Transit
Coming soon: Less bus bunching, more MetroExtra
On June 17, Metro will roll out its biggest set of enhancements to bus service in years. It will expand the limited-stop MetroExtra service, add capacity to the most crowded routes, and adjust schedules to reduce bus bunching. These changes will significantly improve service for many riders.
Coming soon: more blue buses. Photo by the author.
The most visible change will be that the Metrobus Express brand will disappear, replaced completely by MetroExtra.
Other major improvements include new local and MetroExpress routes, more articulated "accordion" buses on the 16th Street line, increased service on several busy routes, and changes to the Georgia Avenue line to follow a headway-based schedule. WMATA has released a complete list of the changes.
MetroExtra
All of Metro's limited-stop bus services will now be called MetroExtra instead of Metrobus Express, although buses painted with the Metrobus Express scheme won't be repainted right away.
It was always a little bit silly for Metro to have two competing brands for similar limited-stop services, so rebranding them all under one banner makes a lot of sense. WMATA picked MetroExtra as the name to keep because in bus parlance "express" usually means a route that either runs along a freeway, or that doesn't stop at all between two far apart points.
Routes that have widely-spaced stops like the 39 and S9 aren't technically express routes; rather, they're "limited-stop." Meanwhile, some bus routes that are more legitimately expresses, such as the 5A to Dulles Airport, weren't branded as part of Metrobus Express.
The old system was needlessly confusing, and the new one will be clear. It's a good move.
Beyond the rebranding, there are several MetroExtra-related service improvements coming as well. Wisconsin Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and 16th Street will all see additional MetroExtra buses, as routes 37, 39, and S9 are expanded. There will also be more buses running on Leesburg Pike's limited-stop 28X. Finally, new limited routes will begin operation along Chain Bridge Road as an alternate 15L, and between Pentagon and Rosslyn as extensions to the 9E and 10E.
The 28X will be fully rebranded as MetroExtra sometime this fall, when a second round of MetroExtra improvements is scheduled to hit. When that happens, MLK Avenue's A9 route and Columbia Pike's 16F and 16Y routes will also be converted to the MetroExtra brand.
All in all, there are going to be a lot more blue buses on the road.
Georgia Avenue line
Changes coming to routes 70 and 79 won't be so obviously visible, but they could be more profound from an operational standpoint. For these routes, Metro will be shifting to headway-based scheduling, which means that rather than trying to have buses stick to set arrival and departure times, dispatchers will try to keep all the active buses along the corridor about the same distance apart from one another.
The idea is that trying to keep to a timed schedule is a lost cause, and it's better for riders if a bus comes regularly every 12 minutes than for a half hour to go by and then have 3 buses all come at the same time.
This is how DC Circulator works, which is why there's no such thing as a Circulator timetable, and also why it's rare to see multiple Circulators from the same line bunched together.
This will be Metro's first second experiment with headway scheduling. Theoretically this change should make riding the 70 and 79 much more predictable. It will be harder for a route as long as the 70 than it is for Circulator, but it's a worthy experiment.
WMATA has been using headway scheduling on the 90 and 92 since September, 2011. Director of Communications Dan Stessel reports that it has worked quite well. On time performance has increased by 15-20%.
16th Street line
The S-series buses are among the most overcrowded in Metro's entire network. I personally ride them for my commute, and most mornings I have to wait for 2 or 3 to pass by full before one with open capacity comes along. One rainy morning I literally counted 10 full buses pass me by. So I am personally very, very excited about the increased capacity Metro will be adding to this corridor.
And it will be a lot of new capacity.
First, the MetroExtra route S9 will be getting additional service, as previously indicated. Limited stop buses will run every 7-8 minutes instead of the current every 10. These additional runs will be new buses, not buses cannibalized from the S1, S2, or S4, meaning they are 100% new capacity for 16th Street.
In addition to being convenient for longer-distance riders, this should also have a positive effect on bus bunching. Since S9s stop less often than other S-series buses, they bunch less. That means the more riders Metro can shift to the S9, the less of a problem bunching should be along the whole corridor.
Secondly, more articulated buses will be put to use on the S1, increasing capacity for local riders. Because of space constraints at Metro's Northern Division bus storage facility, there are only about 30 articulated buses available for use on routes serving Mid-City.
Among those 30, the busy Georgia Avenue line gets first priority. Historically, whatever articulated buses Georgia Avenue didn't use were kept in reserve, but now as many as possible will be made available for 16th Street. The number of articulated buses on S1 runs on any given day will vary, but it's going to be more than now.
