By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The Charm City Circulator (CCC), a free transit system in Baltimore, recently expanded into Cherry Hill, a neighborhood where 90 percent of its residents are African-American.
Photo credit: AFRO Photo/Tashi McQueen
The Baltimore City Department of Transportation (BCDOT) announced the Cherry Route in May and implemented it on June 23.
“Service enhancements include a long-anticipated new CCC route, which will serve the Cherry Hill neighborhood,” said a representative of the City of Baltimore in a news release. “The expanded network will allow ease of access to job opportunities, entertainment and all Downtown Baltimore has to offer.”
In its first month, 10,553 people rode the new line, according to a social media post by BCDOT.
The AFRO reached out to BCDOT for comment but did not get a timely response.
Councilwoman Phylicia Porter (D-District 10) said this new route has been in the works for nearly 10 years through the work of Cherry Hill community organizations and residents.
Within Porter’s role on the council, she helped to ensure the route was made possible.
“It took a long time, but within four years that’s something I’ve been pushing and we were successful,” said Porter.
Since the route was enacted over a month ago, Porter says she believes the service has been received well by the Cherry Hill community.
“I’ve heard accounts from residents that not only can they go to the grocery store at McHenry Row, they also can get to their jobs pretty quickly,” said Porter.
However, one Cherry Hill resident who spoke to the AFRO said the route is not accessible enough.
“If I have to catch the 71 to get to the free bus, I’m defeating the purpose. Staying on the 71, which I paid for, makes more sense,” said Vicky Morris, who travels to the downtown area regularly for work.
Based on the Cherry Route map, the buses primarily travel Cherry Hill Road in and out of the community.
In response to this concern, Porter points towards the additional funding needed to expand the route.
The Cherry Route goes from the Inner Harbor to Cherry Hill. Stops include Middle Branch Park, MedStar Harbor Hospital and the Cherry Hill Light Rail Station. Cherry Route buses arrive every 20 minutes.
“We know that more connectivity means more funding,” said Porter. “Having that conversation with our state legislators and my colleagues on the city council is going to increase that connectivity.”
In 2023, the AFRO reported on calls from West Baltimore activist Marvin “Doc” Cheatham and others to make the service more diverse. Cheatham proposed creating a “Brown Line,” which aims to connect Baltimore’s majority Black neighborhoods from East to West.
“We now have it in Cherry Hill, but the majority of Black people do not live in Cherry Hill, they live all over Baltimore,” said Cheatham. “It’s still an issue for us because they still haven’t really addressed the problem.”
In response to this concern, Porter said she’s “more than willing” to talk about expanding the circulator into other routes in West and South Baltimore communities.
Porter said she will push for more opportunities to increase transit in communities like Brooklyn in the upcoming Maryland General Assembly session.
“I think that connectivity within some of our Black and Brown neighborhoods needs to happen,” said Porter. “I’m more than willing to have that conversation with residents in West Baltimore to see how, not only we can increase connectivity, but increase connectivity in neighborhoods that typically and historically have not had that kind of (access) to main bus lines.”
Cheatham believes his communities’ call to action and the CCC being called out for having a facility in Cherry Hill but not servicing the area led to the Cherry Route being rolled out this year.
Though it is unclear if BCDOT will move on Cheatham’s proposed “Brown Line,” he said he will continue to advocate until the job is done.
The post Residents, leaders react to new Charm City Circulator route in Cherry Hill appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.
