Why is the Circulator now one way on K Street?

Transit

Why is the Circulator now one way on K Street?

by Erik Weber • September 7, 2010 11:36 am

Communications problems aside, a number of residents aren't sure they're so happy about DDOT rerouting the Georgetown-Union station route to run west on lower K Street while keeping the eastbound route on M Street.

First and foremost, why run on K Street at all?

Aaron Overman, Deputy Director for Progressive Transportation Services, confirmed that DDOT wanted to reduce the bus density in a corridor that is already served by more than half a dozen Metrobus, Circulator, private shuttle and tourist bus routes.

Moreover, lower K Street has a number of attractions, including the the NPS boathouse, the House of Sweden, Washington Harbour, the movie theater, and the waterfront park. All of which are currently poorly served by transit. Overman said, "Without changes, M Street was overserved [and] this was an opportunity to more evenly distribute service."

Some commenters also wondered if the change would save any time, considering congestion at 25th Street and the Whitehurst on-ramp. Overman said,

We tested travel times at different times of day and night and found that the Circulator reached the first stops on Wisconsin Avenue sooner in ALL cases by traveling on lower K versus getting stuck at traffic lights and congestion on M Street westbound. It is a travel time savings for customers heading up Wisconsin and also makes the entire line run smoother by reducing the end-to-end travel times so buses can continue back toward Union Station more quickly.

Why not run on lower K Street in both directions?

If M Street is overserved by all those bus routes running westbound, isn't it overserved in the eastbound direction as well? If serving K Street was intended in part to give employees at Washington Harbour easier transit access to their jobs, why make them walk up the 29th Street hill to catch the bus home?

Furthermore, running one-way routes on separate two-way streets is anything but user friendly. When unfamiliar riders get off a bus on a one-way street, they have an expectation that the return trip will start on a different street. If you get off a bus on a two-way street, on the other hand, most people will expect to board a return bus on the opposite side of the street within one or two blocks.

This will be particularly problematic because Circulator stop flags don't indicate routes and many stops don't have the spinning system maps. Even those that do may not get updated maps for some time.

The only direct answer I got from Overman was this:

The K Street routing was at the request of people/businesses on K Street who had service prior to 2008. The inbound K-outbound M service pattern was in effect since the Circulator began service and was only changed when we began to go up Wisconsin Avenue. People can always transfer at Wisconsin and M if they don't want to walk.

Based on this answer, it seems DDOT has fallen prey to the intractable "the way we've always done it" mistake. Circumstances have changed drastically since the Circulator last ran this route. At that time there was no other Circulator service on M Street. Now it is served in both directions by the the Rosslyn-Dupont route.

Why is there no stop on K Street west of Washington Circle?

No stops on K Street.

Before last weekend, you could catch a Georgetown-bound Circulator at the Northeast corner of Penn and 24th St, or at the triangle park at Penn, 25th and L. With the new changes, the nearest stop in Foggy Bottom/West End is at Penn and 22nd Street. Then the bus shuts its doors and travels 8 blocks to 30th and K before it makes another stop.

There was no need for the Circulator to stop at both 24th and 25th Streets. One of the biggest advantages the Circulator offers over Metrobus is that it stops less frequently, cutting travel times. Still, the new distance between the last stop in Foggy Bottom and the first in Georgetown is now longer than the distance between many downtown Metro stops. But while cutting stops, DDOT should have taken the opportunity to eliminate 21st and Penn while keeping 22nd and Penn.

DDOT officials said that because of the traffic patterns, current parking spaces, and curb cuts it is impossible to have a bus stop on K Street west of Washington Circle. Traffic flow prevents the bus from stopping at the island between the circle and 24th Street. On the other side of 24th street, bus stops require 100 feet of "clear zone," so even if the parallel parking space on the K Street service road were removed, driveways break up the the curb every 50 feet or so. Street trees and shrubs also cause problems because of ADA accessibility guidelines.

Where can we put a stop?

There is, however, about 100 feet of curb along K Street just east of 25th street. It's unclear if the parking spaces on this section were removed whether a bus stop could be placed there, though, because about half of that curb is technically in the intersection. Overman said,

The only way to accomplish an accessible, safe stop is to eliminate most if not all of the parking along this section of roadway. If the community and ANC tell us they would rather have a bus stop than parking, DDOT is happy to accomplish this.

I'm unsure why a 100 foot bus stop would require removing most or all parking on a 400 foot block, and not just the 4 spaces nearest the 25th Street intersection. Still, removing any spaces certainly can pose a political problem. If you are a Foggy Bottom or West End resident, contact DDOT and ANC 2A to let them know that you support a new stop along K Street.

