Gotta cut bus service? Let’s combine and simplify routes

Metro officials say they will need to cut $87 million worth of service to close their budget gap for the next year. Some of that is certain to come from Metrobus service. We could simply cut service, making many routes even more inconvenient than they are today. Or, we could rework and simplify the bus network.

Today, I believe our bus routes are over-optimized. Each route takes a very complex path. It’s possible that these paths stop near the homes of the greatest number of commuters and travel to locations near the greatest numbers of their jobs. However, it also means that we have many routes traveling through similar areas but stopping on different blocks. With many bus stops serving only one route while another route stops a few blocks away, commuters often have to guess which stop is the right one, then wait 15 minutes for the bus, or 30 minutes midday, and even more when buses are late or missing.

And woe be to anyone who wants to use the bus to reach an unfamiliar destination. Sure, there’s the WMATA trip planner. But what if you’re not at a computer and don’t have a phone with good mobile Internet capability? Plus, the trip planner assumes that every bus is exactly on time. It doesn’t tell me how much early to get to a stop to be safe, or which route has the greatest frequency.

If we have to cut service, let’s make this an opportunity to “rationalize” the service as well. When two lines travel two blocks apart at 12-minute intervals, we could consolidate them into one line running at 8-minute intervals. We’d cut people’s wait time while running fewer buses. Let’s eliminate a little detour off the main road that takes an extra 10 minutes to get one or two blocks closer to a bunch of riders. And let’s trim the number of stops that are just one block from the next stop.

Yes, it forces some people to walk more. I’d rather have 5-minute service on buses going right past everyone’s house. But if we have to cut something, maybe we can cut service in a way that doesn’t make the bus network and schedule even less friendly to riders than they already are. Just reducing frequency on every bus will simply mean that everyone has to wait longer. Maybe we can help many people shorten their waits instead.

San Francisco simplified their bus routes. The Transit Effectiveness Project, or TEP, combined parallel lines and focused service on the most important corridors. It was controversial. But most lines got more frequent service without added cost. I agree with Chuck Coleman that we should explore a similar rationalization of Metrobus service.

Will that work here? I don’t have the complete database WMATA uses to plan its bus routes. I’m sure there are many complex tradeoffs. Right now, though, we have to change something. It’s the perfect time to reexamine the tradeoffs and constraints we already have. Talking about the budget crisis, incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, “This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that [we] could not do before.” We have the same opportunity for our bus network.