Metro News Release
For immediate release: September 16, 2010
Metrobus route changes would improve service, ridership
Metro seeks to make routes more direct, reliable
Metro has plans to improve bus service by providing faster and more direct service through popular routes in Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Metro’s Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee today (Sept. 16) endorsed implementing two new direct bus routes from Virginia into the District of Columbia, launching limited-stop service between Capitol Heights and downtown Washington, and increasing the frequency of buses between Silver Spring and Bethesda, all in an effort to enhance reliability and increase ridership. If approved by the Metro Board at its Sept. 30 monthly meeting, the proposed changes would go into effect on December 19.
To cover costs associated with these bus service enhancements, Metro has proposed to modify bus service levels on and surrounding select holidays when ridership typically drops by 30 percent. The holidays include Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Virginia Routes
Bus customers in Virginia who are headed into the District of Columbia would benefit from changes to the 16F and 7E routes that would take them directly downtown and would no longer require a transfer to a Blue or Yellow Line Metrorail train, thus saving riders money in addition to the convenience of being able to get downtown without transferring. The existing 13A and 13B would be replaced with extensions of the 16F and 7E routes. Service would be preserved through the Pentagon for customers who want to transfer to the Metrorail system or another bus as well as to allow other bus customers to transfer to the downtown bus routes.
The 7E route would provide service through the Pentagon and across Memorial Bridge to Federal Triangle, by way of Constitution Avenue. The adjusted 16F route would begin in the Culmore neighborhood, travel along Columbia Pike to the Pentagon and then continue across the 14th Street Bridge to Federal Triangle, by way of Independence Avenue. These route extensions would replace routes 13A and 13B.
D.C. Routes
Proposed adjustments to routes on the X Line include providing peak-period, limited-stop service in both directions on the X9 on Benning Road and H Street from Capitol Heights Metrorail station to downtown and revise the existing X2 schedules to complement the new service. This means buses would move quicker through that corridor. Limited-stop service has been popular along other bus routes because it speeds the trip for riders who are travelling longer distances. The new articulated red CNG buses are servicing these routes in addition to traditional-size buses.
Maryland Routes
Also under the proposed changes, some Greenbelt routes would be simplified and shortened to improve schedule reliability, overall cost-effectiveness and local connectivity. The adjustments were discussed in recent public hearings and endorsed by the Greenbelt City Council. Metro has worked extensively with Prince George’s County to ensure that Metrobus service complements other bus service (The Bus) in the Greenbelt area.
To enhance service between Silver Spring and Bethesda, bus trips will be added to the J2 route to provide additional service where popular buses have been identified as operating at capacity. Greenbelt area routes affected include C2, R12, T16 and T17.
Metro would also make minor additional adjustments in the future, based on jurisdictional planning efforts, school closings and relocations, roadway construction, special events, the planned opening of the new Silver Spring Transit Center, and a general need to ensure safe operations and improve schedule reliability.
News release issued at 12:36 pm, September 16, 2010.