TheBus (Prince George's County)

TheBus

A TheBus bus at Mount Rainier Terminal
Founded	January 1990 (1990-01)
Service area	Prince George's County, Maryland, U.S.
Service type	Bus service
Routes	22
Fleet	Gillig, ElDorado National, Proterra
Daily ridership	7,300 (2022)
Annual ridership	1,300,000
Fuel type	Diesel
Operator	RATP Dev (WMATC 3226)
Website	TheBus

TheBus (stylized as THE BUS), also branded as Prince George's County Transit on newer buses, is a bus transportation system serving Prince George's County, Maryland. There are 29 bus routes, with most operating between Washington Metro stations in the county, with two routes running to Upper Marlboro. In 2025, the system had a ridership of 2,441,500 or about 10,600 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2025.

History

The idea for Prince George's County establishing its own transit system was initially brought up in 1986, to provide better transportation access to the Upper Marlboro Courthouse and other important government offices, that were isolated from the WMATA Metrorail and Metrobus system. At the time, WMATA charged counties the costs of operating some routes, because regional routes were not profitable due to lower ridership. Prince George's County decided it would be cheaper for the county to operate their own transit system instead. Prince George's County learned watching Montgomery County, which successfully developed its own Ride On transit system in March 1975 in response to WMATA asking the county to pay for routes operating in Montgomery County. Prince George's County's TheBus system was created in January 1990.

Gillig LF Diesel in Route U.S. 1 Ride Wrap on The Bus Route 17: Mount Rainier

The first two routes that Prince George's County started off operating were routes 20 and 21. Route 20 would operate between Addison Road station and the Upper Marlboro Courthouse. Route 21, on the other hand, would operate between the New Carrollton station (WMATA's Orange Line's northern terminus in Prince George's County) and the Equestrian Center, also serving the Upper Marlboro Courthouse. After observing the success of these two routes, Prince George's County decided to add four new routes in April 1996 to serve residential areas being built around WMATA's northern Green Line stations in Prince George's County, which opened in December 1993. These new routes served areas somewhat already served by WMATA, providing additional transportation service to residents and business there. Even more routes were added as several Metro Green Line stations opened in January 2001 and in December 2004 when Morgan Boulevard and the Largo Town Center stations on the Blue Line opened.

A new version of The Bus Route 21X: Prince George's Community College

On November 7, 2020, TheBus launched new Saturday service on routes 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 35, and 36. All routes operate every 30–45 minutes between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

In 2023, TheBus partnered with Metrobus to redesign its current network dubbed as Better Bus. After months of proposals, on November 21, 2024, WMATA approved its Better Bus Network Redesign, which began in 2022. Under the plan, all routes will be renamed with easier to understand route designations and modify most of its existing routes with the goal of making the bus system easier to use, faster, and more reliable. Changes are expected to start on June 29, 2025. All TheBus routes were renamed into P routes. At the same time, TheBus changed its name to Prince George's County Transit.

Authority

While a bus service operated in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., by Metrobus, or a local or state government in Maryland, is not required to have an Operating Authority from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission, such authorization is required for a service operated by a non-government agency. Because TheBus is operated by RATP Dev, under a contract with Prince George's County, it has operating authorization as WMATC 3226.

Routes

All routes operate on Weekdays with select routes operating on Saturdays. Service usually ends around 6:30 pm on most routes with some routes ending at 8:00 pm. TheBus does not operate on Sundays, or on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

All routes listed below began service on June 30, 2025.

