The colors are confusing, with some being free Charm City Circulator rides and others being normal pay buses. They also seem to have both green and lime green as colors if it weren't already confusing enough. And the buses are NOT color coded to their names. We saw a purple heading in the opposite direction​ while we made our way to the parallel bus stop, and waited. And waited, finally a for pay bus came and took everyone else waiting around us away. Google map did nothing as it wasn't showing us anything about the purple we were looking for after we got to the bus stop. Transit kept telling me the bus was coming soon, but I don't think it really knew where I was. We ended up walking to the hotel. I finally took a look at Passio GO! after we gave up on the free bus and decided we'd take a pay bus to Penn Station for our trip home. It took a while to load up, which concerned me since it was completely blank at first, but it might be the best of the lot. For the ride to Penn, we actually waited for the purple that seemed to be on the way according to Passio GO!, but got on the silver only because it came by first. Yup, we never did end up taking any of the Circulator buses on this trip to Baltimore. read more

I've read a few reviews saying real time tracking is needed. Well there is realtime tracking. I'm going to see what url is listed here, and see if a can find it. If I don't, I'll update this review with the link, or perhaps the business page. So if you didn't know, the Circulator is ***FREE***! Such a deal. There are 4 different lines, designated by color. It's a great way to get around Baltimore. On some lines the busses are more frequent than on others. So let's see if yelp allows the tracking url in the review... https://charmcity.passiogo.com/ Ok, it does seem to work. You can get to it from the url in the listing (scroll way down), but this url takes you directly to the tracking page. read more

Charm City Circulator - Public Transportation Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

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Very useful bus service that is free. Their routes along with CityLink, Metro Subway, and Light Rail are a great way to get around Baltimore. Only subtracting a star since they do not track as well as MTA. read more

Charm City Circulator - Bus - Public Transportation Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

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If it shows up, it provides a quick ride in and around downtown. I'm 50-50 in my two experiences during this trip. I'll try to update this but my energy may be focused on cropping crab cake photos. read more

More sorry Baltimoreans driving these busses. Cool thatbits free but your drivers are rude or worse. Just saw three people running and shouting for the bus to wait....if course he pulled off. If yall vetted these drivers better this would be a decent service. Inconsistent timing and schedule compliance. read more

Free is great, but the wait times are wildly inconsistent. I've had 5-minute waits and 35-minute waits--same route, same time of day. Clean enough, but needs better real-time tracking. Good in theory, frustrating in practice. read more

I get the people are stressed out and we have seen so much negativity in this world and we've seen so much nastiness in places of business and it's almost as if people don't value their jobs I'm sure the city of Baltimore does not want to represent more toxicity the young lady that I rode with today was not only nasty to me three times in one day I turn my camera on just to get her bus number and I had a young man and the same bus driver get into an altercation I didn't catch all of it but it was sad this man was from DC he didn't know where he was going he didn't know the bus was free and he showed her his fair card and she lit him up I have it on video this girl is clearly angry at something else that has nothing to do with the passengers and understand that when you represent a company it is not your place to take out your own personal frustrations on passengers Baltimore is no joke and you can say the wrong thing to the wrong person and this post is not only for her safety she's a little tiny woman because she's got a lot of personality and I just I don't like how she interacted with me I was trying to let her know something and she snapped me up she snapped the other guy up so she's probably snapping everyone up read more

Free and easy to ride different place downtown! I would use this service again! Bus stop signs are clear

Great quick sightseeing tour is what you can call it. At least I did . Now I know how to get to the stadium on public transportation

The Charm City Circular is a great way to get around the downtown-area and connecting neighborhoods. It takes you close to the Inner Harbor, Charm'tastic Mile, Oriole Park, the Aquarium, Little Italy, Harbor East and other parts of the city. The hours change from Fall/Winter to Spring/Summer. read more