24 comments

Tags: ANC, Circulator, DC, DDOT, Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, K Street, West End

Communication problems accompany Circulator changes (Aug 31, 2010)
Why are Rosslyn-Dupont Circulator stops where they are? (Sep 10, 2010)
Circulator thrombosis (Mar 16, 2009)
DDOT identifies future Circulator routes (Nov 9, 2010)
Circulator could fill Shuttle-Bug's role for Southwest (Aug 9, 2010)

Erik Weber has been living car-free in the District since 2009. Hailing from the home of the nation's first Urban Growth Boundary, Erik has been interested in transit since spending summers in Germany as a kid where he rode as many buses, trains and streetcars as he could find. Views expressed here are Erik's alone.

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If you are a Foggy Bottom or West End resident, contact DDOT and ANC 2A to let them know that you support a new stop along K Street.

Unless you are a Foggy Bottom/West End resident and do not support a new stop.

by DCbureaucrat on Sep 7, 2010 11:56 am • link • report

This kind of stuff is exactly why I thought GGW was going overboard in making that Metrorail/Circulator hybrid map. The Circulator is just a bus that's painted red. They fiddle about with their routes and service times without warning, just like any other bus.

by tom veil on Sep 7, 2010 12:07 pm • link • report

I wonder if it has anything to do with the decision to turn the Dupont-Georgetown Connector into a Circulator. The Circulator does seem to strive to avoid overlap in its routes, and the move to K Street for the Union Station-Georgetown route does help minimize the overlap between the two routes.

Regardless of the reasoning, I'm a proponent of the move to K Street. During high traffic times, the multitude of buses running both ways down M Street is a problem. Keep in mind that tour buses frequent the route as well, and use many of the same stops as the Circulator. This results in congestion at bus stops in addition to the already difficult street congestion.

And how confusing is it really? More confusing for new riders than the fact that there are two Circulator routes running M Street? In some ways, the change is intuitive because the name of the line implies that the bus runs some kind of loop.

by Emily on Sep 7, 2010 12:21 pm • link • report

True overheard comment, Monday at Eastern Market:

NICE YOUNG MAN TO ADVENTUROUS YOUNG FEMALE COMPANION: "Well, if the Circulator does not go there, you probably shouldn't go there."

by Trulee Pist on Sep 7, 2010 12:36 pm • link • report

I'm not a fan of any of the changes to the Blue Bus and Circulator routes. The rush to put the BB into the Circulator system was a mistake.

And I see several problems with the analysis and conclusions here.

1. Time Savings: Overstated. Moving faster on K rather than M? Where you really have problems on M in Georgetown is people boarding and the right turn on to Wisconsin. Circulator moved pretty fast between Washington Circle and Wisconsin, until that turn came up. I would have narrowed the stops on M -- the only one that gets used in the one by Urban Outfitters -- and tried to fix the problems of making a right turn onto Wisconsin.

2. Why overstate: because you're not using the tunnel. If you really wanted speedy service down K, you'd go under Washington Circle. You're not, and that is going to kill your speeds. Go from 21st and K, and keep going down the tunnel into Georgetown. Yes, you are cutting out GW Hospital and World Bank offices.

3. Stop location: bad. Where you are suggesting a stop turns into a real traffic jam during rush hour. Having a large bus try to stop there is going to make it even more of a mess. I suspect that's the real reason DDOT doesn't want a stop there.

I think the best thing, actually, is to look at killing 38B service in West End and Georgetown. Then it would actually "follow" the Orange line, and use the freeway (Whitehurst or 66) to get over to Rosslyn. With the new circulator line, you don't really need to 38B anymore for West End/Georgetown.

by charlie on Sep 7, 2010 12:41 pm • link • report

@Emily; the double deck bus in Georgetown needs to be banned and/or moved to different stops. It is a menace to everyone.

by charlie on Sep 7, 2010 12:45 pm • link • report

I'm too lazy to do all the quoting right now, but many of the reasons you mention regarding this 'one way FAIL' are valid for bicycles as well as buses.

In other words, we have to do away with all one-way streets, period. (And that necessarily includes all roads with raised medians, including all the freeways.)

Now, if you take things a step further than a single detestable one-way street -- let's say you kicked buses off of a particular street not just in one direction, but in both directions -- would _that_ somehow be a desirable outcome?

Many on this blog are advocating for removing bicycles from K Street. In my opinion, that would be not just 'stupid' -- like this 'one-way bus', but quite possibly 'insane'. I would go so far as to call kicking bikes off of K Street an urban design atrocity.

