Georgia Avenue to Norbeck Road: about eight miles, no Metro required
Olney has no train and does not pretend to. What it has is a straight run to Rockville down MD-97 and MD-28 that ends a few blocks from the shop, and a weekday bus that does the same trip if the car has to stay.
Two state routes and one right turn
- Georgia Avenue (MD-97) south from the MD-108 crossroads, about three miles, past the ICC interchange
- Right onto Norbeck Road (MD-28) at Norbeck
- Norbeck Road becomes First Street inside Rockville and meets Stonestreet Avenue
- Roughly eight miles in all; fifteen to twenty minutes outside rush hour
- Toll alternative: the ICC (MD-200) west to I-370, then MD-355 south
Leaving the car? Ride On Route 52 runs on weekdays between Rockville station and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney by way of Baltimore Road, Norbeck Road and Georgia Avenue, and Route 53 runs weekdays between Shady Grove and Glenmont stations through Olney. Ride On is currently fare-free. The county also keeps two free park-and-ride lots for Olney commuters, on Norbeck Road east of Georgia Avenue and at Georgia Avenue by the ICC.
What Olney does not have: a Metro station (Glenmont is nearest, and it is on the opposite arm of the Red Line from Rockville) or a MARC stop. Rockville station, one block from the shop, has both.
Farmland until the 1960s, garages ever since
Olney was largely agricultural until suburban growth turned it into a residential community in the 1960s; the Georgia Avenue and MD-108 crossroads is still its center. About 35,800 people lived in the census-designated place at the 2020 count. It is a place of owned homes and driveways: recent Census estimates put ownership near nine in ten households, the typical house built in the mid-1980s, two cars per household, and only a sliver of workers commuting by transit. Nearly a third work from home; most of the rest drive.
Landmarks you will pass
The Olney Theatre Center on Olney–Sandy Spring Road, staging plays since 1938 and one of Maryland’s two official state theaters since 1978, and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center on Prince Philip Drive, a hospital since 1920.
What the mid-80s house means for the car
Two-car garages and long commutes down Georgia Avenue: brakes, tires and alignment do the wearing, and a check-engine light on an aging second car is a common reason to come in.
What you get in Rockville
ASE Master Certified technicians, a quote before the work, an explanation in English, Spanish or French, and a shop at the same address since 2008. Call ahead to book; it is faster. Walk-ins are welcome if you have time to wait your turn.
Selling a car in Olney? The inspection is one trip.
A used car being sold, bought or titled needs a Maryland Safety Inspection from a station licensed by the State Police. Karnon Automotive is one, the result goes to the MVA electronically, and if something fails it is repaired and re-inspected here. The state’s VEIP emissions test is a separate matter and a separate building: from Olney the MVA’s full-service Rockville station in Derwood (15910 Chieftain Ave) is about ten miles by Norbeck, Muncaster Mill and Redland Roads, and the Silver Spring station in White Oak is the other option. For the MVA counter itself, Kemp Mill at 1327 Lamberton Dr in Silver Spring is nearest, about ten miles south by way of Georgia Avenue; road tests and the self-service emissions kiosk are at the Gaithersburg branch.