This is the most poorly run example of public transportation I've ever ridden. Just today I was heading south to St. Paul and 25th Streets and the driver refused to let me disembark despite having pulled the cord which both lights a sign that says STOP REQUESTED and initiates a synthesized voice which says the same thing. He obviously didn't care as he had already blown by 2 stops where people were waiting for a Circulator at 32nd and St. Paul Streets and again at St. Paul and 27th Streets. As he pulled away from 25th and St. Paul, I yelled that I pulled the cord, the sign was lit and the automated voice had indicated the stop had been requested, but he just kept driving. Feeling as though I had no viable alternative, I broke the panel for the emergency door release and stopped the bus. The doors opened then immediately closed again, which seemed odd. I pulled the lever once again and this time the driver yells "You have to wait for the fire department now" which made me aware that he was attempting to trap me on his bus against my will, so I pulled the lever a third time and bolted out once they opened. I couldn't believe what was happening and didn't understand why this man was acting in such a crazed manner, and frankly I didn't care; I knew I wasn't going to be forced to ride 3 blocks to the next stop nor was I going to be trapped on his bus. Oddly enough, the email addresses and phone number listed for The CCC are all non-functioning which made it impossible to lodge a formal complaint or even report the incident. The CCC has been a mixed blessing for Baltimore and my experience today will prevent me from boarding one of their vehicles ever again. Unless you have a body odor fetish and/or the desire to be held captive on a free bus, my advice is use any alternative method of travel to get where you need to go in Baltimore City. read more

Sometimes they're late. Service could be better. I wish they did more as well like actually adhering to runtimes

Is it weird to review a bus line? lol anyway, I've been CCC-ing it up these past few days in Baltimore trying to get to know the area. I love this bus! It's so convenient for UMB students to hop on and get to places like Harbor East, Fed Hill and more. I discovered a stop near the Whole Foods in Harbor East (one of the only grocery stores near me), awesome! It would be really helpful if stops could have the stop number somewhere on their sign (if not the entire stop name). NextBus is great, but sometimes I just want to know if the stop I'm looking for is the one I found. read more

The Charm City Circulator is like an urban catamaran! Usually when I'm on my own, I surf the circulator by balancing in the middle of the aisle and not holding on to any rails or seats around corners and while the driver's accelerating or de-accelerating. Timing is essential when switching from one route to another; for example, in the butt-freezing cold of winter one does not want to wait street-side for very long. So using the Charm City Circulator app on my iPhone, I check the purple and orange routes prior to leaving the house, and pick the bus that will make the transition smoothly at the inner harbor with the least amount of bench time. All-in-all, it's a fabulous way to get around Baltimore and a lot like surfing the city ;o) read more

Charm City Circulator - The perfect way to cruise the Inner Harbor! - Public Transportation Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

I still don't understand why Baltimore offers free transportation, but fine by me. When S told me they had "free" transportation, I was like how good would that be since it's free. But when we asked the Terminal dude, how to get to Lexington Market - he advised to take the free bus and that was the best way to get there. So we did and OMG - the people are super duper friendly and so damn nice. I want to say S and I were a bit scared, since the housing here looked a bit scary - tons of places had broken windows and doors, but people here are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAMN HELPFUL! Baltimore people are so nice. read more

I love when you go to a new city and you find that they have a free bus line that goes around the entire city. Although I put the majority of the miles in by walking around town, but we caught the bus from Locust Point back to the next water taxi stop. It was easy and they come often enough, but best of all it was free so no fumbling with bus fare or passes. Thank you! read more

So I hate to say this but... the CCC still sucks. It's great that it's free BUT if you actually need to get somewhere in a timely manner forget about it. So yesterday we're at the American Visionary Art Museum stop waiting for a bus to go back to Fort McHenry while we saw not one, not two, not three, but four Banner Route buses going the other way, yet nothing was coming in our direction. So we had to wait. Not five minutes, not ten minutes, not even fifteen minutes but a lovingly horrible 26 minutes for a bus. So I thought maybe the bus was just really crowded but no there were about four people on it. Then I thought well maybe because of the Ravens game it got tied up in traffic except that this was around 2:30 and the game was going on. So why was it late? I don't know. Was it because the driver was going around 10 MPH and never really sped up? Was it because the driver was more interested in talking to a passenger standing next to him rather than driving? But whatever it was the wait was friggin' ridiculous. I will say that the homeless element wasn't bad on this route because at least on a Sunday apparently no one takes this route because both buses we were on were empty with four passengers on one bus and two passengers respectively on the other bus. Again, it's great that it's free but like anything that's free there is always a catch and the slightly major catch with CCC is who in the hell knows when you're going to get to where you're going. read more

