Montgomery County's new Ride On Extra bus.  Image by Ride On.

Get ready for Ride On Extra, a Montgomery County-only version of MetroExtra. It's launching October 2, and like MetroExtra it'll be a faster way to take the bus.

Ride On Extra will launch as one line, Route 101, with every-ten-minutes service along the busiest street in Montgomery County: Route 355, aka Rockville Pike.

Ride On Extra route map, showing all stops.  Image by the author.

Like MetroExtra, Ride On Extra will make many fewer stops than normal buses, and will get traffic signal priority to stop less often at red lights. To speed buses even more, Ride On Extra buses will accept SmarTrip but won't allow riders to load money onto their cards while on board.

And, like most MetroExtra lines, the Ride On version will only run at peak times: 5:30-9:30 am, and 3:30-7:30 pm.

It'll be its own brand, with unique buses and new bus shelters. But not totally unique: It's clear from the name and paint scheme that MetroExtra was inspiration.

MetroExtra, Ride On's inspiration. Image by the author.

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.