One of the only — and cheapest — modes of public transportation to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in the spring won’t be available for the first week of the annual tourist attraction.
The District is planning to halt the D.C. Circulator route that loops around the National Mall for six months starting Sunday. It is scheduled to remain out of service until April 3, seven days after the start of the annual festival that draws thousands of viewers to the pink blossoms around the Tidal Basin.
District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle said officials had not realized the festival schedule when they set the six-month closure. “We could possibly revisit it,” he said.
Cut to Georgetown line scratched
The closure of the National Mall Circulator route was initially part of a nearly $1.1 million cost-saving proposal. The plan called for truncating the popular Georgetown-Union Station line for $950,000 in savings and ending service for half the year on the Smithsonian-National Galley of Art route to save $140,000, according to the District Department of Transportation.
But the trims to the Georgetown line prompted grumbles. On Tuesday, Mayor Adrian Fenty is expected to announce that the city is restoring the full line.
The scaled-back service is slated to start just six months after the District expanded the bus service from three looping routes to five. “We regret having to make any cuts in service,” DDOT Director Gabe Klein said. “It was not a decision we took lightly, and the reductions were targeted to affect the fewest riders and produce the greatest savings.”
The change is expected to save $140,000.
The Mallline already has faced dramatic reductions. When it began in March 2006, Lisle said, it ran seven days a week, then was limited to weekend-only service in 2007.
The Mallline already has faced dramatic reductions. When it began in March 2006, Lisle said, it ran seven days a week, then was limited to weekend-only service in 2007.
Today, the line has lower ridership than the other lines. In July, the route had a ridership of 2,957, Lisle said, compared with 258,240 trips on the popular Georgetown-Union Station line. Meanwhile, December 2008 ridership was 1,553.
“Even if it was every day, it would not carry as many passengers,” Lisle said.
Part of the problem is the National Park Service can promote only the private Tourmobile company because of its contract, Lisle said. “They can’t tell visitors they can take the Circulator,” he said.
Tickets for the Tourmobile cost at least $26 for an adult, according to the company’s Web site, compared with $1 for the Circulator.
