Pat McLaine was tired of commiserating with other bus riders about the shortage of parking spots at the Snowden River Park and Ride in east Columbia, so she decided to take action.

As a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, McLaine, 58, of Columbia, catches commuter buses from the Park and Ride four to five days a week. She's seen the number of commuters steadily increasing and witnessed fellow commuters miss their buses thanks to a dearth of parking spaces.

"Since gas prices have started going up, we've seen new riders every week," McLaine said.

Earlier this month, McLaine spearheaded a successful campaign to petition Howard County Executive Kenneth Ulman to expand the lot at the Park and Ride.

Her petition, which included 140 signatures and was submitted to Ulman on June 2, prompted the county executive to visit the lot, which is near the intersection of Snowden River Parkway and Route 175, and to add 50 spaces there.

County officials are working with those from the Maryland Department of Transportation, which owns and operates the state's Park and Ride facilities, on the expansion project.

To expand the lot, county crews will add a gravel overflow lot with room for 50 vehicles next to the existing 210-space paved lot by mid-August. The project will cost the county's Department of Public Works about $50,000, Ulman said, adding that the county agreed to foot the bill for the expansion in order to address the concerns expressed by McLaine and other county residents who supported her petition.

The county also is planning to install bike racks at the Park and Ride and to extend the sidewalks around the lot toward a nearby shopping center -- a capital project that already is accounted for in the county budget.

County and state officials also are discussing more long-term solutions to the issue of overcrowded commuter lots and buses, which is a growing problem statewide, officials said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced June 24 that three daily round trips between Columbia and Washington, D.C., will be added July 1. The three new lines will cost $785,000 and are part of a larger $3.3 million state transit expansion, according to a spokeswoman for the state's transportation department.

Ulman visits commuter lot

After receiving McLaine's petition, Ulman visited the Snowden River lot and decided it was necessary to speak with state leaders to consider immediate and long-term solutions, he said.

Park and Rides across the state have seen an increase in demand as gas prices rise, according to the results of a survey conducted by the State Highway Administration this spring.

On April 10, the administration counted 177 vehicles in the Snowden River lot, which was a 12 percent increase since the fall. However, when Ulman visited the lot a few weeks ago, he saw only two empty spaces, he said, adding that filled lots lead some commuters to give up on mass transit or to park illegally.

While the county is working with the state to revamp the transit system to accommodate more people, Ulman said he hopes to find less expensive short-term solutions, such as overflow lots. However, some overcrowded lots, like the Park and Ride lots on Broken Land Parkway in east Columbia -- which have more than 300 spots each -- are land-locked and have no space for overflow lots. Ulman hopes the additional space at Snowden River will relieve pressure from the Broken Land lots, he said.

"Increased transit ridership is what we want, even if it has the potential to overwhelm the system," Ulman said. "We know we need to take a look at a long-term solution."

McLaine said she was pleased with the response to her petition, but added that she would like to see more buses between Howard County and Baltimore.

"I knew there was a good likelihood that the petition would be met with a good reception from the county," McLaine said. "I hope more people consider taking public transportation, especially if we figure out a way to make it easier to do so."

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