Metro planners have created a tentative schedule for creating six new express bus routes over the next three years, part of a long-term proposal to dramatically increase the number of such routes in the region.
A new limited-stop service on the S Line, which runs down 16th Street NW, would be running by the end of next year, according to the schedule.
The S1, S2 and S4 lines together average 16,000 passengers per weekday, making the route the third most popular in the system.
In 2010, limited-stop service would be available on the Q2 Line, which runs along Veirs Mill Road in Montgomery County, and on the 28 Line along Leesburg Pike in Northern Virginia.
Express service would follow on New Hampshire Avenue in Maryland, H Street/Benning Road in D.C. and Georgia Avenue in Maryland in 2011.
Metro in May proposed creating 18 new express bus corridors over the next six years, bringing the total number to 24, in the hope that faster and more reliable bus service will lure drivers to bus transit.
The transit agency implemented one of the proposed routes this summer along the 30s line in the District.
Metro’s bus service is notoriously unreliable and remains the top source of customer complaints in the system.
Just 75 percent of buses arrived on time in August, compared with 94 percent of trains, according to the most recent agency statistics available.
Officials say express routes, which have fewer stops than regular routes, will speed customers’ trips and improve reliability.
Metro estimates the agency’s limited-stop “Metro Extra” route along Georgia Avenue, which makes 15 stops, gets riders to their destinations 20 percent faster than the regular, 54-stop bus.
A Metro board of directors committee Thursday will review the proposed schedule for implementing new express routes.
