Of all the factors to consider when comparing private schools, four wheels convinced Therese Palamaku to send her daughter to the Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac.

Ride On 36 line, which takes Palamaku's daughter Pernilla Mpasi from Aspen Hill and drops her at the school's driveway, is among 28 lines that could be discontinued to save the county money.

Palamaku, a Ride On employee who counts riders, doesn't understand the decision to cut the 36 line.

"The 36 has a lot of people riding in the morning, a lot of people. All the lines are packed during rush hour," Palamaku said. "They need to find elsewhere to save money, not transportation."

Riders can weigh in at public hearing on the proposed cuts at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Executive Office Building Cafeteria, 101 Monroe St., Rockville.

Mpasi takes two buses to school, first the 34, which is also on the cut list for evening reductions, and then the 36, which is on the list for weekday elimination. If those cuts happen, Mpasi said she doesn't know how she will get to school or home from softball, basketball and field hockey practices. It could mean a long walk in the dark to a different bus line.

"Not only do so many people take it and need it," Mpasi said of the 36 line, "but it goes so many places that no other buses go."

Mpasi said the county should take that into consideration for the cuts, not just ridership.

County spokeswoman Esther Bowring said the county tried to propose the cuts "objectively."

"The ones that were selected were the ones with the lowest ridership that would affect the fewest people," Bowring said. "One of the issues is that in a normal time where budget was not an issue a lot of these routes would not be proposed for cuts at all."

But the $600 million shortfall facing the county, Bowring said, requires "extraordinary measures." Bowring said if the county made all the proposed Ride On cuts, it would save $1 million for the remainder of fiscal 2010 and $4 million in fiscal 2011.

But Howard Hoffman of Bethesda said that savings is not the only cost that should be considered. Hoffman takes the 30 bus, proposed for weekday elimination, to get to the Metro to get to work in the District. An online petition against cutting the 30 bus had 312 signatures Monday.

Traffic and alternatives for transportation should be considered when cuts are proposed, Howard said. Eliminating the 30 bus would "undermine efforts to improve congestion" that are underway in anticipation of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to open in Bethesda next year.

A Jan. 18 letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett from the District 16 delegation, Sen. Brian Frosh (D), Del. Bill Bronrott (D), Del. Bill Frick (D) and Del. Susan Lee (D), underscored that point.

"Bethesda-Chevy Chase residents need more, not less, Ride-On connections" in the face of increasing traffic and congestion from the incoming hospital, they wrote, or "residents will likely take the path of least resistance: hopping in their cars and driving to their destinations."

With no public transportation, Hoffman said he could be among them.

"There's a strong possibility that I would drive to work," Hoffman said.

The county has proposed reductions or cuts to several Ride On lines in an effort to help close the gap in budget shortfalls. The following is a list of lines that could be affected. A public hearing will be 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Executive Office Building Cafeteria, 101 Monroe St., Rockville.

-Weekday discontinuations: Routes 3, 21, 30, 31, 33, 36, 52, 53, 81

-Saturday discontinuations: Routes 14, 23, 29, 43, 45, 83, 98, L8, T2, Z2

-Sunday discontinuations: Routes 29, 38, 83, L8, T2

-Weekday segment discontinuations: Routes 7, 22, 32, 43

-Weekday rush Hour reductions: Routes 22, 43, 93

-Evening reductions: Routes 15, 17, 34, 49, 57, 61, 83, 37