A Brief Ride On History/Fares

25 YEARS OF SERVICE! 1975-2000

Year Event
1975 March 31, Dial-A-Ride starts in Gaithersburg with 8 buses. April 14, Silver Spring starts with 12 buses
The fare is 25¢
1976 Dial-A-Ride discontinued. Gaithersburg starts fixed route non-rush hour service
1977 Annual ridership approaches 2 million riders
1978 Silver Spring Metro Station opens. Service increases from 14 to 53 peak hour vehicles
1979 Gaithersburg starts rush hour service increasing buses from 5 to 8. Service cut in Silver Spring early in the year due to mechanical problems with "light duty" buses. Silver Spring RIDE ON gets first "transit" buses
1980 First fare increase from 25¢ to 35¢. First service to Germantown. Oil embargo of late 1979 and 1980 and Silver Spring Metro opening results in doubling ridership on some routes
1981 Fare increase in January to 45¢. In December to 50¢. Gaithersburg RIDE ON expansion continues First service to Rockville Montgomery College
1982 Fare increase to 60¢. Ridership drops for the first time from 7.2 to 7.1 million riders as oil embargo ends
1983 First service to downtown Rockville
1984 Partial service to Bethesda/Friendship Heights areas starts in May. Metro stations open in August as far as Grosvenor
1985 In January, full service into all Red line stations and Montgomery Mall following the opening of Shady Grove Metro Station in December 1984
1986 Service starts to Damascus and Urbana from Shady Grove. Germantown and Montgomery Village express service start. Ridership to 10 million a year
1987 Introduction of All-Day-Transfer for $1.00
1988 Fare increase to 75¢ during peak hours. Remain 60¢ off peak
1990 Wheaton and Forest Glen stations open. Fare increase to 85¢. Ride On begins to equip buses with wheelchair lifts
1991 Fare increase to $1.00 during peak hours
1994 Operating 70 routes with 216 large County-owned buses and 40 smaller contractor buses
1995 RIDE ON 20th Anniversary: Expecting our 200 millionth customer
1996 RIDE ON adds Compressed Natural Gas buses to its fleet. Central Communications move into the Transportation Management Center
1997 RIDE ON increase peak hours fare to $1.10. RIDE ON equips its buses with bike racks. Automated Vehicle Locators equipped on some buses
1998 RIDE ON introduces express bus service from Milestone to Bethesda. Electronic schedule signs added to four bus stop locations in the County. Glenmont station opened
1999 RIDE ON participates in regional fare structure-One fare from Montgomery County to Northern Virginia. Expanded hours for 8 routes for Access-to-jobs: now provide 22 hour service on parts of the RIDE ON system
2000 RIDE ON celebrates 25th year and introduces "Kid-Ride-Free" initiative from 2:00PM to 7:00PM Monday thru Friday
2000 Reduced the costs of 20-Trip Ticket and 2-Week-Ride About pass from $18 to $10 starting September 3, 2000
2003 Fares increase to $1.20, eliminate off peak fare effective June 29, 2003
2003 20-Trip Ticket $13, and 2-Week-Ride About pass from $10 to $12 6/29/2003 
2004 June 27-Fare increases to $1.25, cut 20-Trip Ride-About pass from $12.00 to $10.00 increase 20-Trip Ticket from $13.00 to $18.00 and Expiration date. Maximum use is 9 months period.