The infusion of high-paying government and contractor jobs headed to already-growing west county is promising to revive the area's reputation as a vital transit hub.Upgrades to bus, shuttle and train systems are being examined as regional planners figure out how to alleviate the expected traffic nightmare of thousands of new workers - largely brought in by the expansion of Fort George G. Meade - flooding the region.

The impending growth of the Army post and the surrounding area due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure plan, or BRAC, will soon bring new bus and shuttle routes to the fort and the nearby neighborhoods.

Longer-term transit possibilities include expanding Metrorail's Green Line from Greenbelt to Odenton and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, and having buses run all around west county.

"BRAC is definitely changing the landscape," said Heather McColl, executive director for the Annapolis Regional Transit Management Association.

The critically important rail stations midway between Annapolis, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore fueled the growth of Odenton and adjacent communities in the late 19th century. In the mid to late 1800s, steam-powered trains chugged down the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad lines and along the famed Pennsylvania Railroad line through Odenton.

Odenton's MARC station remains one of the busiest in the state's commuter rail system.

The train station and othertransportation options are expected to be the focal point of west county's redevelopment into an urban enclave.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., announced a $16 million earmark to build a new transit maintenance facility in Laurel to bolster public transportation in Central Maryland.

The facility, which will be on Corridor Road just south of the Route 32 and Route 1 interchange, is needed because of the expected increase in demand for bus service in the next few years.

"BRAC is bringing a lot of excitement and a lot of concern at the same time," said Sharon Smith, marketing director for Central Maryland Regional Transit. "We know that clearly transit is vitally important." Anne Arundel County currently contracts its sparse bus and transit services in west county out to CMRT. The company also administers bus service in Howard County.

CMRT's ridership has already swelled to 2 million people, according to Smith.

Over the next five to 10 years, a massive commercial and residential build-out in Odenton and in Hanover, near Arundel Mills mall, will only increase the demand for public transit, officials said. The Odenton station will be the centerpiece of the 1,600-acre Odenton Town Center development.

Regional planners are scrambling to nail down funds to improve and expand roads and intersections around Fort Meade and in west county. Still, studies have predicted delays of up to 30 minutes at intersections around the fort when the new jobs arrive.

"People are willing to do whatever it takes to get to their jobs as nicely and neatly as possible," McColl said.

Smith said ridership on the J and K bus routes near Arundel Mills has increased substantially already since the mall opened.

West county transit also is getting a boost from federal economic stimulus funds.

The county is rolling out a new circular bus route - the M Route - that will service the Piney Orchard neighborhood this spring. Stimulus funding helped purchase the two new buses for the route.

CMRT also was awarded stimulus money for technology upgrades to its fleet of buses.

Officials said the 2- to 3-mile shuttle will circulate around the shops and neighborhoods in Piney Orchard and back to the MARC station off Route 175 every 30 minutes.

The Maryland Transit Authority is adding more and larger-capacity rail cars to the MARC Penn Line train that services Odenton. It's part of a long-term plan by MTA to meet the demands of BRAC growth at Fort Meade and Aberdeen.

Extending the Washington, D.C., Metro Green Line from Greenbelt to Odenton or the BWI airport has been discussed for nearly a decade.

A recent transportation study also found potential in bus routes around Odenton, Crofton, Laurel, Hanover and other west county communities. But the Green Line and west county bus routes carry price tags above what the county or any municipality can afford.

"Transit demands money just like all public service does," said county transportation specialist George Cardwell . "What makes most sense is to start small with a couple of fixed routes."

Still, there may eventually be a need for the county to create its own transportation department.

The county is looking into merging its transit grant-administering operation and the county Aging and Disabilities Department, which administers shuttle service for local seniors, into one agency. "Today's planners now are realizing that you have to inject hope and vision into your plans and not worry about budget constraints," McColl said. "Maybe that means having two parallel plans."

The Defense Information Systems Agency - now based in Arlington, Va., but moving to Fort Meade as part of BRAC - is working with transit officials and its employees to get workers from their homes in Virginia to the fort.