One reduction planned for 16th Street is that midday weekday S4 trips will terminate at Franklin Square instead of going all the way to Federal Triangle. Except for this, S2 and S4 service won't be modified.
Other changes
Although MetroExtra, Georgia Avenue, and 16th Street are the biggest winners, several other routes benefit as well. The G8 and W4 will have additional buses, shortening waits and relieving crowding. Schedule and route adjustments are planned for dozens of other routes, including the F, L, P, Q, R, and Y series.
Unfortunately, all of this comes at a cost. Although WMATA is pumping a lot of new money into Metrobus, and working to squeeze additional efficiencies out of the reserve bus fleet, such a major restructuring inevitably also includes service reductions. The changes coming will result in better bus service for more people overall, but some specific lower-ridership routes will see service decline.
Reductions of one kind or another will come to the 74, D3, D6, 3T, and 22A, as well as to riders on some of the restructured F, L, P, Q, R, and Y-series buses.
Cross-posted at BeyondDC.
 | Dan Malouff is a professional transportation planner for the Arlington County Department of Transportation. He has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Colorado, and lives a car-free lifestyle in Northwest Washington. His posts are his own opinions and do not represent the views of his employer in any way. He runs the blog BeyondDC and also contributes to the Washington Post Local Opinions blog.   |
Comments
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Don't ride the Circulator much? I see this all the time -- on both the K st and dupont/rosslyn lines. At least one or twice a week.
Its a good idea, but needs some work.
In terms of the 16th st buses, you clerarly need something like that, and perhaps some sort of pre-boarding.
Why are those buses so loud?
by charlie on Jun 12, 2012 11:57 am • link • report
by Tom A. on Jun 12, 2012 12:07 pm • link • report
by Steve S. on Jun 12, 2012 12:07 pm • link • report
by charlie on Jun 12, 2012 12:14 pm • link • report
by Ryan S. on Jun 12, 2012 12:24 pm • link • report
by Ben on Jun 12, 2012 12:24 pm • link • report
by Ryan S. on Jun 12, 2012 12:25 pm • link • report
by jaybeas on Jun 12, 2012 12:26 pm • link • report
by jaybeas on Jun 12, 2012 12:27 pm • link • report
by Brad on Jun 12, 2012 12:45 pm • link • report
by grumpy on Jun 12, 2012 1:07 pm • link • report
by Geoffrey Hatchard on Jun 12, 2012 2:18 pm • link • report
The L2 will start at Chevy Chase Circle and travel south on Connecticut until it gets to Woodley Park, then it will turn left onto Calvert and travel to the 18th & Columbia intersection and turn right on Columbia, then return along Columbia to Connecticut, turn left on Connecticut, and continue to Farragut Square, going UNDER Dupont Circle.
The L1 will follow the same route, except it doesn't turn at Woodley Park but continues on Connecticut, and at Dupont Circle it turns down New Hampshire to Washington Circle, then goes south on 23rd and turns left on Virginia Avenue and continues to 18th St.
by MLD on Jun 12, 2012 2:24 pm • link • report
If you're trying to catch the D6 after the stop at, say, 8th and C, have fun watching your bus roll past your stop because it's too crowded.
It's been like this for years, and WMATA obviously is aware of the issue.
by anon on Jun 12, 2012 2:32 pm • link • report
by Jerome on Jun 12, 2012 3:20 pm • link • report
by MLD on Jun 12, 2012 3:26 pm • link • report
Most people who ride transit would understand that Express means limited stop. The author himself already acknowledged that Express means "doesn't stop at all between two far apart points" which is exactly how the current Metro Express buses run now. The term MetroExtra at best implies there is some sort of "extra" service ... something like late night or weekend service, paratransit, etc. At worst, it doesn't at all imply express service, in my opinion.
Systems in New York, Chicago, San Fran, London, Beijing and many others use the term "express" to denote limited stop service on buses and trains. It sometimes seems like WMATA is trying to obfuscate the system by inventing nonstandard terminology for standard types of service.
by Scoot on Jun 12, 2012 3:32 pm • link • report
by BeyondDC on Jun 12, 2012 3:39 pm • link • report
by Chris on Jun 12, 2012 4:05 pm • link • report
by Alycia on Jun 12, 2012 4:54 pm • link • report
MetroExtra is fine. Having a line labeled as express would confuse passengers in thinking they would have to pay an express fare to ride. There are already some routes that are called Express which are mainly commuter routes that still charge local fare (87, 88, C13, Z9, Z11, Z13, Z29) and then those that charge express fare in MD and VA.
by Ken Conaway on Jun 12, 2012 5:37 pm • link • report
by ccort on Jun 12, 2012 5:38 pm • link • report
Red buses for local routes; blue buses for express routes... except they painted the FRONT of the buses gray and have the BACK of the buses blue or red. So, someone waiting at a bus stop only sees a gray bus arriving. What is the point of the color difference?
