Ride On, formerly Ride-On, is a local bus transportation system in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Managed by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Ride On primarily serves Montgomery County, with short segments of service crossing borders into Prince George's County and Washington, D.C. It is a separate entity from WMATA, which also provides a bus service in Montgomery County, along with a rail service. Ride On operates on 82 routes throughout Montgomery County.
In fiscal year 2018, it operated with a US$112.3 million budget. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of , making it one of the most heavily ridden suburban bus systems in the United States.
History
1970s–1990s Ride On began service on March 31, 1975, as Ride-On, in response to WMATA asking Montgomery County to pay for the operation of Metro Bus routes within the county. Serving Silver Spring and Takoma Park, two routes were in operation with 20 buses: the Blue and the Green. Within a few weeks, Ride-On was carrying twice the number of passengers projected: about 2,000 riders per day. Ride-On was the first major local bus operator to emerge in the DC Region following the formation of Metro Bus in 1973.
In the fall of 1984, as the Washington Metro's Red Line extension to Shady Grove station was complete, Ride On saw its largest route expansion to date. Numerous routes were added to accommodate passengers who would utilize the eight new Metrorail stations along the western portion of Montgomery County.
2000s On September 11, 2001, Ride On buses were used to transport Montgomery County firefighters to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia to assist in search and rescue operations following the terrorist attacks that occurred on that day.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
In 2006, Ride On began accepting SmarTrip cards and in August of that year, all the Ride On buses started to be equipped with compatible fareboxes.
2010s On May 20, 2011, a Ride On bus crashed into a KFC restaurant in Glenmont around 7:30 AM. Authorities believed the driver passed out while making a left turn onto Georgia Avenue and lost control of the bus due to having a heart attack. There were three passengers on the bus; the driver and one of the passengers were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The only occupant in the building of the crash was not injured. While the damage to the building was considered minor, an inspector deemed it unsafe, and the restaurant never reopened afterward.
In 2017, Ride On extRa route 101, a new Peak-Hour limited stop service, was launched with service between Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg and Medical Center Metro in Bethesda. The route provided a more frequent alternative to existing routes in the corridor, with limited stops and running every 10–15 minutes.
In October 2018, Ride On received a $4.365 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to replace diesel buses with 10 new battery electric buses. The first buses were built in 2019 and entered service in 2020.
2020s In March 2020, Ride On significantly altered bus service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many routes were suspended with other routes having significantly reduced service. Fare collection was also suspended until July 2022.
On October 14, 2020, Ride On's bus rapid transit service, FLASH, debuted along US 29 between Briggs Chaney and Silver Spring, with peak hour service continuing to Burtonsville. FLASH was the second BRT system to be launched in the DC region, after WMATA's Metroway in Virginia.
In July 2023, Ride On launched their official mobile app, Ride On trip planner, created in partnership with Moovit. The app provides trip planning tools and real-time arrival information for Ride On buses.
On December 27, 2023, a Ride On bus crashed into a house in Silver Spring around 7:30 PM. The driver reportedly lost control of the bus while entering a roundabout, hit a parked car, and collided with the side of the house. There were no passengers on the bus, and the house was not occupied at the time. It was later discovered that the same vehicle had previously crashed in a KFC restaurant in May 2011.
In September 2024, the first phase of the Great Seneca Transit Network was launched, with two new Ride On extRa Routes being added to serve the Life Sciences region and the Universities at Shady Grove. The Pink and Lime routes run frequent service all-day and weekend services.
On June 29, 2025, the agency launched the first phase of its "Ride On Reimagined" transit master plan. Most of the changes in this phase were made to complement WMATA's system-wide Better Bus Network Redesign which took effect on the same day. It also eliminated all fares on all of its transit services beginning the same day, becoming the 4th operator in the DC region to go fare-free, after DASH, TheBus, and CUE Bus.
On February 2, 2026, Ride On launched its third Flex Zone route, serving areas near White Oak, Sandy Spring, and New Hampshire Avenue to cover areas previously served by the discontinued Metrobus route Z2.
