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Transit officials are discussing ways for potential commuters to take advantage of unused capacity and potential route adjustments on buses that service the National Naval Medical Center pending its expansion.

Metro's Red Line serves 90 percent of Navy Med employees who use mass transit, but may be unable to add cars to its service because of budget constraints. Ride On and Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority buses that use Interstate 270 are underutilized, especially considering that many Navy Med employees live along that corridor, according to transportation officials.

"There seems to be an excellent fit between the bus service and the future needs of employees and visitors," said Gary Erenrich, Montgomery County's Department of Transportation liaison to WMATA.

The Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process will relocate the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Bethesda from Washington, D.C., in September 2011. After BRAC, the number of jobs at Navy Med will increase from its present level of 8,000 to 10,600.

Staff parking at Navy Med will be cut from 2,860 spaces to 2,460 spaces by 2011. But total parking spaces after BRAC will rise from 6,080 to 8,080 to accommodate patients, visitors and others. The Navy projects that 28 percent of its employees will drive alone to work in 2011, compared to the 2007 figure of 72 percent. At Walter Reed's current campus in the District, 81 percent of employees drive alone to work.

In its transportation management plan, Navy Med plans to try to increase the number of employees using transit and shared vehicles, instead of single-occupancy vehicles, from its current level of 11 percent to 30 percent by 2011. The plan calls for stepping up education efforts; pairing potential carpoolers; enhancing shuttle bus services; and identifying express bus routes and locations.

According to county information, 10 bus lines operated by Ride On and WMATA stop at or near the Medical Center transit hub at the National Institutes of Health, across the street from Navy Med. There are three Park and Ride lots along I-270 that service buses traveling to Navy Med.

The 70 bus operated by Ride On, for example, has an average unused capacity of six to eight seats for each of its buses during the peak morning period from 5:15 a.m. to 9 a.m., said Phil McLaughlin, Ride On's manager of operations planning. He said in addition to tweaking routes, larger buses could be switched to some routes to accommodate demand.

Another possibility involves using Park and Ride lots near the Intercounty Connector, which will connect U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95 in Prince George's County to the I-270 and I-370 area in Gaithersburg. County Councilman Marc Elrich's proposed county rapid bus system could include a route along the east side of Rockville Pike next to Navy Med, and a connection from Burtonsville to Silver Spring. Elrich's system would cost between $1 billion to $1.5 billion and create a 100-mile bus network along the Corridor Cities Transitway between Clarksburg and the Shady Grove Metro, and would also connect Rockville to the Takoma/Langley area. Elrich has said it could be finished by 2013.

Part of the solution to maximizing bus usage is publicizing what will be available for riders, said Sandy Brecher, an administrator with the county Department of Transportation's Commuter Services division. She cited "Signs of the Times," a system being developed that would post real-time county bus travel information at stops, and be accessible by mobile devices.

Seth Maiman, a Bethesda resident and BRAC Implementation Committee member, said he focuses on smaller, specific infrastructure improvements, like better bus shelters, more sidewalks, and more frequent buses. He said although he lives near the Medical Center Metro, he often finds himself driving to the Metro because it can be difficult to reach bus shelters and the buses do not always run frequently .

"It's not just getting people to [Navy Med]. It's getting people who live around there to where they have to go," Maiman said.