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Program Description

  Community Mobility Services

The Community Mobility Services program provides a wide range of transportation-related services and options for Montgomery County residents and commuters. The program includes components to inform people about services available, enabling them to make the best choices for their needs; programs to reduce the cost of using those options; and programs to increase the array of choices. Those components include the following units.

  • Commuter Services: Working with the business and residential community, this program promotes alternatives to single occupant vehicles (including transit, car/vanpooling, biking, bikesharing, micromobility services, walking, and telework) in order to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and other environmental factors, and address climate change. Outreach and services have historically been targeted to employers, employees, and residents of multi-unit buildings close to transit, including Silver Spring, Friendship Heights, Bethesda, North Bethesda, Greater Shady Grove, and White Oak. The program also provides services to large employers, residential complexes, and other targeted audiences countywide. Commuter Services has a role in review and management of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plans, as required by Planning Board as a condition of development approval for some new developments. The unit also coordinates with Parking Management to provide parking opportunities within the TMDs but outside Parking Lot Districts (PLDs). Revenues from these non-PLD parking areas help support the unit's services. The unit supports and helps coordinate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector in order to meet the County's climate change goals, consistent with actions identified in the Climate Action Plan. These include programs promoting use of electric vehicles by residents, businesses and their employees, developers, and the community at large.
  • Senior and Special Transportation: This unit provides travel options for seniors and residents with disabilities who have low incomes, under a user-side subsidy program (Call-n-Ride); transportation to and from medical appointments for participants with low incomes (Medicaid); and outreach and information on public and private transportation programs for populations with special needs (Senior and Special Transportation Services). It ensures these populations have transportation options to meet their unique needs, provides access to necessary services, promotes independence, and prevents social isolation.
  • Taxi Services: This unit administers taxicab regulation, licensing, and permit activities of Chapter 53 of the Montgomery County Code (Taxicab).
  • Cross-Coordination of Services: The Community Mobility Program coordinates implementation of programs and grants to support a broad range of mobility options with community groups, County departments, and other local, state, and regional agencies.

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Program Contacts

Contact Carrie Webster of the Division of Transit Services at 240-777-5887 or Gary Nalven of the Office of Management and Budget at 240-777-2779 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

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Program Performance Measures

Program Performance MeasuresActual FY24Actual FY25Estimated FY26Target FY27Target FY28
Number of employer contacts 114,37915,79516,00012,00012,000
Number of Call-n-Ride participants5,2125,4085,7005,9006,100
Percent of Employer Transportation Demand Management Plans Filed 279%81%86%0%0%
Non-auto driver mode share in Silver Spring Transportation Management District 372%63%63%65%65%
1  The number of employer contacts is expected to decline in FY27 and FY28 due to a budget reduction for Commuter Services.
2  Due to the repeal of the law, the percent of employer plans filed is expected to decline to 0 in FY27 and FY28.
3  Commuter Surveys are conducted every other year. Figures for intervening years carry forward the results for the prior survey year -- thus non-auto driver mode share (NADMS) figures will only change at most every other year. The 72% figure reflects the survey conducted in 2023 where non-auto driver mode share might have been high due to telework post-COVID. The 63% figure from 2025 represents the most recent survey and is much closer to the non-auto driver mode share goal for Silver Spring of 65%. While still a major factor, use of telework has declined substantially as shown in the FY25 survey, as more employers and employees have returned to in-person work post-pandemic. However, despite that, overall transit use has not completely returned to pre-COVID levels, possibly due to continued telework impacts coupled with less regularized work schedules (e.g., reduced frequency of in-person work days), resulting in reduced levels of NADMS compared to pre-COVID.
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Program Budget Changes

FY27 Recommended ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY26 Approved1592741232.28
Increase Cost: TRiPS Commuter Store Contract Escalation157550.00
Increase Cost: Two and a Half Percent Inflationary Adjustment to Non-Profit Service Provider Contracts125180.00
Decrease Cost: Reconcile Commuter Assistance Grant Fund with Revenues-3070.00
Technical Adj: Reconcile Medicaid Transportation Grant Fund Expenditures with Revenues-469060.00
Re-align: Call-n-Ride Budget to Match Expenditures-4000000.00
Reduce: Transportation Demand Management-10000000.00
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.128205-0.50
FY27 Recommended1463667731.78