Three Plans for Better Bus Service

Metro is planning three improvements in its bus service that make a lot of sense.

MetroExpress stop.jpg Metro Extra bus at a downtown stop. (Robert Thomson)

-- Expand the service that links Union Station and the Navy Yard Station. The N22 line now shuttles commuters between Union Station, Eastern Market and the rapidly developing area around the Navy Yard near the Anacostia Waterfront. When the 41,000 seat Nationals Park opens at the end of March, there will be increased pressure on Metro to provide transportation for fans, and the Green Line can't do it all.

The plan is to add night and weekend service on the N22, so fans can connect directly to the Red Line at Union Station or pick up the Blue and Orange Lines at Eastern Market. The buses would run every 10 minutes.

-- Expand service on Georgia Avenue's Metro Extra. The route now provides rush period passengers with a limited stop service. Several routes were operating along Georgia Avenue when the Metro Extra (Metrobus Route 79) started in March. But the new route was designed to fill the needs of people who wanted a quicker trip along the avenue. According to Metro, the service has been popular and it worked. Long-distance riders save about 20 percent in the time of their trips because the stops are spaced about a half mile apart.

The plan is to expand the service into off-peak times as well. So the Metro Extra buses would run every 12 minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. and between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., while continuing their rush period service.

-- Create a daily, limited stop service linking the District with National Harbor. The huge new development on the Potomac River shore of Prince George's County, which is scheduled to partly open in March, needs a timely bus connection to the city.

The plan is to have this NH-1 Route connect National Harbor with Southern Avenue Metrorail station and the rest of the Metrobus system. It would operate about every 20 minutes during the rush periods and every 30 minutes at other times. The buses would run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Once the second span of the new Wilson Bridge opens this summer, the route could be extended from National Harbor to King Street Metrorail station in Alexandria as a Metro Extra service.

All of these routes would be subsidized by the jurisdictions involved. (The fares on buses and subways don't cover the cost of the trips.) The increased subsidy makes sense, because in each case, the routes not only will be important people movers but also aid in regenerating older communities, in the cases of Georgia Avenue and the Anacostia waterfront and creating a new one, at National Harbor.

The new services would start in March if the transit authority board approves of them this month.

By  |  February 14, 2008; 5:26 AM ET Metro
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Comments

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I would create a new line instead of increasing the N22. A direct route from Navy yard to Union Station using smaller buses and routed on New Jersey, D, 2nd and Mass with stops at Navy Yard, Capitol South, E. Capitol Street and US. I'd give it a better name than N22 too. Something like The Capitol Hill Connector or Union Station-Ballpark Express. What informations does N22 convey?

Posted by: VC | February 14, 2008 9:25 AM

I hope everyone pays attention to the part about subsidies. It's easy to sit back and say "I want a new route here," "they should put more service on this line," etc., but no one realizes how expensive bus service is. The $1.25 you pay per trip doesn't even begin to pay the total cost.

Posted by: Bus Planner | February 14, 2008 10:57 AM

How about increasing the frequency of the 38B bus and have it replace the blue Georgetown shuttles that mostly go the same route?

Posted by: Mike | February 14, 2008 11:45 AM

Instead of running the Georgia Avenue Express service all day, why not just spilt the existing No. 70 line into two separate routes. The NEW No. 70 would traverse Georgia Avenue and Seventh Street between the Silveer Spring Metro station and Archives. A NEW No. 72 route would operate between Half & O Sts., SW to the Georgia Avenue-Petworh Metrorail station. Both lines would provide local service and avpid confusion as to when and where passengers could board and alight on the No. 79 express. On Sundays, the No. 70 could operate from Silver Spring to Half & 0, or better yet to the Navy Yard sation for Nats games. The route could connect Nats fans to the Waterfront station (Green line), L'Enfant Plaza station (Blue, Green. Yellow and Orange lines); Archives-Navy Memorial station (Green and Yellow lines); Gallery Place (Blue, Orange and Red lines); and Mt. vernon Square (Green and Yellow lines).
As for suggestion of re-routing the current N22 service, it's doubtful that Capitol Hill residents would abide having buses going through heir neighborhood on the propsed route because back when the Capitol South station opened an Metro tried to terminate some of its southern Prince George's routes at the station, residents complained about how it affected "sancity of the neighborhood" issues and the routes instead were diverted. I. however, do endorse changing the Route N22 to something cooler like CC2 (Capitol Connector 2) or CH2 (Capitol Hill 2).

Posted by: leetee1955 | February 14, 2008 11:46 AM

Let me catch my own "oops" before anyone else. At the Gallery Place station, Red. Yello and Orange line trains are available, not Blue line. Sorry.
And, why doesn't the city examine extending the mostly-underutilized north-south Connector bus route as a means of ballpark transport by extending the southern terminal from near Arena Stage and down M Street to the Navy Yard station?

Posted by: leetee1955 | February 14, 2008 11:50 AM

Double "oops." No Orange line service at gallery Place station. I should unfreeze my brain to read "Red, Yellow and Green line service."

Posted by: leetee1955 | February 14, 2008 11:51 AM

And instead of allof this convolution on the No. 30s routes, why not just cut the service in half with the No. 30 bus operating from Friendship Heights and points north to the Navy Memorial-Archives station? And then operating the current 32, 34, 35 and 36 routes from Archives-Navy Memorial to the southern terminals? Lot less confusion and easier transferring. I'm glad to see Metro dmitting it never should have killed the old No. 37 route byproposing its reinstatement. But except for the segment between Wisconsin and Massachuetts to Tenley Circle, it would mirror the current N2 service. Metrobus previously cut service on that line because of lack of demand.

Posted by: leetee1955 | February 14, 2008 11:57 AM

I want to know how will the people on naylor, good hope and 25th and down to minnesota if the 34th will be discont what are they suppose to do u got aleast 2/3 of your riders that use the 34 line this is crazy there is no other bus on that main road to take them to potomac ave or to friendship hts u people seating behind the desk make bus maps and the problem is u never ride that line get u bums out there and ride the line then u can say what u can delete this line the 34 is needed

Posted by: Ms. Ride on Metro | February 14, 2008 3:27 PM

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