With nearly half of Baltimore residents lacking access to a car,[6] the MTA is an important part of the regional transit picture.

All these routes were ultimately converted to rubber tire bus operations, and many of them were consolidated, extended into newly developed areas, or otherwise reconfigured to keep up with the ridership demands of the times.

[7] Additional routes and extensions were added in later years to serve communities that were later developed, and to feed into Metro and Light Rail stations that were later built.

With the growth in popularity of the private automobile during the 20th century, streetcar and bus ridership declined, and the needs for public transportation changed.

Mass transit in Baltimore and other cities shifted from a corporate operation to a service funded and run by the government.

[7] The demise of the Baltimore streetcar took place between the years of 1947 and 1963, as operators found buses to be low maintenance and more cost-efficient.

In April 2022, the MTA announced a proposal to introduce the first new local bus designation since 2017, the LocalLink 32, which is intended to replace the branch of the CityLink Yellow which travels to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

[14] Interactive map of the Maryland Transit Administration's rail services This system operates elevated and underground from a corporate and shopping complex in Owings Mills in Baltimore County into the heart of Downtown Baltimore City's business, shopping and sightseeing districts to the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medical Center Complex.

From Old Court, the tracks pass underneath the I-695/795 interchange and travel the median of 795 till their end at Owings Mills (Painter's Mill Road) This station is the centerpiece of a huge project urbanizing that immediate area, with a Baltimore County Public Library branch, and classroom space for the Community College of Baltimore County.

Funding for the Green Line extension is still years from being secured but includes an option to extend it as light rail or BRT from Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The Light RailLink operates at grade for the most part, though it travels on bridges crossing several bodies of water.

Once the trip is complete, total out-of-pocket cost for the customer is $3.00, and the MTA picks up the rest of the price of the fare, "paying" it to the driver in the form of a voucher that s/he later redeems at his/her cab company headquarters.

[17] The MTA is building the Purple Line, a light rail system that will operate between Bethesda and New Carrollton with connections to the Washington Metro.

[20] The Corridor Cities Transitway, a proposed 15-mile (24 km) bus rapid transit line between Gaithersburg and Clarksburg, was allocated some initial planning and design funds in 2013.

Larry Hogan in 2015, as part of a $135 Million investment to help improve the transit system through the entire Baltimore metropolitan area.

This also makes it difficult for passengers to use counterfeit passes when boarding the bus, Light Rail, and Metro Subway.

The MTA continues to struggle with passengers who purchase day passes, use them, then resell them at a direct loss to the agency.

Likewise, SmarTrip is accepted for in-person payments on all MTA services except MARC and commuter buses.

[29][30] As of February 2023[update], the MTA is procuring modern replacements for CharmCard and CharmPass, which are "quickly reaching end-of-life".

The tickets allowed students to ride on MTA buses, light rail, and subway free going to and from school.

The S-Pass can allow students to ride and pass through an unlimited times through the Metro Subway gate, unlike the transfers from the color-coded booklet from in the past.

The department was founded on October 1, 1971, by act of the Maryland State Legislature as the Mass Transit Administration Police Force.

The MTA Police had the lowest Part One crime reported for 2015 & 2016 among the top 12 transit agencies in the country.

In addition to the enumerated rules of behavior, Section 7-705 also allows the MTA to enforce local government laws on public transit vehicles.