Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 24, 2012

Metro invests in 'better bus' service in DC, Maryland, Virginia


First round of biggest improvements to service in 5 years begin June 17

better bus

Metro will invest $5 million over the next year to provide customers with better bus service with the first round of improvements taking effect in less than a month.

The effort represents the biggest improvement to bus service in five years and will include the introduction of new limited-stop MetroExtra routes on three new travel corridors, conversion of four existing routes to limited-stop MetroExtra service, and refinements to eleven existing priority corridors.

The first round of improvements will take effect June 17 and are intended to improve on-time performance and reliability while reducing crowding for customers along several routes in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. More than 150,000 customers—roughly one third of all bus customers—will benefit from more frequent service, additional capacity, expanded hours of operation on selected MetroExtra routes.

Over the next year, Metro will invest more than $3 million to advance its Priority Corridor Network, benefitting customers with improved service and increased capacity.

“Our ‘better bus’ program will improve the travel experience of bus customers throughout the region,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles. “This investment will add service and make buses more reliable and less crowded on our most heavily traveled bus corridors.”

Among the service enhancements that take effect with the June 17 schedule change are:

  • Two hours of additional MetroExtra limited-stop service along Pennsylvania Avenue SE (one additional hour during the morning commute and one additional hour in the evening commute)
  • Two hours of additional MetroExtra limited-stop service along Wisconsin Avenue NW (one additional hour during the morning commute and one additional hour in the evening commute
  • Additional capacity along the busy 16th Street NW corridor with more frequent MetroExtra buses and the introduction of 60-foot accordion-style articulated buses
  • Implementation of new "headway-based" service along Georgia Avenue NW and 7th Street NW. With headway-based service, buses operate at a specified interval (e.g. "every 10 minutes"), rather than on a fixed timetable.
  • A new route providing direct service between New Carrollton, Prince George’s Plaza and Fort Totten
  • Introduction of express bus service between Crystal City/Pentagon and Rosslyn as a new option for current Blue Line customers
  • Increased service on along Leesburg Pike with route 28X buses every 15 minutes during peak hours.


The June bus service enhancements are projected to increase annual bus ridership by more than 250,000 trips. For the first seven months of FY12 (July 2011 through March 2012), bus ridership increased seven percent over the same period the previous year.

This fall, Metro will launch a second wave of bus service enhancements, including:

  • Conversion of the A9 route on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave to limited-stop MetroExtra service
  • Conversion of the 16F and 16Y routes on Columbia Pike to limited-stop MetroExtra service
  • Conversion of the 28X route on Leesburg Pike to limited-stop MetroExtra service
  • Improve service on the MetroExtra J4 route between College Park and Bethesda
  • Improve on-time performance on the Y-Line routes along Georgia Ave in Maryland and on the REX route along Richmond Highway in Virginia

To inform customers of these bus service enhancements and to encourage ridership, Metro will launch a “better bus” public awareness campaign, including in-system posters, signage and on-board announcements, newspaper ads, take-one flyers, email alerts and web pages.

Later in the fiscal year, Metro will advance several more projects along priority corridor networks, including restructuring routes A4 and A5, introduction of a new, rush hour MetroExtra route on New Hampshire Avenue, new Saturday service on MetroExtra 79 along Georgia Ave NW, and new, midday service on Metrobus route Q9 on Veirs Mill Road.

Summary of bus changes effective June 17, 2012

District of Columbia


37 Wisconsin Avenue MetroExtra
39 Pennsylvania Avenue MetroExtra
Additional trips will run every 15 minutes and the span of service will increase from two hours to three hours in the morning and evening rush hours. New scheduled travel times will reflect the current traffic conditions for improved on-time performance.

70 Georgia Avenue - 7th Street
79 Georgia Avenue MetroExtra
On weekdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., service will operate at time-based intervals rather than on a timetable schedule to improve on-time performance and reliability.


74 Convention Center –Southwest Waterfront
The Buzzard Point extension of the morning and evening rush hour trips will be discontinued due to low ridership. To reduce crowding, the time between buses will be reduced from 18 to 12 minutes during the morning peak period, and from 20 to 15 minutes during the evening peak period.

D3 Ivy City – Dupont Circle
The time between buses during the morning rush hour will increase from 20 minutes to 24 minutes due to low ridership. Short trips to Dupont Circle will end at 20th Street & New Hampshire Avenue, NW, instead of P & 22nd streets, NW.