Route	Name	Terminals		Major streets	Service Notes	History
P19	Greenbelt - Laurel	Greenbelt station	Laurel Town Center	Baltimore Avenue Konterra Drive Contee Road Laurel-Bowie Road	Weekdays Peak Hour Service Only	Began service on June 3, 2024 Existing routing of the former Route 61.
P22	Greenbelt - Cheverly	Greenbelt station	Cheverly station	Good Luck Road Hanover Parkway Greenbelt Road Cherrywood Lane Annapolis Road	Weekday trips from Greenbelt alternate ending between New Carrollton and Cheverly. Saturday service operates between Greenbelt and New Carrollton only.	Combination of a modified Route 16 routing and WMATA Metrobus Route F13 between Cheverly and New Carrollton.
P23	New Carrollton - Fairwood	New Carrollton station	Bowie Medical Center	Whitfield Chapel Road Annapolis Road	Weekdays only	Combination of former WMATA Metrobus Routes B24 and F13.
P2X	Greenbelt - New Carrollton Express	Greenbelt station	New Carrollton station	Greenbelt Road Cipriano Road Annapolis Road	Weekday Peak hours service only	Existing routing of the former Route 15X.
P37	College Park - Adelphi	College Park station	Adelphi	Adelphi Road Campus Drive	Weekday service only	Replaced former WMATA Metrobus Route C8 portion between College Park and Adelphi.
P43	Takoma Langley - Addison Road	Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center	Addison Road station	University Boulevard East-West Highway Queens Chapel Road Annapolis Road Columbia Park Road Martin Luther King Jr. Highway		Existing routing of the former Route 18.
P44	New Carrollton - Downtown Largo	New Carrollton station	Downtown Largo station	Pennsy Drive Landover Road Kent Village Drive Sheriff Road Brightseat Road	Weekday Service Only	Combination of the former Route 27 between Downtown Largo and Palmer Park, and a modified routing of the former WMATA Metrobus Route F12 between Kent Village and New Carrollton.
P52	New Carrollton - Upper Marlboro	New Carrollton station	Upper Marlboro Courthouse	Garden City Drive Ardwick-Ardmore Road Lottsford Road Largo Road	Every other Saturday trip ends/begins at Prince George's Community College.	Existing routing of the former Route 21.
P54	Cheverly - Addison Road	Cheverly station	Addison Road station	Columbia Park Road Cabin Branch Drive Sheriff Road Nalley Road Central Avenue		Existing routing of the former Route 23 with service along Walker Mill Drive being replaced by Route P56.
P56	Addison Road - Downtown Largo	Addison Road station	Downtown Largo station	Morgan Boulevard Hampton Park Boulevard Ritchie-Marlboro Road Harry S. Truman Drive Campus Way South Largo Road	Saturday trips operate between Downtown Largo and Morgan Boulevard only.	Existing routing of the former Route 26 with an extension to Addison Road via Central Avenue and Walker Mill Drive.
P57	Downtown Largo - Woodmore/Jericho	Downtown Largo station	Woodmore Town Centre	Largo Drive West Lottsford Road Medical Center Drive McCormick Drive Campus Way North	Weekday service only	Existing routing of the former Route 28.
P5X	New Carrollton - PGCC Express	New Carrollton station	Prince George's Community College	Garden City Drive Ardwick-Ardmore Road Landover Road Campus Way	Weekday peak hour service only	Existing routing of the former Route 21X.
P64	Suitland - Downtown Largo	Downtown Largo station	Suitland station	Brightseat Road Hampton Park Boulevard Ritchie Road Silver Hill Road		Modified Routing of the former Route 24 between Forestville and Central Avenue (Eastern Half), with the terminus moved to Downtown Largo, and combined with former WMATA Metrobus Route K12 between Penn Mar Shopping Center and Suitland station. Route 24 now serves Central Avenue, Hampton Park Boulevard, and Edgeworth Drive, swapping the original routing with Route 26.
P65	Capitol Heights - Forestville	Capitol Heights station	Penn Mar Shopping Center	Rollins Avenue Walker Mill Road Forestville Road		Existing Routing of the former Route 24 between Forestville and Capitol Heights station (Western Half).
P71	New Carrollton - Bowie	New Carrollton station	Bowie State University	John Hanson Highway Laurel-Bowie Road	Weekday service only.	Modified Routing of the former WMATA Metrobus Routes B21, B22, and B24.
P76	Addison Road - Upper Marlboro	Addison Road station	Upper Marlboro Courthouse	Addison Road Marlboro Pike Old Marlboro Pike Main Street	Every other weekday trip and all Saturday trips bypass Melwood Training Center	Existing routing of the former Route 20.
P77	Villages of Marlborough - Marlboro Meadows	Village Drive West	Correctional Center	Village Drive West Marlboro Pike Old Marlboro Pike	Weekday service only	Existing routing of the former Route 53.
P78	Equestrian Center/Courthouse	Equestrian Center		Water Street	Weekday service only	Existing routing of the former Route 51X.
P83	Naylor Road - Suitland	Naylor Road station	Capital Crossing Apartments	Suitland Road Silver Hill Road Iverson Street 23rd Parkway	Weekday service only	Existing routing of the former Route 34 and combined with former WMATA Metrobus Route C12 between The Shops at Iverson and Naylor Road station.
P84	Branch Avenue - Brandywine	Brandywine Crossing	Branch Avenue station	Brandywine Road Crain Highway		Existing routing of the former Route 36 with an extension to Branch Avenue station.
P85	Branch Avenue - Southern Maryland Hospital Center	Branch Avenue station	Southern Maryland Hospital	Auth Road Allentown Road Temple Hill Road Piscataway Road		Modified routing of the former Route 30.
P86	Naylor Road - Clinton	Naylor Road station	Clinton Park & Ride	28th Parkway Temple Hill Road Brinkley Road Coventry Way Woodyard Road		Combination routing of the former Route 32 and former WMATA Metrobus Route H12.
P88	Southern Avenue - Branch Avenue	Southern Avenue station	Branch Avenue station	Southern Avenue Owens Road Brinkley Road Allentown Road Auth Road		Existing routing of the former Route 33.
P95	Southern Avenue - Friendly	Southern Avenue station	Fort Washington Medical Center Friendly (Allentown & Old Fort Roads) Southern Regional Technology and Recreation Complex	Bock Road Southern Avenue	Service to Fort Washington operates weekday peak hours only (AM to Southern Avenue, PM to Fort Washington) Every other weekday peak hour trip and weekday midday trip operates between Southern Avenue and Friendly only. Saturday service only operates between Southern Avenue and Southern Regional Technology and Recreation Complex	Modified routing of the former Route 35 combined with WMATA Metrobus Route W14. Via MGM National Harbor