It's free. It goes to Federal Hill, Harbor East, Fells Point, Johns Hopkins, and even across MLK. It's free. It comes pretty often although in high traffic, it gets delayed like any bus. It's free. It runs a little later on game days and in the summer time, the buses are usually pretty clean and free of creepers/weirdos, and best of all it's free. Did I mention it's free? read more

Love the circulator, despite some small drawbacks. It's clean and (somewhat) efficient but I wish it made ALL parts of Baltimore more accessible. I am sure that the program is being expanded but COME ON it's been in use for a while and should be able to reach more places like Charles Village, Hampden, and Canton. I've had a few problems with the circulator. 1) It's passed me as I've waited at the stop (the Baltimore Street stop, no less. As a girl, you don't want to be left waiting here for too long). 2) Not all of the lines cross one another. As stated above, I needed to get off the purple line to walk to the nearest green line stop in order to get from Fed Hill to Fells. Although I could have walked a few more blocks to get to a different green line stop, I ended up walking down The Block in order to get the next green bus. Which then DROVE PAST ME while I waited at the stop. I think it's a great addition to the city and has helped a lot of people but some kinks need to be worked out. read more

I am so so so grateful for the Charm City Circulator! I have saved a ton of money on gas and parking because of this wonderful Baltimore gem. Yeah, sometimes the NextBus page on their website or the app is slightly incorrect, but how can you really complain? It's free and there actually *is* a NextBus page and an app--a lot of bus lines don't have that at all. And good news--there are plans to expand the Circulator--on 6/4/12, the Banner route will open, which will go from the Baltimore Visitor's Center at the Inner Harbor down Key Highway, with stops like the Visionary Arts Museum, Pierside Drive, The Baltimore Museum of Industry, Shoppers/Merritt Athletic, Harris Teeter, Latrobe Park and lastly Ft. McHenry. I've also heard the Purple line will be extended to go down to the Barnes and Noble in Charles Village. Though that's not officially officially confirmed, if it happens, woohoo! Hello BMA, The Book Thing and Waverly Market! I'm sure JHU students will be thrilled. Another cool fact about the CCC is that there is weekday 7am-7pm free water taxi service from Tide Point (Locust Point) to Canton. That service will also be expanded this summer, with a stop added at Pierside Drive near the Visionary Art Museum (at the base of Federal Hill) that goes over to Harbor East. I haven't yet used the water taxi as Tide Point is a pretty inconvenient location for me to get to (for now until the Banner Route opens!), but I am definitely looking forward to having a little cruise on it soon. Be careful though! There is another water taxi service that has a $7 one-way charge--make sure to ask when you board if it is indeed the free CCC taxi--I know some folks who have accidentally gotten on the charged boat and had to pay up. Overall, the Charm City Circulator is a major reason for my blossoming love of Baltimore. The buses are Hybrid vehicles and are consistently clean with drivers who are, for the most part, friendly and helpful. Any of the very few drivers I've had that weren't up to par, I haven't seen around for long, and I use these buses often enough to realize this. Sorry for the folks out there that have had bad experiences, but the city seems rather dedicated to improve the service and takes user input pretty seriously. Take a ride and explore the [tourist-friendly] parts of the city! ;) read more

