Kent Island's Free Bus to Annapolis May Become Appointment-Only. Here's What's Proposed and How to Weigh In.

Queen Anne's County has proposed ending County Ride's fixed-route bus to Annapolis. In its place would be door-to-door rides to Annapolis medical appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays only, starting November 30, 2026. The public hearing is set for Tuesday, November 24, at 5:45 p.m.

Read the timetable and the proposal makes sense. The current route runs on a commuter's clock. The county counted between three and six rides per service day during FY2026. The proposal rebuilds the service around a trip riders told the county they need, and it leaves the morning commute to MTA buses that already stop at the same Annapolis places. Whether the change costs you anything depends on which trip you take across the Bay.

A Bus Built Around the Workday

The County Ride schedule labeled "Updated May 2026" calls this service the Annapolis Route. Here is the morning run:

From Sajak Pavilion the bus heads back east making drop-off-only stops, with no new riders boarding, at Kent Narrows Grasonville Side, Terrapin Grove and Stevensville Park and Ride by 8:45 a.m. In the afternoon it leaves Kent Narrows Grasonville Side at 2:50 p.m. and Stevensville at 3:00, then reaches Sajak Pavilion at 3:20, Annapolis Mall at 3:40 and Church Circle at 4:00. It is back at Stevensville Park and Ride at 5:00 p.m. and Queenstown Outlets at 5:15, both drop-off only.

Sajak Pavilion is at 2002 Medical Parkway on the Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center campus. Garage D connects to it, and it houses Luminis Health Imaging Annapolis. So the hospital is already on the route, and it is the last stop of the morning run.

The schedule fits a full day in Annapolis. You arrive before 7:30 a.m. and get a ride home at 4:00 p.m. That works for someone with a shift downtown. For a single morning appointment, it means about eight hours in town before the bus comes back. The county's notice gives no reason for the low ridership, but the hours are the clearest place to start looking. The route runs Monday through Friday, and County Ride service is fare-free.

What the County Is Proposing Instead

The new service would run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with morning drop-offs and afternoon pickups for medical appointments in Annapolis. The county says it would work like County Ride's existing medical transportation to Easton. The fixed route would end and door-to-door service would take its place, beginning November 30, 2026.

The reason comes from a document the commissioners adopted in September. The Queen Anne's County Ride Transportation Development Plan was written by KFH Group with the county's Department of Aging and Transportation. The Maryland Transit Administration requires locally run transit systems to produce one every five years. For the plan, the county collected 143 responses to rider and community surveys in August and September 2025. Riders said fare-free service encourages them to ride more often, and many said they rely on County Ride to get to medical appointments, shopping and work. Among the needs they listed were Saturday service, later weekday hours, more frequent buses and more flexible door-to-door scheduling.

That last request matches the proposal. The county describes the Annapolis change as part of an effort "to improve efficiency and better match services with rider needs." Shore Update covered the plan's adoption on October 17 and carried the same details, including the three to six daily rides on the current route.

The change would cost one thing. If the proposal goes ahead as written, County Ride would no longer take Kent Island riders to Church Circle or Annapolis Mall on any regular schedule, and it would not run to Annapolis on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.

The Commute Already Has Another Bus

For a workday trip to Annapolis, MTA Commuter Bus Route 210 covers much of the same ground. MTA titles the route "Kent Island – Annapolis/Baltimore." Its stops include Castle Marina Park & Ride, Stevensville Park & Ride, Westfield Annapolis Mall, Church Circle, Rowe Boulevard and Anne Arundel Medical Center before it continues to Baltimore.

Here is how the two routes compare:

MTA's live schedule for October 26, 2026 shows a trip leaving Castle Marina at 7:30 a.m. and Stevensville at 7:35 a.m. MTA's current fare table charges $5 one way in Zone 2 and $7 in Zone 4. The Route 210 timetable puts Kent Island to Annapolis in Zone 2 and Kent Island to Baltimore in Zone 4. That printed timetable dates from 2024, so check MTA's live schedule page for the day you plan to ride.

For trips to Washington, MTA Route 240, "Kent Island – Washington DC," picks up at Kent Narrows and Stevensville Park & Ride. The October 26 schedule shows a 7:00 a.m. departure from Kent Narrows and 7:10 a.m. from Stevensville.

So the morning commute to Church Circle or the hospital campus keeps a scheduled bus, at $5 a trip instead of free. The rider the proposal is meant to serve is the one who needs a ride from home to a mid-morning appointment and back the same afternoon. On the current timetable, that rider waits in Annapolis until the 3:20 p.m. pickup at Sajak Pavilion.

Driving Across Stays on MDTA's Schedule

For anyone who drives to Annapolis instead, the Bay Bridge sets the schedule. The Maryland Transportation Authority's Eastbound Deck Replacement Project started major construction in late fall 2023, and completion is expected in spring 2027. MDTA says it planned the work to avoid round-the-clock lane closures. It uses deck sections built off-site and brought in by barge, with work scheduled for off-peak and overnight hours.

Closures are posted one week at a time. The advisory for October 25 to 31 allowed overnight closures of the eastbound span on every night of the week, with two-way traffic moved to the westbound span during full eastbound closures. It also allowed one westbound lane to close weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and until noon on Friday. Those weekday hours overlap with the midday window for appointments. MDTA says all closures depend on weather and traffic, so check the current week's advisory before a trip that is on the clock.

Boaters in the area face a related rule. A 6-knot speed limit is now enforced from 1,000 feet north to 1,000 feet south of the bridge, and the shipping channel is not affected.

How to Weigh In Before November 24

The county is taking comments before and at the hearing. The county's notice lists two ways to comment:

1. Email [email protected] with the subject line "Comment Regarding County Ride to Annapolis."
2. Speak at the public hearing on Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 5:45 p.m., in the Liberty Building at 107 N. Liberty St., Centreville.

The county says the proposal must go through the required public comment process before the change moves forward. The proposal turns on three details a rider can speak to: which weekdays you travel, which stop you use, and whether a Tuesday and Thursday window would cover your appointments.

The rest of the five-year plan is worth reading before you write. The improvements it proposes include longer weekday hours, Saturday service, a Kent Island microtransit pilot, a possible Kent Island weekend visitor shuttle and a Centreville connector. The county says each would be phased in and depends on funding. The plan presentation and the commissioners' meeting video are both linked from Shore Update's coverage. A microtransit pilot on Kent Island would bring on-demand rides to the island itself. That is the kind of flexible service the 2025 survey respondents asked for.

Commutes to Church Circle, morning drives over the bridge and appointments at Medical Parkway all shape how Kent Island and Annapolis fit together, and they matter to anyone who owns on one side of the Bay and works or gets care on the other. If you're thinking about what your Kent Island home is worth while that commute keeps changing, Liz Dooner can help you look at both shores. Request a complimentary home valuation.