Call it the little red and gray bus that could. Launched in 2005, the Circulator had been designed mostly to get riders from one tourist attraction, entertainment center or retail hot spot to another. Inexpensive, reliable and clean, the Circulator has become so popular it seems every D.C. Council member, particularly those representing a ward, wants one.

A few years ago, while chairman of the transportation committee, Ward 1’s Jim Graham pushed for a new line. It now runs from Woodley Park to McPherson Square, through Columbia Heights and parts of Adams Morgan — mostly his ward.