On July 1, 2026, Ride On discontinued their original launched Flex zone route that served areas such as Rockville, Glenmont, Wheaton, after a 7-year operation run that started on June 26, 2019, and ended on the day of July 1, 2026.
On September 8, 2026, Ride On extended its FLASH Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Blue route into Howard County, operating along US 29 and serving Burtonsville, Silver Spring and Downtown Columbia. The route only operates during peak hours, starting and ending service at Silver Spring station and Downtown Columbia, with its midpoint on the route being Burtonsville Park and Ride, and it also serves Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
Routes Ride On offers 82 routes throughout Montgomery County. All the routes run through peak rush hour periods between 6 and 9 AM and between 3 and 7 PM on weekdays. Many routes offer services for off-peak hours and weekends as well. The following table contains the full list of local and supplemental routes currently in operation.
Local service routes RouteUnofficial nameFirst terminalSecond terminalServiceNotes 1 Connecticut/East-West Friendship Heights Silver Spring Transit Center Daily via Connecticut Avenue & East-West Highway 2 Lyttonsville Ride-On Operations Center Daily 4 Linden/Kensington Wheaton Metro Weekday Peak via Kensington 5 Strathmore/Kensington Twinbrook Metro Daily via Kensington 6 Grosvenor Montgomery Mall Parkside Condos Mon-Fri via Grosnevor-Strathmore Metro 7 Inwood Wheaton Metro Forest Glen Metro Weekday Peak Peak direction service (AM to Forest Glen, PM to Wheaton) 8 Forest Glen Silver Spring Transit Center Daily via Forest Glen Road & Metro Holy Cross Hospital (Eastbound Only from Forest Glen Metro) 9 Arcola/Colesville via Arcola Avenue 11 East-West Supplemental Friendship Heights Weekday Peak Supplemental to Route 1 Peak direction service (AM to Friendship Heights, PM to Silver Spring) 12 Flower Takoma Metro Daily 13 Sligo Creek Weekday Peak 14 Franklin Mon-Sat Select Takoma-Bound Weekday Trips via Eastern MS. 15 Manchester Takoma Langley TC Daily 16 New Hampshire/Langley Park Takoma Metro via Langley Park 17 Philadelphia Takoma Langley TC 18 Carroll/Fenton via Montgomery College TPSS Silver Spring service operates select hours Mon-Sat only. All other trips including all Sunday Service ends at Takoma Metro. 19 Dennis/Northwood Forest Glen Rd/Burnett Weekday Peak via Northwood neighborhood Peak direction service (AM to Silver Spring, PM to Dallas Avenue/Northwood) Select PM trips via Parkway Plaza. 20 Piney Branch/New Hampshire Hillandale Center Daily Select Weekday Trips extend to Cresthaven. 21 White Oak/Fairland Briggs Chaney P&R Weekday Peak via US-29 Peak direction service (AM to Silver Spring, PM to Briggs Chaney) 22 Cresthaven Hillandale Center Weekday Peak Serves the White Oak FDA Campus 23 MacArthur Sibley Memorial Hospital Friendship Heights Mon-Sat via MacArthur Blvd Brookmont served toward Friendship Heights only. 24 Piney Branch Supplemental Hillandale Center Takoma Metro Weekday Peak Peak direction service (AM to Takoma, PM to Hillandale Center) 25 Maple Takoma Langley TC Takoma Metro Weekday Peak 26 Aspen Hill/Old Georgetown Montgomery Mall Glenmont Metro Daily via Aspen Hill Road, Twinbrook & North Bethesda Metro Stations, and Old Georgetown Road 27 Powder Mill Hillandale Center Tech Rd / US-29 Daily via White Oak Adventist Hospital Enters Prince George's County as part of the route. 