And if it is done, it will be done with full knowledge of the importance of allowing bicycles to ride to where they need to get to, with full knowledge of the continued and increasing risks of global warming, etc.

We continue to need more women in charge so us men don't continue to run us all off a cliff. Crazy.

by Peter Smith on Sep 7, 2010 12:53 pm • link • report

@ charlie: It is a menace to everyone....except the tourist riding it.

by Jasper on Sep 7, 2010 12:54 pm • link • report

@Jasper; apparently, that bus even likes to KILL tourists. I'm telling you, it is a menace.

by charlie on Sep 7, 2010 12:59 pm • link • report

When I saw the change, I came to the same thought: why not just run on K Street in both directions? It would be a lot simpler, and the route would run faster.

I also think the bus should run under Washington Circle with the last stops on either side at 21st Street and 25th Street. It would run a lot faster not only for avoiding traffic lights and a detour, but also for having fewer stops.

by Joey on Sep 7, 2010 2:13 pm • link • report

The Circulator system is as useless as its staff. Tried to use it once 3 years to go from Georgetown to Union Station. It is supposed to come every 10 minutes so 7 minutes after I saw one go by, I went out to wait for the next one. None came for 15 minutes when 2 came together; this just a couple blocks from their start so they had departed together. One every 10 minutes or two together every 20 or so minutes; its all near enough for affirmative action hires.

by George on Sep 7, 2010 2:20 pm • link • report

Just let it be for now. They have fixed one thing (the site has been updated) don't put to much pressure on them

@ George

What the hell does "its all near enough for affirmative action hires." mean

by kk on Sep 7, 2010 2:44 pm • link • report

I enjoy the Circulator's addition. It's doing what WMATA hasn't been able to do and changing or adding service to areas where WMATA would require multiple changes and at a frequency that's pretty good. I actually like the fact that it changed back to the old route. For me it's not a loss, and mostly a boon, since I don't have to deal with traffic in Georgetown on the way somewhere when time may be a factor. On the way back it matters less to me.

@Peter Smith: Even when you have women holding 50% or more of positions which make decisions, there are still lots of dumb, mindnumbingly bad decisions. It's about people, not gender.

@George: You take it once and then give up? Is that like quitting drugs by way of "Yeah I tried to quit once but it didn't work, so I didn't bother..."? Not a representative sample and poor logic. Nice race code word dig at the end too.

by copperred on Sep 7, 2010 2:48 pm • link • report

It should run under Washington Circle. The current route is tragically slow

by Alex on Sep 7, 2010 3:15 pm • link • report

Walking up a hill is no fun, but neither is waiting in traffic. M Street is less congested leaving Georgetown, so it makes sense to use that route in one direction to help keep things moving. I'd love to have the route express under Washington Circle through the tunnel, but I can see how the current routing leaves a pretty solid network of stops (if not intuitive routes).

The "user-friendly" argument is a little overblown: I don't see the one-way routing being too much of a problem for tourists. If they get off at M Street and want to go back the other way, there's another bus right there to take them back to Georgetown. The stops on K Street are less intuitive, but there are no Circulator signs on the other side of the street to confuse them, either.

@kk @George I have noticed a certain clubbiness among transit employees that can lead to more chit-chat and less focus on punctuality. I don't think bringing the racial element into it was necessary, though. And patience is a virtue.

by Anonymous on Sep 7, 2010 3:23 pm • link • report

"This will be particularly problematic because Circulator stop flags don't indicate routes and many stops don't have the spinning system maps. Even those that do may not get updated maps for some time."

What you need:

- Buses lines numbers or letters for each circulator line
- Bus stop indicating the line & where the bus is going to at each stop and on each bus.
- A map at each bus stop & and inside each vehicule.

Now either DDOT is trying to save money or is so unsure about the future of the cirulator and its stops that it doesnt commit to naming its bus stops and putting some useful information on them.

No wonder people complain of the confusion afterwards. No I trust DDOT and the studies it has made but seriously without good information & marketing you greatly reduce the appeal of your product. Applies to Transportation as much as it applies to general consumer products.

by Vincent Flament on Sep 7, 2010 3:35 pm • link • report

I agree with Emily that "name of the line [Circulator]implies that the bus runs some kind of loop," so the return trip won't be caught on the same road, unless you want to ride around before turning back. The question is how easy is it for folks to use the signage to find the most convenient spot. Phone apps can help, but many still require traditional maps and such.

