The District plans to eliminate one D.C. Circulator route to create another in October, shifting buses that now run between the Convention Center and the Southwest Waterfront and moving them to the east side of the Anacostia River. The proposed route would be the system’s first connection to the transit-hungry far Southeast neighborhoods that include Anacostia. But it’s gone through some changes in recent months.
Originally, the District proposed adding 11 new stops to the existing Circulator route that runs from Union Station through Capitol Hill to the Navy Yard, sending the buses over the South Capitol Street bridge to the Congress Heights Metro stop.
But city officials changed gears after a first round of public hearings, District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle said.
| The details |
| Where: The proposed route would run from the Skyland shopping area along Good Hope Road, across the 11th Street Bridge, then along M Street Southeast, up Barracks Row on 8th Street to Eastern Market Metro, then down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Potomac Avenue Metro stop and Harris Teeter grocery store. |
| When: Service is planned to start Oct. 3 and run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays initially, though city officials have planned to start Saturday service and extend weekday hours to 9 p.m. in April. |
| Cost: Like all Circulators, the bus would cost $1 per trip, cheaper than the $1.50 cost of Metrobus with a SmarTrip card. Transfers made to the Union Station-Navy Yard Circulator buses — or any other Circulators — would be free if made within two hours. |
People told the city they would prefer the line to go over the 11th Street Bridge, despite construction that isn’t slated to end until 2013. Riders also said it was important to have stops west of the river, most importantly at the Harris Teeter grocery store near Potomac Avenue and the Eastern Market Metro stop.
“They didn’t find it useful if it didn’t end up at Eastern Market,” Lisle said.
Now, the proposed route is a separate line that runs from the Skyland shopping area to the Potomac Avenue Metro station.
Some riders want the route to extend farther into Ward 7, Lisle said, but the city doesn’t have enough buses to make the route longer and keep the buses running every 10 minutes.
The line will overlap somewhat with existing Metrobus service, albeit offering a cheaper ride. But other Circulator routes also cover some of the same ground as Metro, Lisle noted.
The new route is the first phase of a longterm plan that calls for expanding the District-owned bus system with multiple lines including from Adams Morgan to H Street Northeast and from Tenleytown to Silver Spring.
The initial phase, which begins Oct. 3, also calls for pulling the plug on the north-south route that connects the Convention Center to the Southwest Waterfront because of low ridership. The city will rejigger the confusing Union Station stops used for both the Navy Yard and Georgetown routes plus consolidate some stops.
