The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is celebrating love throughout February with a special Valentine’s Day-themed twist on its Flash Bus Rapid Transit service along U.S. 29.
Five Flash BRT buses serving the Colesville Road and Columbia Pike corridor have been decorated with neon heart lights and red accent lighting framing the buses. The illuminated buses are part of a month-long promotion encouraging residents and visitors to spot the LoveFlash buses and join in on the fun.
Anyone who sees one of the decorated buses is invited to take a photo and post it on social media for a chance to win a $35 gift card. To enter, riders and passersby must post a photo of a LoveFlash bus on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or X, tag and follow @MCDOTNow, and keep their post public. A weekly winner will be selected, and the contest runs through Saturday, Feb. 28.
The U.S. 29 Flash BRT route includes 12 stops connecting Downtown Silver Spring and Briggs Chaney, with frequent, limited-stop service. During weekday rush hours, the route extends north to Burtonsville, providing faster and more reliable travel along one of the county’s busiest corridors.
County officials say the Valentine’s decorations are meant to highlight the human side of public transit while drawing attention to the benefits of the Flash system. Flash offers high-frequency service, upgraded stations, pre-boarding payment, traffic signal priority, and dedicated lanes where available. Like all Ride On buses, Flash is currently free to ride.
Since launching in 2020, the U.S. 29 Flash line has consistently ranked among the county’s most heavily used bus routes. Transportation officials say the seasonal decorations are a way to celebrate that popularity while building excitement for future expansion.
Montgomery County plans to grow the Flash network with seven additional corridors, along with an extension of the U.S. 29 line into Howard County, which is expected to open in fall 2026. The Veirs Mill Road Flash corridor is slated to be the next full buildout, with utility construction already underway. That project will be followed by work on the central Rockville Pike and North Bethesda corridor.