28 Silver Spring Circulator Silver Spring Transit Center Mon-Sat Silver Spring Circulator 29 Glen Echo Bethesda Metro Friendship Heights Daily via Glen Echo 30 Pooks Hill Medical Center Bethesda Metro Mon-Fri Select Trips serve Whitley Park Terrace. 31 Kemp Mill Glenmont Metro Wheaton Metro Weekday Peak via Kemp Mill 32 Cabin John Bethesda Metro Naval Ship R&D Center Weekday Peak via MacArthur Blvd 33 Jones Mill/Kensington Glenmont Metro Medical Center Weekday Peak via Kensington 34 Connecticut/Kensington Bethesda Metro Wheaton Metro Daily via Kensington 36 Bethesda Loop Bethesda Metro Mon-Fri via Bradley Bouelvard
Peak Hour trips via Hillandale Road (AM Inbound, P Outbound) 37 Tuckerman/Potomac Potomac Community Center Wheaton Metro Weekday Peak via Kensington, Grosnevor Metro, and Tuckerman Lane 38 Garrett Park North Bethesda Wheaton Metro Daily Select Trips serve Westfields Wheaton. Select Weekday Trips serve Holiday Park Senior Center. 39 Good Hope Briggs Chaney P&R Glenmont Metro Weekday Peak via Good Hope Road 40 Veirs Mill Montgomery College (Rockville Campus) (MC Business Hours Mon-Sat) Rockville station (Early AM, Late PM, Sunday) Wheaton Metro Daily Operates to Montgomery College during business hours Mon-Sat. Early AM, Late PM and all Sunday Service ends at Rockville Station. 41 Connecticut/Aspen Hill Grande Pre / Bel Pre Wheaton Metro Daily via Weller Road, Glenmont Metro and Connecticut Avenue. 42 Montrose/Bells Mill Montgomery Mall TC North Bethesda Mon-Sat 43 Shady Grove Traville / USG Shady Grove Daily via Shady Grove Road
Weekday Service via Gaither Road. 44 Edmonston Twinbrook Metro Rockville Station Weekday Peak 45 Baltimore/Fallsgrove Fallsgrove Center Rockville Station Mon-Sat Select Weekday Trips serve Rockville Senior Center. 46 Rockville Pike MC Rockville Medical Center Daily 47 Seven Locks/Old GeorgetownBethesda Metro Rockville Station Daily via Montgomery Mall and Park Potomac 48 Bauer/Rock Creek Rockville Station Wheaton Metro Daily via Rock Creek Village 49 Bel Pre Glenmont Metro Daily via Bel Pre Road 51 Layhill/Norbeck Georgia Ave/ICC P&R Glenmont Metro Weekday Peak 52 Norbeck/Olney Rockville Station Medstar Montgomery Weekday Peak via Norbeck Road 53 Bowie Mill/Olney Shady Grove Glenmont Metro Weekday Peak via ICC/MD-200 and Olney 54 Muddy Branch/Rio Lakefront Rockville Station Lakeforest Transit Center Daily via RIO Lakefront Select Trips via Muddy Branch Center, Mon-Sat Only. Limited Peak Hour service to NIST. 55 Frederick Rockville Station Germantown Transit Center Daily via Frederick Avenue (MD-355)
Does not serve Montgomery College Germantown on Sundays. 56 Darnestown/Quince Orchard Rockville Station Lakeforest Transit Center Daily via Quince Orchard & Darnestown Roads
All Weekday Trips via Edison Park. 57 Muncaster Mill/Gaithersburg Shady Grove Lakeforest Transit Center Daily via Old Town Gaithersburg 58 Snouffer School Shady Grove Lakeforest Transit Center Daily via Snouffer School Road
Peak Hour trips via Turkey Thicket Drive. 59 Deer Park/Crabbs Branch Rockville Station Montgomery Village/Club House Daily via Crabbs Branch Way and Lakeforest Transit Center.
Peak Hour trips towards Montgomery Village bypass Walker's Choice. 60 Centerway Shady Grove Montgomery Village/Club House Weekday Peak via Centerway Road