Happy birthday to the DC Circulator, the bus service that was designed by the downtown business community to be an add-on to Metro by offering direct routes in both the north/south and east/west corridors that are popular with tourists and convention-goers. I still do a double-take every time I see one because of the VanHool buses that are being used.

These Belgium-made buses are sleek and have a big window in the back unlike the current Metro buses that have nothing more than an engine cover and, more often than not, an ad for some all-news radio station. I understand that Metro is talking with the company that makes its buses about adding a window to the back, which would make the buses more airy and open. Unfortunately, because Metro gets a subsidy from the feds they can’t just go out and buy the foreign-made VanHool buses.