The 13 has a nearly one hour trip each way, laboring from east to west right across North Avenue, the city’s midsection. On this day, the ride began peacefully in Canton, with a quiet group on a nearly empty bus.
But as the No. 13 journeys through Baltimore City, it makes stops at distressed shopping centers, at schools and colleges, and at large corporations including Johns Hopkins Hospital and MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital.
Like so many city bus routes, the character of the ride changes along the way, depending on the time of day, the number of people who crowd aboard, the mood of those passengers – and the bus driver.
As the bus traveled west, the bus began to fill. A man who wore a Brantley Security uniform chatted with two women about how unreliable the No. 11 bus is. The 11 travels from Canton Crossing to Towson Town Center and back. One of the women said that she opted to take the 13 because she had been waiting for the 11 and it never showed up.
The bus continued its crawl on North Avenue. An elderly woman boarded the bus and took one of the many empty seats available at the front. But the silence was broken and the mood of the bus shifted when two young women began loudly and profanely discussing their frustration with the process of applying for jobs.
The driver announced that the next stop was a transfer point, and some passengers left, but the noise continued. A woman seated in the middle of the bus spoke on her cell phone in a tone that was loud enough for the few remaining passengers to follow her conversation.
The bus began really began to fill when Patterson High school students boarded. One student said that she has a 40-minute commute home from school each day. The MTA, she said, is the most affordable and convenient option for her to get to and from school.
An overweight woman wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans seated near the front, struggled to get comfortable while occupying a seat and half.
The bus was now crowded, and the passengers were getting louder.
The driver appeared increasingly annoyed as more passengers filled the bus.
“People are coming off! Wait for them to come off!” he yelled when stopping at a bus stop.
A young woman boarded with a toddler holding one hand and a folded navy blue umbrella in the other hand. She struggled to keep her balance when the bus pulled off. She smiled and obliged when a woman who appeared to be much older offered her seat.
At each stop, more passengers filled the aisle. People bumped into one another as they were jostled by the bus making its way down the rugged streets.
At the next stop, more passengers stood in line to squeeze onto the bus. The driver called out for the passengers to move back as far as possible.
"Can we go back as far as we can?" the driver yelled.
"We back as far as we can, b----," a young male passenger yelled back.
At each stop after Coppin State University, passengers trickled off the bus.
By the last 10 minutes of the route, most of the passengers were gone and the No. 13 was again quiet. When the bus arrived at North and Walbrook avenues, the bus was down to six passengers, including a construction worker.
At the final stop the driver told everyone to get off and walk down the street to catch the bus the opposite direction if they needed to head back east toward Canton.
And then the No. 13 disappeared into the darkness.
Amirah Al Idrus contributed to this article.
“Every single day, Monday to Monday,” says Filipakis, describing how often she uses Baltimore public transportation. She has ridden the No. 61 consistently to get to work for 26 years.
From the line’s start near Lake Avenue in Roland Park, the bus travels along Roland Avenue, University Parkway and Charles Street, to downtown and back again, connecting the city’s center with the greener neighborhood of Roland Park. Filipakis rides it from downtown to her employer’s Roland Park home.
When Roland Park was developed, beginning in the 1890s, the Lake Roland Elevated Electric Railroad connected the neighborhood with the city’s center.
The streetcars are long gone. Today it’s the No. 61 bus.
In the mornings, the ridership on the bus headed downtown is largely made up of students.
The bus serves as transportation for many schools including the Gilman School, Roland Park Country School and Roland Park Elementary and Middle School. It also travels past Johns Hopkins University’s main campus, and eventually near the Baltimore School for the Arts downtown.
Bobby Woody, a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, uses the No. 61 as his primary mode of transportation to and from school.
Instrument case in tow, Woody makes the 30-minute journey from his home in Roland Park to the school on Cathedral Street downtown. On weekends, when the 61 bus does not run, Woody takes the light rail into town, which he says is quicker but less convenient to reach from his house.
Some students complain they don’t always feel safe on city buses, but Woody says he has never seen anything bad happen and feels safe riding the buses.
Filipakis, who is originally from Guatemala and moved to Baltimore 30 years ago, also says she doesn’t worry about safety. Unreliability is her biggest gripe with the bus.
Her usual morning commute takes an hour to 90 minutes each morning, but occasionally, she says, the bus just does not show up.
In those cases, she takes a more complicated trip to work, riding on the metro and the No. 44 bus. In the afternoon, she says her commute is even more unpredictable.
“If this one came on time, I am okay,” says Filipakis, “but in the afternoon, sometimes wait an hour or 40 minutes.” In the colder weather, she says this is particularly frustrating. She wishes the No. 61 would run more often.
Still, she is happy with the access she has to the bus, especially when she knows that not everyone in Baltimore can use mass transit as easily as she does.
“It’s probably the most peaceful commute in Baltimore,” said Matt Mayback, 31, a Federal Hill resident. “Sometimes you see a nice sunset or sunrise, or some cool things on the water.”
The water taxi which carries Baltimoreans and tourists from Canton and Fort McHenry to Harborplace, runs three commuter routes that link residential areas around the water.
“We are a transportation company that provides an entertaining mode of transportation for tourists and local residents,” said Mike McDaniel, CEO of the Baltimore Water Taxi.
The water taxi takes four minutes to cover the half mile from Locust Point to Canton and 15 minutes to take riders from Locust Point to Maritime Park in Fells Point.
That beats the 45 minutes it could take to get around the harbor in rush hour by car.
Mayback, travels to Canton to his job at Millennial Media and has been riding the water taxi for about 2 1/2 years.
There’s another advantage, Mayback says: The commute is free.
The city covers most of the cost through the proceeds of a parking tax.
“I don’t even pay for this,” Mayback said. “In most cities, I’d pay a monthly or yearly subscription.”
These routes, which averaged more than 12,500 riders a month from May to October, are free to all, not just commuters.
The water taxis that tourists ride cost up to $12 for a day pass.
Austin Paule, 27, and Patrick Parnin, 34, both Canton residents and Under Armour employees, ride the water taxi every day to their jobs at Locust Point. They have no interest in any other forms of public transit.
“Most of the people on the boat are professionals,” Paule said. “The bus probably has more walks of life that are utilizing it.”
Unlike the buses, the water taxi is spacious And peaceful. No crowds, no noisy high school students, no red lights to amp up stress, no horns honking.
“It’s easier,” Parnin said.
But he did have one suggestion for improvement. “Maybe if they sold beer, or something.”
A train comes about every 10 minutes and, for many riders, it is part of their routine in getting between Owings Mills and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Darryl Bynum, who travels to Owings Mills every day on the subway, said the most he typically has to wait is 10 minutes. He said the trains are more reliable than other modes of transportation, including cabs.
The train, which is run by the Maryland Transportation Administration, runs 15.5 miles and hits 14 stops along the way.
For many riders, the only problems with the train are minor. Some said the trains could be cleaned and some said a few lights on the trains could be fixed.
“I think at times it gets congested with people,” said David Bailey, who takes the bus two or three days a week for work.
And the subway line is limited, so some riders have to use bus routes to finish their journey.
For riders who use both systems, many said the subway is a more reliable way to get where they’re going.
“The subway is cool,” said Marvin Kane, who works for CES Security in Baltimore. “The buses suck.”