You know what would be really awesome? Commuting via the barge in the canal. At least from 29th St to 37th St.

by M.V. Jantzen on Sep 7, 2010 3:46 pm • link • report

I would love to see the canal restored and extended to its former terminus at the National Mall. A ferry for tourists would be wonderful.

by Anonymous on Sep 7, 2010 3:50 pm • link • report

@Anonymous: Re: "clubbiness" Northern charm and Southern efficiency. ;-) It's also about treating the person driving the bus as something other than a mere function of driving the bus from point A to point B. In Rejkjavik people stop in the road and chat with their friends, holding up the rest of traffic.

by copperred on Sep 7, 2010 4:39 pm • link • report

its all near enough for affirmative action hires.

I love the smell of racism in the morning.

Even when you have women holding 50% or more of positions which make decisions, there are still lots of dumb, mindnumbingly bad decisions. It's about people, not gender.

Yes, it's about people, and it's also about gender, but it's mostly about institutions. On the gender aspect, more women getting into power is 'a definite trend' in history -- a good one. I'd argue that institutions/corporations/organizations that have more than 50% women heading them are so few as to be almost non-existent. But also, I'm not so worried about 'bad' decisions -- I'm worried about 'immoral' decisions. For my part, I've seen enough evidence that women are, generally speaking, more kind/fair/gentle/reasonable/forgiving/caring/careful/non-violent/etc. than men. So, I'd rather have them in charge. There are always going to be exceptions to every 'rule' - they don't disprove the rule.

by Peter Smith on Sep 7, 2010 6:00 pm • link • report

@Peter Smith: You may be right about America, but America is not the rest of the planet. There are more than a few countries where women have in the past held the majority of such positions and currently still do. It is generally a positive that there are more women in government, but as a rule a government should reflect its populous, not push one over the other.

For my part, I've seen enough evidence that women are, generally speaking, more kind/fair/gentle/reasonable/forgiving/caring/careful/non-violent/etc. than men. So, I'd rather have them in charge.

To me this is sexist, but I doubt it is considered so in America. If you can't recognize equality between the sexes and choose to elevate one over the other, then it's really on par with "wives should submit to their husbands" nonsense. Women are just as capable of the antithesis to all those glowing positive adjectives. Maybe it's because feminism never really took hold in this country, I don't know, but it's still wrong.

by copperred on Sep 7, 2010 6:37 pm • link • report

exactly my point. go to those places and you'll find stuff like bike lanes and bike infrastructure, health care, strong social safety nets, lower socioeconomic inequality, etc.

Peter: Women are nicer/better governors. (paraphrasing)

To me this is sexist

Not all truths need to be comfortable to us. I think this (that women are better/nicer/more effective politicians than men) is one such truth. Men are faster/stronger than women. Black people run faster than white people. White people swim faster than black people. There are exceptions to all these 'rules', but at the elite levels -- what being a national/federal politician is -- the rules almost always hold true. Women have not yet, worldwide, been allowed to achieve to their fullest potential at the top ranks of governments, but they'll get there, and the human species will probably have a better chance of survival because of it.

If you can't recognize equality between the sexes and choose to elevate one over the other, then it's really on par with "wives should submit to their husbands" nonsense.

I would love to recognize men as being equal to women in terms of governing ability, but I just haven't seen evidence that would justify this point of view. Maybe there's an anthropologist or someone out there who knows about these things who can tell us something more?

Women are just as capable of the antithesis to all those glowing positive adjectives.

agreed.

Maybe it's because feminism never really took hold in this country, I don't know, but it's still wrong.

Never really took hold? That's, uh, kinda bold, no? As in, kinda wrong? We've got a long way to go, but there's been tremendous progress.

I promise to refrain from hijacking comment threads in the future. :)

And look, there's Angela Merkel trying to prove me wrong right now! :)

by Peter Smith on Sep 7, 2010 7:10 pm • link • report

Reaching Georgetown on K Street gives visitors a chance to "discover" M Street the way it was intended - on foot.

by Turnip on Sep 7, 2010 7:20 pm • link • report

I thought that one of the reasons for the Circulator was to facilitate movement to commerically desirable areas - especially for tourists. The K St route ill serves tourists at nighttime. There was mass panic on my Circulator last Friday evening when people expecting to see the lights and restaurants of Georgetown were dropped off in the scary-dark under the freeway K St.
IF one of the reasons for the Circulator being different from MetroBus is for the tourists, then this is definitely not a well thought-out move. Why is now assumed that tourists who stay in Dupont want to go to M St when they go to Georgetown but those who stay downtown don't? It should be Metros job to provide to figure a way to serve ill-served areas (why don't any of the 30s busses go down K St if it needs sevice so badly?) not the Circulators.

by andy on Sep 7, 2010 11:20 pm • link • report