Metro will roll out its new red and silver Metrobuses on Monday to replace the older, boxier buses approaching their 15-year age limit.
Using compressed natural gas, each of the 22 60-foot, accordion-style buses will be able to hold about 100 passengers each, 61 seated and 42 standing, according to the transit agency.
More than 460,000 people use Metrobus on an average weekday, according to Metro.
The new buses will do away with Metro’s longtime red, white and blue paint scheme and instead will showcase a snazzy red and silver scheme, designed to attract more riders.
The buses, which cost $793,000, have cushioned seats, hand straps for standing passengers, security cameras and rearview cameras for bus drivers, Metro said.
“These sleek, aerodynamic bus-rapid-transit-style buses are the first of the new-look buses to be put into service,” Metrobus chief Milo Victoria said.
Most of the 22 buses will run the U8 line, which travels from the Capitol Heights Metrorail station in Prince George’s County to Benning Heights in Southeast Washington.
More than 200 hybrid-electric buses with the same design are expected to arrive by next summer.
Metrobus bought its first 100 CNG buses in December 2000.
The agency is working to improve its bus service, especially its performance — late buses are the top complaint of Metrobus riders. The transit agency is giving bus supervisors the authority to direct bus traffic, and it is trying to significantly increase the number of express routes, which have fewer stops than the normal schedules.
