Transit
DDOT proposes Circulator fare hike, route changes
DDOT would double the Circulator cash fare to $2 and match the SmarTrip fare to Metrobus's $1.50, under a proposed Circulator plan to be discussed Thursday. The Mall route would also be canceled and the Convention Center-Waterfront route suspended for a number of years.
Photo by Mieko Yamaguchi on Flickr.
With some of the savings, the Union Station-Navy Yard route would get expanded hours and a bus stop in front of Union Station, where it's easier to find than the current one in the parking garage. Buses would also get accessibility upgrades.
DDOT has also prioritized a set of route extensions and new routes, including across the Anacostia River, to U Street, and on the Mall. The funding level for Circulator set in the Mayor's budget, due at the end of this week, will determine whether some start service right away.
Other cuts include shortening late-night hours on the McPherson Square-Woodley Park route and consolidating bus stops on the Georgetown-Union Station route to create a more limited-stop service like most of the other routes.
Cuts and adjustments
The fare increases and immediate cuts, minus the increase in hours for Union Station represent a savings of about $3.7 million per year. Those changes include:
Raise the fare to $2.00 cash/$1.50 SmarTrip. This will raise revenue and also fix the problem where the Circulator serves wealthier areas while costing less than buses going to less afflient neighborhoods. Business groups worry that this will substantially cut ridership. I've endorsed raising the fare.
Eliminate the Mall loop. This seasonal route never got much ridership compared to other routes. The Park Service wouldn't let it use internal Mall roads or put it on signs, meaning many tourists didn't know about it as a transportation option. DC would save money by cutting it until the Park Service wants to really work together to provide transportation in the area.
Suspend the Downtown-Convention Center route. This has the highest subsidy per rider and lowest farebox recovery (12%) of any of the routes besides the Mall loop. The Green and Yellow Line service parallels it for most of the length, as do some Metrobuses.
However, this route also reaches some areas with substantial imminent development, like the O Street Market on the northern end and the Southwest Waterfront development on the south. DDOT is proposing to suspend it until the Waterfront development really gets going and the new Mall routes are created (see below), at which point they anticipate it performing better.
Cut late-night hours on Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square. This route currently ends at 3:30 am on weekends, while the Georgetown-Union Station and Rosslyn-Georgetown-Dupont routes end at 2 am. DDOT says the ridership is very low during this time. The hours of this route would now match those: 7 am-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 7 am-2 am Friday and Saturday.
Consolidate stops on the Georgetown-Union Station route. Current stops are very close together, and the Circulator has more recently moved toward being more of a limited-stop service. One question is whether this will actually increase speed or not on the congested K and M Street segments.
Extend hours on Union Station-Navy Yard. This route now ends at 7 pm except Nationals game days and doesn't run at all on weekends, cutting down its utility and making it hard for people to depend on it all the time as they can other routes. This route would now end at 9 pm, later on game days, and 15 hours of service (not specified in the report) on weekends. It would still have shorter hours than other routes, but far better hours than today.
Add accessibility features to existing vehicles for ADA compliance. All Circulator buses would get verbal announcements of stops for those with vision impairments, and digital signs in the buses would provide a visual indication of the next stop for those with hearing disabilities.
Proposed future Circulator routes. Phase 1 routes are in orange.
New routes
DDOT has also created short- and long-term plans for Circulator expansion to all parts of DC. The immediate "phase 1" improvements include some that DDOT could implement right away using the vehicles and money freed up from the cuts, if the Mayor's budget doesn't cut the overall level of Circulator funding.
East of the River: Extend the Union Station-Navy Yard route across the South Capitol Street bridge to Anacostia, Skyland, and the Giant in Ward 8. This is DDOT's highest priority route, partly because of the strong political interest in expanding the Circulator east of the river, but also because these growing areas could benefit from new limited-stop bus service.
In addition, DDOT would reroute this line to use 2nd Street NE/SE between Union Station and Pennsylvania Avenue instead of the current circuitous path along Louisiana Ave NW, Constitution, and 1st Street to get around Capitol security barriers.
Dupont to Howard: Extend the Rosslyn-Georgetown-Dupont route up 18th Street and across U to the U Street corridor and Howard University. This would connect several activity centers which are close to each other but lack an easy transit connection.
Replace the Mall loop with two new replacement routes. One would go from Georgetown to Union Station via the north side of the Mall (Jefferson Dr.) and one from Arlington Cemetery to Union Station via the south side (Madison Dr.) They have been working with the Park Service to design these routes. DDOT wants to run this in a way that's revenue-neutral for DC residents, whether through payments from the Park Service, higher fares, or other revenue sources.
Resume the north-south route as development picks up on the Waterfront and the O Street Market area. Also, when new Mall routes are created, this route will be valuable to get people between the Mall and Metro stations, downtown restaurants, and other destinations.
Connect to NoMA by extending the Union Station-Navy Yard-(East of the River) or Georgetown-Union Station routes up to NoMA and the New York Avenue Metro. This would link in another major growing activity center using the Circulator network.
Add a northwest-southeast route from Dupont, across the Mall, to the Waterfront and Navy Yard. This would add another, farther west link to the Mall routes so Mall visitors could connect to nearby major destinations. Right now, the western side of the Mall, such as the World War II Memorial and Jefferson Memorial are a long hike from Metro stations and hotels in the Golden Triangle or Southwest.
Future extensions include connections between Wards 7 and 8, a route on H Street and one on Florida Avenue where the current 90s buses run, a crosstown route from Brookland to Woodley Park and then to Tenleytown, and another crosstown route from Tenleytown and Friendship Heights along Military Road to Georgia Avenue and Silver Spring.
