route 355 through Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown and end at Clarksburg Outlets ^{[3] [7] [8]} .

North Bethesda Metrorail station corridor

This proposed route would run from North Bethesda Metrorail station to Montgomery Mall. Early planning work is under way as of 2025 but an opening date has not been announced yet ^{[3] [9]} .

New Hampshire Avenue corridor

This proposed route would run along New Hampshire Avenue between Fort Totten Metrorail station and Colesville Park and Ride. Early planning work is under way as of 2025 but an opening date has not been announced yet ^{[3] [10]} .

Randolph Road corridor

This proposed route would run along Randolph Road between North Bethesda Metrorail station and Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center. Early planning work is under way as of 2025 but an opening date has not been announced yet ^[3] .

Georgia Avenue corridor

This proposed route would run along Georgia Avenue between MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, formerly Montgomery General Hospital, and Montgomery College's Silver Spring/Takoma Park campus. Early planning work is under way as of 2025 but an opening date has not been announced yet ^[3] .

University Boulevard (MD 193) corridor

This proposed route would run along University Boulevard between Wheaton Metrorail station and Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center. Early planning work is under way as of 2025 but an opening date has not been announced yet ^[3] .

Buses

Gillig LF40 diesel bus

Nova Bus LFS articulated bus

The Montgomery Country Department of Transportation purchased 16 Nova Bus LFS articulated buses (46000D-46015D) for the U.S. 29 line, which are based out of the Gaithersburg garage. These buses can fit up to 80 passengers and feature level boarding, onboard bike racks, and an automatic wheelchair securement system ^[11] . The buses are also equipped with a pedestrian sensor, which alerts the driver when people are passing in front of the bus. Each bus has a free Wi-Fi hotspot and USB-A charging ports. Passengers can board or exit the buses through any of their three doors.

Flash also uses 3 of the 2008 40-foot (12 m) Gillig Low Floor diesel buses (5737, 5744, and 5746) that are branded in the FLASH scheme.

Currently, all the dedicated Flash buses in the Ride On fleet run on clean diesel, but other fuel options are being considered. In April 2024, MCDOT published their Zero Emissions Bus Transition Plan, to replace all buses in the Ride On fleet with zero emissions buses by 2035 ^[12] . As part of this plan, Ride On is planning to utilize hydrogen cell buses for the Flash service along the Veirs Mill Road (MD 586) corridor ^[13] , which is scheduled to enter service in 2028 ^[14] .

Stations

Four corners station

There are approximately 45 stations proposed across the entire future network, with 12 stations currently operating on the US 29 routes. Each station includes a canopy, a seating area, and a fare payment machine that accepts SmarTrip cards along with traditional forms of payment, a passenger information system that displays when the next bus is coming, and a blue pylon mounted above the canopy that flashes when a bus is about to arrive ^[15] .

References

1. Pascale, Jordan (October 13, 2020). "Montgomery County Launches A New Rapid Bus Service This Week". WAMU 88.5. Washington, DC.
2. "Ride the Flash - MCDOT Montgomery County, MD". www.montgomerycountymd.gov. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
3. "Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Map". Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
4. Lazo, Luz. "The D.C. region's most ambitious try at bus rapid transit is coming to Montgomery County". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
5. "Info". /www.howardcountymd.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
6. "FLASH on Veirs Mill". Ride the FLASH. August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
7. "MD355 FlasH BRT". MD 355 Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). February 25, 2025. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
8. "Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Map". Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
9. "North Bethesda Transitway". Ride the FLASH. February 25, 2025. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
10. "New Hampshire Ave BRT planning". New Hampshire Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). February 25, 2025. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
11. Diegel, Mike (October 15, 2020). "County DOT Launches Flash Bus Rapid Transit Service". Source of the Spring. Silver Spring, MD. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
12. MCDOT & DGS. (2024). Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan. Montgomery County, MD. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT/Resources/Files/ZEBTransitionPlan_textAlternative.pdf
13. Tucker, Tommy (April 16, 2024). "County Encourages Use of Public Transportation and Commits to Zero-Emissions". Montgomery Community Media. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
14. Sicherman, Sarah (April 8, 2025). "New Viers Mill Bus Route May Change Your Commute". Berman Hebrew Academy. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
15. "Flash BRT - EBA Engineering". October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.