DDOT is considering two options for its Circulator east of the river, one serving more of Ward 8 and ending at Lower Barracks Row, and the other reaching the Potomac Avenue Metro and Harris Teeter.

Left: Option 1, Shipley Terrace to Lower Barracks Row.

Right: Option 2, Skyland to Potomac Avenue Metro.

The route options have become smaller in scale than what was initially proposed late last year and discussed at the public meeting in early June.

Residents rejected that route, saying they preferred to have the Circulator cross the 11th Street Bridge instead of passing through Anacostia to the South Capitol Bridge, where it was originally slated to become an extension of the Union Station-Navy Yard route. Instead, DDOT will create a new route.

The original route crossed the bridge and then passed through Anacostia, Skyland, and the neighborhoods along Alabama Avenue to the Congress Heights Metro station. The new route does not serve either Anacostia or Congress Heights Metro stations, and option 1 directly reaches no Metro stations at all.

A fleet of six buses will be dedicated to the new route. Though it will be limited in scope, the Circulator’s launch east of the river should help existing business along the faded commercial corridors of Good Hope Road SE and Alabama Avenue SE.

DDOT has made a a new survey available online until early next week to gather a last round of citizen input. Residents can give further feedback at a meeting on Tuesday, August 2 at the Anacostia library before six dedicated buses launch the new route in early October.

“As of yesterday, we had around twenty surveys,” said Aaron Overman, Deputy Associate Director of Mass Transit at DDOT. “We have recognized the need to do more manual, analog paper outreach in Ward 8.” To encourage more input from residents, DDOT has reached out to Councilmember Barry’s Ward 8 field office and Matthews Memorial Church.