I have rode the circulator a couple times and usually it is not a problem. . But I tried to catch it in Harbor East after a movie one night. The Landmark movie theater is right between two stops. So my friend and I jog along after the bus to meet it at its next stop (#226). The driver must have seen us. The bus was at a complete stop and the light had been red for 10 seconds or so. Instead of opening its doors for us to get in, as we walked up to it, the bus ran the red light at Central and Aliceanna, making a left turn through the intersection. Unbelievable. Not safe at all. Okay it was 11:05 PM, maybe they were about to get off their shift. But endangering pedestrians and drivers, not cool. I went home and submitted a complaint on its webiste, left a message on the supervisor's voicemail, and did not receive a response. Thumbs down in for their responsiveness as well. read more

The Good: - Free - Fewer stops = less time to your destination - Very clean interiors - Friendly, courteous drivers - Never crowded. I've seen a max of 10 people on the bus at one time. - Hybrid buses - Hits most of the B-more tourist traps The Bad: - The wait between buses can be over 20 minutes during the morning commute - Why no Canton route? Is this for you? Even though the routes are limited, the ride is free. And there is nothing better than a free, clean ride around Baltimore. Thanks for the parting gift Sheila Dixon. read more

On a recent trip from DC, I noticed that Baltimore also has a Circulator bus system. Except theirs is free, AND it has an iPhone app that's not completely useless. Awesome! Charm City Circulator passes my public transportation litmus test - it goes to places I want to go, it's feels clean and safe, and runs frequently. I used this on a recent trip to Baltimore and it probably saved my wife and I a combined 20 or so bucks over the course of a weekend. That was definitely nice. read more

So I'm going to be the negative nancy who didn't like the CCC. Yes, it's free. We would have normally done taxis or public buses, but we saw the CCC advertised in the city tourism guide and thought it must be good. They advertise it as a tourist bus, but in reality, maybe 20% of the riders were tourists that day. We ended up spending our time sitting with foul smelling locals. There was lots of litter from riders. *le sigh* I've seen busses & subways in NYC that were plenty cleaner than the CCC. The signs would tell you that a bus was coming in X minutes, and that wasn't very accurate. We saw that the sign said that next bus was in 11 minutes, and as soon as we turned to walk away to hop in a shop while we awaited, behold, a bus. Can't they get their system to link to the actual busses? Then add two miserable drivers to the day. The worst was the driver who felt the need to humiliate every tourist who didn't follow the rules. Yes, one should follow the rules. But when boarding the bus, it's very hard to see the little "do not eat or drink" sign. Instead of politely asking folks to stop, he felt that harassment was a better option. One tourist nearly burst into tears when she went in the back door, not noticing the "do not enter" sign, and was then told by the driver to go read the sign. She came up to apologize and he continued to berate her. We lost a good five minutes to just that incident alone. It's an embarrassment to the city of Baltimore to allow their front of the line employees to treat tourists that way. I think we may do taxis the next time. Maybe we just met the CCC on a bad day, but as a day tripper, I don't need that bad taste in my mouth again. read more

You can never go wrong with free.. i said FREEEEEE transportation. lol the only reason why i left 1 star off was b/c homeless people and bums get on this bus and ride it all day for AC or heating. which i dont have too much of a problems but when you have thee ENTIRE bus smelling like FRIOTOS then yes we do have a problem. OR when ur asking me for $$ money then we do have another problem lol hold ur bags tight If yu have lived or been downtpown Baltimore several times then you know exactly what i mean. Other then that Bus drivers are very respectful and they all speak to ME or sometimes even hold a nice converstation with me. This is also Eco-Friendly which is perfect for me. I love going green so any1 else that supports going green gets my vote, :-) read more

Pros: + FREE + Trackable online + Friendly drivers + Clean Cons: - Stops randomly go out of service, hard to find replacement stops if there are any - Routes are circuitous, so it might take a while to get to where you're going CCC is a free bus service in Baltimore. I usually take the green line, and I've generally had great experiences on it. The drivers are friendly, the buses are clean, and I've never felt unsafe on one of these buses. Did I mention that it was free? My only complaint is that sometimes stops go out of service, and it's hard to find the replacement stops because they don't update their maps online. For example, green line stop 101 (Rutland Ave) has been down for like a year, but on the map on the website it still shows up as a legitimate stop. By the way, there's no replacement stop for 101 - it just doesn't exist and the bus goes straight to Hopkins from stop 127. I've had other experiences where I waited at a green line stop in Harbor east, and three buses just drove by without stopping. Apparently it wasn't a stop anymore, but there wasn't a "temporarily out of service" sign like there usually is, and even worse, no directions to the nearest stop. The route (at least for the green line) is somewhat circuitous, so I often end up taking an Uber or something to get to where I'm going since I'm willing to pay $5 to get there in 10 minutes rather than wait an hour for a free trip. read more

