Transit helps, and the lack of it hurts, commercial districts

As a No. 15 bus passes on West Saratoga Street, Elhanmy Ibrahim, owner of several properties, laments the loss of the No. 23. (Sun photo by John Makely) Feb 6, 2006.

In "Merchants miss the bus," the Baltimore Sun reports how the re-routing of the No. 23 MTA bus line from Saratoga Street, one of Baltimore's most diverse shopping corridors with native and foreign-born entrepreneuers running shops catering to low income consumers, is taking customers away from the commercial district. One shop owner estimates that as many as 50% of the businesses will fail over the next six months. Other shop owners report a sales decline of 50% to 60% since the bus routing change was made.

Transit access is key for center city commercial districts.

Index Keywords: transit; retail