October 28, 2015
By Suzanne Pollak

Montgomery County’s Route 42 Ride On bus will continue to transport Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School students to and from their classes in Rockville to the White Flint Metro stop, due in part to an outpouring of support at a recent public forum.

Route 42, one of the routes with the lowest ridership, was scheduled to skid to a halt in January 2016.

However, “after considering community input, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has decided to restore” the route, according to a county statement sent to Washington Jewish Week.

Service will be retained until 8 p.m. on weekdays, and until 7 p.m. on Saturdays. Sunday service on the route will be discontinued in January.

“This is a small victory in a much larger battle for non-public school transportation,” said Karen Barall, mid-Atlantic director for the Orthodox Union, which fought for retention of the line. “The county’s population is rapidly growing, and traffic congestion is getting worse and worse by the day.

“Providing transportation to independent schools is the low-hanging fruit and the best affordable option to reduce traffic,” she added. “It is frustrating that the county still has not recognized this as the best option.”

Click here to read the full article in the Washington Jewish Week.