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@charlie
I agree. The Navy Yard Circulator does this all the time. Sometimes I will catch a northbound one at 8th & G to head to Union Station, and I've often had the misfortune of waiting 25 minutes for a Circulator, all while watching three or four Circulators heading the opposite direction toward Navy Yard pass by as I wait. It's bad enough that I will take the Metro to Union Station with a change at Metro Center when I'm headed to work, because at least then I know I won't be late.

@MLD
I take the 90s quite a bit, and I've noticed that on those 92s that terminate at 14th Street, people will just walk the two blocks up to 16th if they are trying to catch an S bus, especially in off-peak hours where it might be a long wait for a 90.

About Express vs. Extra:
I agree with the author; when I think of an express bus I think of a commuter or airport bus, although in my experience, the actual terminology seems to vary a lot by city. Out in DC, what most people think of as an "express bus" are called "commuter buses" instead, while in my native Minneapolis they are called express buses. Other than the airport lines, they all basically just bring far suburbanites to and from DC for work. At any rate, I think calling a limited-stop route an "express" is misleading, and I think calling them "extra" makes more sense. Out in L.A. for example, their buses are "local," "rapid," or "express" depending on the route structure. In DC, most WMATA buses would be "local," Metro Express and MetroExtra buses would be "rapid," and the airport and commuter buses would be "express."

by Alex on Jun 13, 2012 12:57 am • link • report