Some blue buses have colored destination signs (why spend extra money on that!?!) while other blue have the standard amber destination signs.
The MetroExtra buses used on the 79 are blue in front (as pictured) and gray in the rear. This is at least a visible cue as a bus approaches... not after you exit.
I just hope WMATA is not paying a premium for multi-colored destination signs and various colors of buses.
by Transport. on Jun 12, 2012 9:28 pm • link • report
by Alan Page on Jun 12, 2012 10:51 pm • link • report
Good comment, but 2 points:
1. WMATA has corrected this by adding a colored stripe to the front of buses.
2. The MetroExtra livery, unlike the Metrobus Express livery, is actually blue in front.
by BeyondDC on Jun 12, 2012 10:55 pm • link • report
I pointed out the MetroExtra livery is blue in front (see my 4th paragraph) and how that is better. The entire front of the bus being blue would seem to be more noticeable than a color stripe. Will the new buses ordered revert to the MetroExtra livery from years ago vs. the most recent Express version? Not that any of this livery discussion matters in the grand scheme of things :-)
I saw they added the color strip to the fronts of the buses but the fact that the buses started to be painted all gray in the first place is what is puzzling to me. No one caught that who is in charge of the Metrobus fleet?
by Transport. on Jun 12, 2012 11:14 pm • link • report
I'll do you one better. MTA in Baltimore is spending 10k to retrofit some of their buses with all-white LED signs. These buses had signs that worked, but MTA felt the need to replace the signs. So far, about 15+ buses (including new ones that came with signs already) have been retrofitted.
Also, regarding seeing if a bus is blue or red, the destination sign is the most important thing, not the livery on the bus. At the end of the day, a bus is just a bus.
by Ken Conaway on Jun 12, 2012 11:27 pm • link • report
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
Agreed that going North it isn't too much of a problem, but going South the 92 starts by the U Street Metro so transferring the other way (from S to 92) requires an even longer walk (3 blocks instead of 2) and makes it pretty much worthless.
What the corridor really desperately needs is a Metro Extra limited-stop route, but that will probably be years from now when the U Street streetscape project is over.
by MLD on Jun 13, 2012 8:30 am • link • report
by lou on Jun 13, 2012 11:00 am • link • report
by Arnold on Jun 13, 2012 12:09 pm • link • report
by Stocktoe on Jun 13, 2012 1:52 pm • link • report
by kk on Jun 16, 2012 2:42 pm • link • report
Since the 90,92 and 96 went through changes some years ago when they switched terminals service has gone from good to bad to worst to terrible and then why bother taking this bus.
When the 90/92 started at Mclean Gardens with the 96 at Ellington Bridge you had great service. Then after the switch to 90/92 Ellington Bridge and 96 to Mclean Gardens you had ok service. Then the change in September has made everything just terrible and the construction has made it worst many times over.
Since September the service on the 90, 92 has gotten worst. Adding to it the changes in the L2 it takes twice as much time to get from Ellington Bridge to 13th & U street.
Over the past months when the L2 went straight down 18th Street you could get off at 18th & U walk over to a 90/92/96/X3 stop and beat the bus there and catch the bus there and you would not be getting on the buses you would see at Ellington Bridge or on Columbia RD you would 1 or 2 buses ahead.
The 90, 92 (when it does run past 14th street), 96, X3, L2 all take forever due to the reroute Columbia RD, California Street, Connecticut Ave, T Street, Florida Ave then to U Street.
Is there any reason they could not have had either the 90, 92, 96 or X3 take Columbia RD, 16th Street to U Street instead of the Columbia RD, California Street, Connecticut Ave, T Street, Florida Ave to U Street 15-20 minute detour.
The biggest problems on the 90/92 line is the Adarms Morgan/Dupont Circle Detour and the North Capitol/New York Ave/O Street/Florida Ave routing
by kk on Jun 16, 2012 3:10 pm • link • report
The stops seem to vary between 2 blocks to 1/2 mile in distance between stops
by kk on Jun 16, 2012 3:12 pm • link • report
by Martin on Jun 16, 2012 5:15 pm • link • report
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