D6 Sibley Hospital – Stadium-Armory
Short trips to Dupont Circle will end at 20th Street & New Hampshire Avenue, NW instead of at P & 22nd streets, NW. Short trips starting at Farragut Square will leave from 17th & I streets, NW on the east side of the park rather than from the west side of the park.

G8 Rhode Island Avenue
Buses will run every 8 minutes instead of 10 minutes during the morning peak period and every 12 minutes, down from 15 minutes, during the evening peak period to reduce crowding. Scheduled travel times adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions.

L1, L2, L4 Connecticut Avenue
The line will be restructured as follows: The L1 will be rerouted via Virginia Avenue, NW, between 23rd and C streets, NW. The L2 will operate direct via Connecticut Avenue between Chevy Chase Circle and Farragut Square, using the underpass at Dupont Circle, except for a diversion via Calvert Street and Columbia Road. The L4 will be discontinued. The time between buses on both L1 and L2 will be 12 minutes during the morning rush hour and 15 minutes during the evening rush hour. During the evening peak period, additional service will continue to operate between Van Ness-UDC station and Chevy Chase Circle. The L2 will operate every 20 minutes during middays and on Saturdays, and every 30 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays. Scheduled travel times will be adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions.

M6 Fairfax Village
Recovery time between trips will increase to improve reliability and on-time performance.

P1, P2, P6 Anacostia – Eckington
The line will be restructured, and the P1 and P2 will be discontinued. The P6 will be rerouted via M Street, SE and SW instead of Virginia Avenue, and via Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue instead of 13th Street, SE to align with the new 11th Street Bridge. Buses will run every 15 minutes in morning and evening rush hours, every 20 minutes during middays, and 30 minutes on evenings and weekends. Scheduled travel times will be adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions and improve on-time performance.

S1 16th Street – Potomac Park
Sixty-foot articulated buses will operate on selected trips to increase capacity and reduce crowding.

S2, S4 16th Street
Weekday midday S4 trips will terminate at Franklin Square (13th & I streets, NW) instead of Federal Triangle.

S9 16th Street Limited
Additional morning and evening rush hour trips will be added. Buses will operate every 7 to 8 minutes, down from every 10 minutes to reduce crowding. Scheduled travel times will be adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions.

V7, V8, V9 Minnesota Avenue – M Street
Weekday and Saturday scheduled travel times will be adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions and improve on-time performance. Buses will run every 30 minutes on Saturdays and coordinate with U2 trips on Minnesota Avenue.

W4 Deanwood – Alabama Avenue
To reduce crowding, the time between buses during weekday middays will be reduced from 33 to 26 minutes.

Maryland

C8 College Park – White Flint
On weekdays, the C8 will divert into the Food & Drug Administration/Federal Research Center complex in White Oak during business hours and early evenings, and into Archives II during business hours and research hours. On Saturdays, the C8 will divert into Archives II during research hours.

D12, D13, D14 Oxon Hill - Suitland
Scheduled travel times are adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions and improve on-time performance. Check the new timetable for details.

F4 only New Carrollton – Silver Spring
This line will split into two lines. The F4 routing will not change, but additional trips will be added to relieve overcrowding and replace F6 service (which no longer runs to Silver Spring; see F6 section for details). Scheduled travel times will be adjusted to reflect current traffic conditions and improve on-time performance.

F6 New Carrollton – Fort Totten
The new route F6 will follow its current routing between New Carrollton station and East-West Highway & Riggs Road. From there, it will operate to Fort Totten station, replacing the R3 between those points (see the R3 section). The F6 will operate on weekdays only.

NH1 National Harbor
NH1 will operate via Oxon Hill Road between Indian Head Highway and the St. Barnabas Road/Beltway interchange instead of on the Beltway, to provide connections with D12, W13 and W14 routes.

Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6 Veirs Mill Road Line
Scheduled travel times will be adjusted on weekdays between Wheaton and Silver Spring stations to coordinate with routes Y5, Y7, Y8 and Y9. Check the new timetable for details.

