MTA Free Ride – Regular Faculty and Staff – New ID Process for July 2023

Published by on July 24, 2023 12:00 am Comments Off on MTA Free Ride – Regular Faculty and Staff – New ID Process for July 2023 in General

All regular USM faculty and staff members are eligible to ride for free on Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) systems.  Regular status TU faculty and staff can use the Light Rail, the Baltimore Metro Subway, local bus service, and commuter bus service lines 120, 150, and 160 in the Baltimore region at no charge. The free mass transit benefit does not include the MARC trains, any special event buses, or any commuter buses other than lines 120, 150 and 160.

The process for this free ridership has changed and as of July the hologram stickers will no longer be used or accepted. 

Effective July: All regular-status faculty and staff who wish to use the free ridership benefit must get a State Employee ID. Steps to obtain ID:

  1. Employees must fill out the following:
  •  State Employees ID application
  • a copy of their government-issued photo ID (driver’s license or passport)
  • jpeg photograph of the applicant (the specifics of jpeg photo of applicant can be found in the directions link below)

Please read the  Directions for more specific information and photo restrictions.

  1. Send completed information to TU’s id coordinator, Irene Lam, ilam@towson.edu via TU’s secure file delivery service, https://fds.towson.edu.
  2. Once received, Irene will verify all necessary criteria and send employees applications to SCPC State Offices.
  3. The ID coordinator will receive notification from SCPC and will inform the employee requesting the card that in 48 hours, they can go to either the Annapolis or Baltimore location to pick up their card only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 8 am – 2 pm.

There are two locations:

BALTIMORE ANNAPOLIS
201 W Preston St Rm L-6​ 29 St. Johns Street
Baltimore MD 21201 Annapolis MD 21401
Phone: 410-767-1910 Phone 410-260-2941​
Fax: 410-333-7777 Fax: 410-974-2224
  1. Employees can pick either location because the card will be printed on-site when the employee arrives to pick it up.
  2. Employees should bring a printed State Security Card Acknowledgement to the pick up as they will be required to sign it in front of the staff.

Per the requirements of the 2019 MD State legislation that launched this benefit, it is only extended to regular status faculty and staff. To remain in compliance with the law, contingent status staff, adjunct faculty, and contingent lecturers cannot be issued a State ID.

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This post was written by Lam, Irene M.