The express bus route that Metro started last week along 16th Street marks what could be the future of bus service in the area: Faster buses that make fewer stops to get more people moving.
Now, Metro is looking to create 24 priority corridors with their own express service by 2015. The transit system currently has six express routes and is considering adding two more in 2010 for Veirs Mill Road in Montgomery County and Leesburg Pike in Virginia.
The Metro board plans to look at the program this week, with the idea that the priority corridors will help increase ridership by providing faster and more reliable trips — two sources of complaints among regular Metrobus riders.
The agency is looking at reducing travel times by 25 percent and improving on-time performance by 15 percent. The S9 bus that debuted March 30 is trying to improve service on 16th Street by making just 16 stops instead of 54 from the Silver Spring Metrorail station to McPherson Square.
The push for such “express” routes comes as other bus lines face reductions around the region. Montgomery County scaled back its Ride On bus service Sunday and is considering more cuts. Fairfax County, Alexandria and Falls Church are among the communities taking a look at trimming their local bus services, while Metro itself is considering trimming its bus service to bridge a shortfall in the pending budget. Metro will host public hearings on the service-cut proposal next week.
Metro operates 171 bus lines around the region, carrying an average weekday ridership of about 450,000. But the broad-based, six-year plan for priority bus corridors represents a concentrated way for Metro to address the anticipated growing demand for transit service. The Metrorail system can only run so many trains, while buses could funnel more riders around the region.
According to the agency, the priority corridors will serve an area that includes nearly 750,000 households with 1.8 million residents. It would help the transit agency expand its capacity to serve an estimated 10 million riders each year.
Metro has looked at corridors in which ridership tops 5,000 transit trips per day. The express bus service will have a different look to set itself apart as a different brand. It would run every 10 minutes during peak service and run regular service from at least 6 a.m. until midnight on weekdays.
