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Laurel commuters relying on public transit to get to Baltimore or Washington, D.C., may have to get creative as the Maryland Transit Administration announced several reductions in its commuter bus and train services to begin Monday.

The commuter bus line Route 320 that runs from Laurel to Baltimore has been trimmed, eliminating all Laurel stops. The mid-day Maryland Area Regional Commuter bus shuttle between Laurel and Odenton – the only mass transit from Washington, D.C., to Laurel during the day – will also be eliminated.

The cuts – which according to projected estimates will save $5 million for the fiscal year and $10 million each fiscal year afterwards – stem from a shortage of revenue in Maryland's Transportation Trust Fund, which helps pay for transit capital and operating costs, transit officials said.

Routes 310 and 320 from Baltimore to Columbia, both originally slated to be completely cut, were spared thanks to a $200,000 contribution from Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.

Jawauna Greene, an MTA spokesperson, said the savings is reason enough to be positive.

"This is a hard story to tell, but the silver lining is there were a lot of lines we were able to save," she said. "We're extremely optimistic because we didn't have to eliminate the entire service. Just some parts and frequency."

The MTA and other agencies under the Maryland Department of Transportation receive a large portion of their revenue from motor fuel taxes, vehicle titling taxes and car registration fees. The three taxes equate to 55 percent of the Transportation Trust Fund.

Yet dwindling auto sales outweigh the lower fuel costs.

"The titling tax income is almost three times as much as fuel tax," said Erin Henson, a Maryland Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Henson added Maryland saw a 38 percent drop in car sales in November 2008 compared to November 2007.

The MTA has not seen a decrease in the number of riders since gas prices have dropped, Henson said.

Other cuts in service include the MTA not operating on all federal holidays, the day after Thanksgiving, and the day after Christmas. It will run holiday service instead of full service for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

The 10-trip ticket on the MARC trains will also be eliminated, but riders can still purchase these tickets until Friday and can use them until March 9. Greene said this change cuts costs while still maintaining the integrity of the MARC service.

Of the 15 total routes in the Washington, D.C., section, there are six routes that make stops in Prince George's County. According to MTA statistics, more than 3 million people ride the line each year, with an average of nearly 12,000 each weekday based on fiscal 2007.

All seven routes on the Baltimore commuter bus line – of which Laurel was a part of – have a boarding rate of just over 1,400 per weekday and an average of nearly 360,000 annually. The Odenton shuttle has 18 daily riders.

Elsewhere in the county, the commuter bus line from Annapolis to New Carrollton will be eliminated. The Waldorf to Suitland Metro station route will also be cut, but an additional round trip will be added to the Waldorf to Washington, D.C., line, which stops at the Suitland station