Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland

Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland, locally referred to as the RTA, is a transit organization providing fixed-route and paratransit services across Central Maryland. The RTA is made up of multiple jurisdictions including Anne Arundel County, Howard County, the City of Laurel, Northern Prince George's County, and Baltimore County.

In 2014, Howard County initiated the Regional Transit Agency of Central Maryland, recruiting Anne Arundel County to join areas served by Central Maryland Regional Transit claiming the centralized authority initiated, managed and funded through Howard County would save money in contract expenses. CMRT bid on providing services to these regions after July 1, but lost to First Transit.

In 2014, Howard County broke ground on a $7.2 million bus depot at Savage, Maryland designed to house 120 buses.

In 2023, RTA added route 505, the first route to serve Baltimore County and connect onto an MDOT MTA CityLink bus, and restructured route 405 to better serve Ellicott City.

System
, RTA operates 16 bus routes in Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George's County, the city of Laurel, and Baltimore County.

Hubs
RTA has a number of transit hubs where numerous bus lines meet. They include:
 * Arundel Mills
 * Mall in Columbia
 * Towne Centre at Laurel

Fares
Bus fare can be purchased on the bus, at certain library branches, senior centers, online for shipping, and through the Transit app.

Proposed improvements
In October 2023, RTA released the final draft of the Central Maryland Transit Development Plan (TDP), proposing future changes and improvements to RTA bus service between Fiscal Years 2024 and 2028.

Fiscal Year 2024
Two of FY2024's three proposed changes were already carried out in July 2023; namely, the 405 restructure and addition of the 505 route.

The third one proposes extending route 409 to Lansdowne Station Shopping Center. This would make the 409 the second RTA route to provide service into Baltimore County. Notably, this extension would provide a connection onto the MARC's Penn Line at Halethorpe and MTA Maryland's CityLink YELLOW, LocalLink 32, and LocalLink 29 buses to destinations in Baltimore City and County.

Fiscal Year 2025
Two proposals exist for the 2025 fiscal year: a new route between Columbia and the Johns Hopkins Applied Research Lab, and a pilot to develop microtransit along the US Route 1 corridor.

Fiscal Year 2026
The first proposal involves extending the 501 to BWI Airport, and the third involves a new express route between Columbia and the airport.

A new route between Columbia and Elkridge is proposed, eliminating the need to transfer from 501 to 409 at Maryland Food Center.

The third proposal proposes extending Montgomery County's FLASH BRT service to Downtown Columbia, creating a fast connection to Washington, DC.

Fiscal Year 2027
In the fiscal year 2027, proposals exist for creating a new route from Columbia or Laurel to Fort Meade, and extending FY2025's Catonsville to ARL route to Clarksville. This extension would provide transit in an area with currently none.

Fiscal Year 2028
Proposals for this year include a new route from Laurel to Bowie and a new route from Columbia to Maple Lawn.