Metro News Release
For immediate release: March 11, 2011
Improvements planned for Metrobus routes in District of Columbia, Maryland
Metro kicks off Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE, Georgia Avenue bus studies
Metro is continuing its review of priority bus corridors with two new studies underway to improve bus service along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast Washington and Georgia Avenue in Maryland.
The A Line provides service along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast Washington and includes the Anacostia-Congress Heights Line (A2, A6, A7, A8), Anacostia-Fort Drum Line (A4, A5) and South Capitol Street Line (A9). Total average weekday ridership of about 14,300 makes the combined lines among the most heavily used in the Metrobus system. The transit corridor is an important link between the residential areas of Southeast Washington and the Anacostia Metrorail station.
The Georgia Avenue-Maryland Line (Y5, Y7, Y8, Y9) provides bus service between the Silver Spring Metrorail station and Montgomery General Hospital via Georgia Avenue. Average weekday ridership is about 7,500 passengers. The transit corridor is an important means of travel for residents of the communities that border Georgia Avenue, including Silver Spring, Wheaton, Aspen Hill and Leisure World. The line also provides access to the Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton and Glenmont Metrorail stations, in addition to the Norbeck Road Park-and-Ride Lot and Montgomery General Hospital.
Bus operations and performance on both lines are currently impacted by overcrowding, frequent stops, bus bunching and heavy traffic along the transit corridors. The purpose of the studies is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of ways to improve bus performance and to develop an improvement strategy that includes service, operations and customer information enhancements.
In the coming months, Metro will conduct rider surveys and public meetings to get public input, which is critical to identifying problems and potential solutions.
Metro has been working with local transportation agencies in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to study and make improvements to the region’s most heavily used bus lines. For more information about the studies, visit http://www.metrobus-studies.com
News release issued at 11:01 am, March 11, 2011.