PGC Link

In addition to fixed-route buses, TheBus system also includes microtransit service. Rides cost $2 and must be booked and paid with the TransLoc app.

Fare

The use of the buses has been free since June 30th 2025. The fare was $1.25, but seniors, the disabled, and students (between 2:00PM and 7:00PM) riding free. On October 13, 2008, TheBus began accepting payment using SmarTrip regional farecards.

Fleet

Vehicles used in the fleet are manufactured by Proterra (now Phoenix Motorcars), Gillig Cooperation, Eldorado National (now ENC), Ford and New Flyer.

Prince George's County TheBus Fleet

Image	Year	Vehicle	Numbers	Fuel	Engine	Transmission	Notes
	2009	New Flyer DE40LFA	63080-63085	Hybrid	Cummins ISL EPA 2007	Allison EP40 Hybrid System	Ex-WMATA units, acquired in 2024-2025
	2010	New Flyer DE40LFA	63086-63091	Hybrid	Cummins ISL EPA 2007	Allison EP40 Hybrid System	Ex-WMATA units, acquired in 2024-2025
	2010	Gillig Low-Floor 35ft	63188-63217	Diesel	Cummins ISL9 EPA 2010	Voith DIWA D864.5	Several units retired
	2011	Gillig Low-Floor 29ft	62617-62622	Diesel	Cummins ISL9 EPA 2010	Voith DIWA D864.5
	2011	Gillig Low-Floor 35ft	62623-62631	Diesel	Cummins ISL9 EPA 2010	Voith DIWA D864.5	62623 is retired.
	2011/2012	Gillig Low-Floor 29ft	62629-62632	Diesel	Cummins ISL9 EPA 2010	Voith DIWA D864.5
	2011/2012	Gillig Low-Floor 35ft	62633-62652	Diesel	Cummins ISL9 EPA 2010	Voith DIWA D864.5	62640 and 62650 are retired.
	2019	Ford E-450 Cutaway	62812-62813	Gasoline	Ford Engine	Ford Transmission
	2019	ENC Axess BRT 35ft	63011-63016	Diesel	Cummins L9 EPA 2017	Allison World B400R6
	2020/2021	Gillig Low-Floor BRT 29ft	63017-63031, 63037-63045	Diesel	Cummins L9 EPA 2020/2021	Allison World B400R6
	2020	ENC EZ-Rider II BRT 35ft	63032-63036	Diesel	Cummins L9 EPA 2020	Allison World B400R6
	2021	Proterra Cataylst BE-35	63052-63055	Battery-Electric	???	Direct-Drive	First Electric buses for TheBus
	2022	Proterra ZX5+ BE-35	63056-63063	Battery-Electric	???	Direct-Drive
	2022	ENC EZ-Rider II BRT 30ft	63064-63069	Diesel	Cummins B6.7 EPA 2021	Allison World B300R6
	2022	Ford F-550/Starcraft Allstar XL	63070-63073	Gasoline	Ford Engine	Ford Transmission
	2025	Gillig Low-Floor Plus 35ft	63001-63010, 63046-63047	Diesel	Cummins L9 EPA 2024	Allison World B400R6	Delivered in a new Navy, White and Orange Livery as part of the bus network redesign.
	2025	Gillig Low-Floor Plus 35ft EV	63048-63050, 63075-63076	Battery-Electric	Cummins BES	Direct-Drive

External links

• Official website