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Seems to me that the Circulator is having an identity crisis. If it's no longer for getting tourists to points of interest (my understanding of its original purpose), then it isn't clear exactly what the goal of the service is. If it lacks an underlying purpose, it seems to me that Circulator buses are purely about mobility based on existing demand (i.e., no longer driving demand, but responding to it) - and if so, they exist in competition with existing Metrobus lines (and as a corollary, price variance is a problem). But perhaps DC still wants to drive demand to specific points of interest in the urban core? If so, then subsidizing its use more than Metrobus is appropriate -- e.g., if we want to encourage travel to a BID like H St., then preferentially reducing the barriers to transit to that location makes sense.

My personal view on this is informed by Jarrett Walker's recent musings on branding of bus lines by color. DC has created a specific brand that has been very successful: Circulator buses are known to have a specific set of properties, including a) short headways; b) cheap fares; c) local service (in the sense of serving a small geographic area); and d) friendly drivers.

These characteristics seem to me to be opposed to many of the major metrobus routes (but by no means all of them), which often seem to have a) long headways/bunching problems; b) more cost, including for express; c) radial orientation/long trip distances; and d) actually also friendly drivers in my experience. However, a lot of more local lines -- the D lines, for example, as opposed to the 30s -- share more characteristics with Circulators than with long-haul routes (e.g. headway predictability).

It seems to me that a more thorough reconsideration of Circulator and its relationship with Metrobus is in order. If DC is going to run its own bus line, then perhaps certain Metrobus lines should be rebranded as Circulator routes, or otherwise differentiated from radial routes. The Local/Express metrobuses do this to some extent, but not in a complete way (many buses are unbranded, and it's hard to distinguish local and express without close examination) and without integration with Circulator or truly "local" routes (i.e., those routes that serve a small geographic area versus those that make many stops).

To make this system understandable, it would be nice to show clear differences among Metrobus lines either by assigning some existing lines Circulator status (perhaps with a second color to show headway, e.g. blue circulator=30min headway?) and to make those lines on par with Circulator cost-wise. Radial routes would stay with Metro.

by reader on Mar 8, 2011 2:40 pm • link • report