Federal workers will get free rides on Maryland trains and buses during government shutdown

During the government shutdown, federal workers will be able to get free rides on Maryland commuter buses and MARC trains by showing their ID badges.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said the freebies were to help Marylanders impacted by the shutdown.

He also called on President Trump to negotiate with Democrats to end the shutdown.

“This is what Maryland does in times of crisis: We band together and we help each other out. But while Maryland is mobilizing to ease the shutdown’s burden on our people. Let’s be clear, no state can fill the gap created by the federal government. The longer this shutdown lasts, the more pain we will feel, so it’s time for Donald Trump to come to the negotiating table on health care and open the government,” Mr. Moore said.

The federal government is the largest employer in Maryland. Before cuts implemented by the Trump administration, 269,000 Maryland residents worked for the federal government and 160,000 federal jobs were located in the state.

“Marylanders make up a large share of the federal workforce, so we fully understand the financial strain many of our riders are experiencing. Free rides on MARC and commuter bus ensure that federal workers who are still reporting to the office have one less thing to worry about,” Acting Maryland Secretary of Transportation Samantha Biddle said.

The free rides also help Marylanders who commute into the District for work.

Many of the Maryland Transit Administration commuter bus routes run from Maryland to the city, or from various parts of the state to the Maryland portion of the District’s suburbs. The MARC train line, meanwhile, has three routes that run into Union Station in the District.

Since the federal workforce cuts started, Maryland has lost more than 15,000 federal jobs, the most in the nation, according to Mr. Moore’s office. The state has offered assistance to former federal workers in finding jobs working for the state or as a teacher in a Maryland school system.