R1, R2, R5 Riggs Road
The R2 will operate via 23rd Avenue between University Boulevard and East-West Highway, replacing R3 service which will no longer serve 23rd Avenue. The R2 will no longer serve Prince George’s Plaza station. Midday R2 buses will run more frequently—every 35 minutes instead of 40 minutes. Sunday buses will run every 60 minutes, reduced from 70 minutes. Southbound R5 trips in the morning rush hour and northbound trips in the evening rush hour will be discontinued. All trips between Calverton and Fort Totten station in both directions will operate via route R2. See the new R1,2 timetable for trip times.

R3 Greenbelt – Fort Totten
The new R3 line will be renamed the Greenbelt – Prince George’s Plaza Line.The R3 will no longer operate between Prince George’s Plaza and Fort Totten stations. Instead, it will operate between Prince George’s Plaza and Greenbelt stations only during the morning and evening rush periods, and will not divert into Beltway Plaza. (Beltway Plaza is accessible from stops on Cherrywood Lane.) Replacement service between East-West Highway and Fort Totten station via Sargent Road will be rerouted to F6 buses on weekdays. (There will be no replacement service on weekends.) Replacement service along 23rd Avenue will be accommodated by the R2 and will be available seven days a week. The C8 will divert off of Adelphi Road into Archives II on most trips weekdays and Saturday, providing non-rush replacement service for R3 and supplementing the shortened R3 service during rush periods.

Y5, Y7, Y8, Y9 Georgia Avenue – Maryland
Scheduled travel times will be adjusted on weekdays between Wheaton and Silver Spring stations to coordinate with routes Q1, Q2 and Q4. Check the new timetable for details.

Virginia

3T Pimmit Hills
Weekday and Saturday service between Tysons Corner and Tysons-Westpark will be discontinued. The first Saturday eastbound trip also will be discontinued.

3Y Lee Highway-Farragut Square
Morning trip times will be adjusted to coordinate with 3A,B,E Lee Highway Line service.

4A,B,E,H Pershing Drive – Arlington Boulevard
Buses will operate every 30 minutes during the weekday off-peak period on the main portion of the 4 route and every 60 minutes on the 4A to Culmore, 4B Seven Corners via Pershing Drive and 4H to Seven Corners via Arlington Boulevard. The times that buses arrive and leave at Seven Corners in the late evening will be adjusted to reflect operation through the transit center.

7M Mark Center – Pentagon
A new northbound trip will leave Mark Center at 6:46 p.m.

9E Huntington – Pentagon/Rosslyn
Some trips will extend past the Pentagon to Rosslyn to provide a new travel option for Blue Line customers. Buses to Rosslyn will show ROSSLYN on the windshield display.

10E Hunting Point – Rosslyn
The 10E will extend to Rosslyn station via the Crystal City VRE station to provide a new travel option for Blue Line customers.

15L Chain Bridge Road
Limited-stop service will be implemented on weekday morning rush hour service to Rosslyn. Buses will stop only at Quincy Street and Fort Myer Drive.

16B, 16E Columbia Pike
The weekday westbound 16E trip leaving the Pentagon at 11:30 p.m. will change to a 16B trip and will no longer operates via Pentagon City station. The westbound 16G trip leaving Pentagon City at 11:33 p.m. will replace service at that station.

22A Barcroft – South Fairlington
The time between buses during the weekday peak will increase from 10 to 12.5 minutes on the main portion between Ballston and Barcroft, and increases from 20-21 minutes to 25 minutes to/from the Pentagon. The time between buses during the weekday off-peak period will increase from 40 to 45 minutes on the entire route. The route number of Ballston-Barcroft morning and evening peak short trips will change to 22B and will loop in the Barcroft area via George Mason Drive and Four Mile Run Drive.

28A Leesburg Pike
The times that buses leave Seven Corners in the late evening will be adjusted to reflect operation through the transit center.

28X Leesburg Pike Limited
Service will improve with buses every 15 minutes in both directions between Mark Center and West Falls Church station, and every 30 minutes to/from Tysons Corner.

REX Richmond Highway Express
A new weekday schedule will be implemented with adjustments in trip times between Huntington and Fort Belvoir. Check the new timetable for details.

For more information on Metrobus, call (202) 637-7000 or visit wmata.com. Metrobus schedules can be found online at http://www.wmata.com/bus/timetables/.

News release issued at 12:16 pm, May 24, 2012.