One of the things that I love about Baltimore is that the city offers a free bus service to many of the main points of interest in the city. DC, New York, Boston, Philly, etc. etc. You don't do this, so I'm not interested in anyone from these places bad-mouthing Baltimore. The CCC is such a wonderful thing for the city to have. It undoubtedly boosts the economic activity of the city because people are able to get to certain neighborhoods to spend money and generate tax revenue without contributing to traffic or worrying about parking. That being said, you get what you pay for. There are plenty of paid options for getting around the city, so if you're fast to be a Debby Downer, take a bus that you have to pay for, a cab, the light rail, or drive. Yes, there are homeless people who abuse the CCC, but the bottom line is that it's saved me a ton of money over the past few years, so I'm not going to nit-pick. My only complaint is that there is often a discrepancy between the times that the mobile app, the displays at most stops, and when the busses actually arrive. Based on what people have complained about, this is the only thing that the CCC people actually have control over, so I hope they attempt to improve on this front. read more

I know nothing is free. We somehow pay a price for everything. But I love this free service. More cities and towns should offer something similar. The Circulator runs every 10 minutes. It's the perfect public transportation for city goers. We don't have to fight traffic or pay for parking! Look for the orange green and purple buses and lines. The signs at the stops will even tell you when the next bus is coming. It will wait at a stop if its early and has always been on time. I would like to see the service run later but I shouldn't complain when it's free. And it's exciting to see them expanding and adding more lines. Go Baltimore. Except the dumb Occupy Baltimore protesters wrote on some of the seats. Way to go. Super classy. read more

What's not too love? Clean, free, air-conditioned rides! Took us everywhere we wanted to go, even has countdown clocks at the stops to let you know when the next bus is coming. All of the drivers were very friendly. I just wish it had later hours during the week, but considering it's free, I guess they can't afford to run it all night. We were also there mid June, so maybe during the height of summer, they will extend the hours. read more

You have got to be kidding!! This is not for tourists!! I am on a bus full of teenagers practically yelling over each other, passing french fries around, backpacks slung over shoulders which you have to dodge to keep from getting hit in the face!!! One just dropped her earring in my lap!! They beed supervisor on these!!! read more

Free transpiration in a city that prides its individual neighborhoods is a very good thing. The Circulator has passed it's honeymoon phase and has really become a reliable means of getting across town. The busses are clean, mostly on time, and cover the crucial hot spots you would hope. The fact that there is an mobile app offered to help keep track of the next buss is a great plus. I'll save my opinion on the app for it's own review but the fact that there is one is a good thing (when it's working). The city can get pretty busy in the summer so having access to free, clean, and airconditioned busses is a welcomed perk of Charm City. read more

Well, free is nice. But I got to the train station at 6:15 thinking I would take light rail. No one was down there, and the police officer said "just take the circulator, free!" So I was at the stop 4 minutes later. The first bus got to me, no kidding, at 7:18. Almost an hour waiting. Which I feel stupid about. Not worth it. And then, "I gotta wait here for 4 minutes" says the driver. OH my, really? This is the free service. Perhaps put in place to help people. But if they are frittering their lives away waiting for you then a MAJOR disservice. read more

It's free, it's clean (usually), it's usually bum-free. The Charm City Circulator is a great public transit option for downtown Baltimore. I've used it many times so I can go out and not worry about driving drunk. Take the CCC, save some gas! read more

Seriously. As good as it gets. Thank you, B'more for this awesome service. Like any bus service, you have to give yourself a window of flex time but you can tell these drivers are pros and they're doing their best to stay on schedule. These are the nicest drivers, too! All the riders should be nice them...they won't bite! read more

Wanted to take a visitor into Baltimore (from Columbia, MD) for an Orioles game and to see Fort McHenry. Did not want to drive into the city though. Hopped the Light Rail to Camden Yards stop, walked two blocks over and picked up a Banner Route CCC bus up to the Fort. Came back down for the game, then half way back up Key Highway for dinner and back. Buses are clean, drivers are pleasant and the service is FREE! I will definitely use the CCC bus again. read more

I love the Circulator. I was so excited when it started a few years ago, and I take it often. To be fair, many of the reviews are correct, the bus is frequently late between stops. But for me, the FREE part helps me look past it. I use to live in the county and either drive downtown for work (gas, mileage, wear/tear) or take the metro ($60+ a month). Since moving back to the city (ah, I never should have left!) I gladly accept a bus that is running behind but gets me to and from for free. In the mornings and afternoons, you usually find students and professionals on their commute. Midday buses are usually for tourists. And night buses usually have native Bmorians heading out to enjoy the city. I find that morning buses are more reliable. In the afternoons, though, since downtown is a parking lot, it can be a bit harder. My best recommendation for that, though, is to keep the Bus Tracker page bookmarked on your phone to get updates and cut down on your wait time. One real complaint thought, I wish they'd fix the electronic update boards at the stops. Only a few of the stops have it, and it's really useful, but many (at least on the Purple route) seem to not be working. Also, be mindful that since the expansion from Penn Station to 33rd (which is wonderful) not all buses go past Penn. I was on a bus last week that stopped at Penn and we were told to wait for the next one. I'm not sure how long that took because I decided to walk the other 6 or so blocks to get home. TL;DR: it's free although slow, but who cares because FREE read more

The Dr driver only orange bus African Foreigner constantly refuses to pick passengers up when they have multiple places to go. Right now I'm disabled with a broken foot until August. So the only way for me to get back and forth for food and medication is the Charm City circular. He constantly yells at me. Tells me he's not picking me up. Constantly asks where I'm going I never ride the whole circuit I go to food banks and then get received my medication on Arlington and Pratt. That is all and he gives me a constant hard time about it. He's rude to other customers as well and sometimes just drives away. Constantly eating while driving. Its none of his business where im goijg until its time for me to depart the bus. All other bus drivers are very courtious to my needs and do their job while assisting me. Max bus ride may be 10 min for me. Thank you. read more

Free, safe, and clean! Hooray! I'd never take a bus in my home town, but I loved using the Charm City Circulator when I was in town for business. (after walking nearly 10 miles, my feet were very appreciative, too) The different bus routes take you to just about any place you'd want to go. This allowed me to check out different parts of the city that I might not have been able to make it to on foot. read more

A free, quick, clean, stress-free ride to Baltimore's inner harbor is all it took to erase my skepticism about the Circulator bus service. While the purple line, which goes from Penn Station to the harbor, seemed to make every possible stop along the way, you can't beat that it reliably runs every 15 minutes (even on Sunday). And because it's free, there's not that back up you get at the door from people trying to pay their fare. The bus driver even waited for us to get to the bus stop although we were about a block away from the stop when it got there. I don't live close enough to walk to Penn station to catch it, but even if I drive a the five minutes and park near the station, it beats riding the #3 (which doesn't quite take you as close to the harbor) or driving to the harbor and searching and paying for parking. Thanks Baltimore. read more

This company is the perfect example of "happy employees makes happy customers". Just because something is free doesn't mean that it's good, I'm very happy to say that doesn't apply here. The bus always seems to be on time, which is amazing to me because Baltimore's traffic is not so good. The drivers are also very happy to be there, which is also amazing to me because of the traffic and everyone seems to hate their jobs now (even though their happy to have a job). Whatever the magic potion is, it's working. Dear Charm City Circulator: Please don't screw with it. Love, Me... read more