All of the recommendations come from a streetcar study DDOT conducted, which included several community meetings to hear ideas for routes, an analysis of potential corridors and upcoming economic development, and studies of operating costs and potential revenue.
Update: The original version of this post inadvertently omitted the 2nd Street reroute for the Union Station-Navy Yard line. It's been added.
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
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Rerouting the existing circulator over the river would cut off this part of the route, and circulator ridership on this route would suffer. The 8th street to Ward 8 transit trip market is already well served by the 90s series buses, which are overcrowded and need a service upgrade. Perhaps the 90s need a rebranding and new vehicles?
by Michael Perkins on Mar 29, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report
by David Alpert on Mar 29, 2011 2:22 pm • link • report
Wrong bridge. The extension across the River would use the South Capitol bridge, not the 11th Street bridge. The 6th and M stop would not move.
WMATA is already looking at the 90s routes, and will study the potential to add a limited stop service similar to the S9 or X9.
by Alex B. on Mar 29, 2011 2:24 pm • link • report
by Adam L on Mar 29, 2011 2:29 pm • link • report
by tom veil on Mar 29, 2011 2:30 pm • link • report
Seriously? This should be one of those "You don't get nice things because you don't know how to treat them" kind of items. If DDOT thinks appeasing Marion Barry is more important than keeping the Circulator's free of crime and graffitti, and more importantn, running efficiently, than sure.
by Chris on Mar 29, 2011 2:30 pm • link • report
by almondwine on Mar 29, 2011 2:44 pm • link • report
I've argued for years (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that this is the Circulator end-game. DC's share of the regional commuter transit system is outsized compared to the benefits DC receives.
by oboe on Mar 29, 2011 2:54 pm • link • report
by Veronica O. Davis (Ms V) on Mar 29, 2011 2:59 pm • link • report
by JD on Mar 29, 2011 3:08 pm • link • report
The Navy Yard route will continue to be nearly useless until they find a more efficient route around the Capitol. It's a joke now.
by TM on Mar 29, 2011 3:10 pm • link • report
by Michael Perkins on Mar 29, 2011 3:14 pm • link • report
I think there are two different items here - the map shows the future plan for new services. The earliest service EoTR, however, would be an extension of the current Union Station route due to limited funds. Once more funds are available in future years, that service would likely become it's own route, hence it is not on the map.
I'd also note that those lines on the map are broad corridors to be served, not specific routes.
@TM - you can see on the map, one of the proposed services is to extend the Rosslyn-Georgetown-Dupont route past Dupont to U Street. It's hard to tell because that map uses all the same colors for the same phases - it's meant to show phasing, not specific corridors.
by Alex B. on Mar 29, 2011 3:17 pm • link • report
by JD on Mar 29, 2011 3:23 pm • link • report
variety of federal requirements, including “Buy America.” The “Buy America” requirements set
thresholds for the amount of U.S. content that a federally funded transit vehicle must have and typically
require final assembly in the U.S. The DC Circulator’s current fleet of Van Hool buses are built in
Belgium and do not meet these requirements. Benefits of seeking a U.S. manufacturer in the future
include lower parts and maintenance costs and faster parts delivery." (P8, Capital Funding Mechanisms)
Being a bit nationalistic here maybe but that is very worrying. American built buses are notoriously badly designed and less economical. What makes the Circulator buses appealing is that they have a fresh design, bright colours, they are light weight therefore faster and handle curves pretty well. Following the "Buy America" requirement would be a loss to everyone as things stand at the moment...
by Vincent Flament on Mar 29, 2011 3:34 pm • link • report
by Steven Yates on Mar 29, 2011 4:00 pm • link • report
It seems like Circ is a victim of its own success.
by beatbox on Mar 29, 2011 4:05 pm • link • report
Take a look at the plan. It lays out that mission quite clearly.
http://www.dccirculator.com/images/pdf/Circulator-Transit-Development-Plan_Draft-Final_3-23-11.pdf
Page 5:
The strategic goals and objectives of the Circulator system have evolved after several years of actual
operations and expansion of service. They provide a framework for the future growth of the system.
Performance measures reflect each goal and are an essential tool for analyzing the current system and
planning for future growth.
GOAL 1: Provide a high-quality transit network
GOAL 2: Maximize financial and operational return on investment.
GOAL 3: Promote economic activity in existing and developing activity centers and support a
transit-oriented lifestyle.
GOAL 4: Improve mobility within and access to and from the monumental core.
by Alex B. on Mar 29, 2011 4:15 pm • link • report
Look at a bus map and you have a twisty-turny series of lines overlapping and such. Its hard to follow. Metro map is easy to read.
Circulator HAD an easy map, but with every change, it gets harder and harder.
Also, this does reinforce the idea that buses are unreliable as economic stimulators because every 6 months someone comes along and changes the routing and hours. Personally, I find buses to be better than streetcars, but unfortunately our politicians are unable to set a route in stone. This month you have service, next month you don't. It's unreliable.
If the city said "these will be our circulator routes for the next 10 years, and there will be NO changes (except possibly shorter headways)" then people could build on the route knowing they can rely on it.
by JJJJJ on Mar 29, 2011 4:26 pm • link • report
by Kelsey on Mar 29, 2011 4:36 pm • link • report
by falls church on Mar 29, 2011 4:42 pm • link • report
by yrb on Mar 29, 2011 4:49 pm • link • report
This is totally news to everyone in Southwest and a big mis-communication on their part given that there was no inkling of such a big move only two weeks ago.
by Bradley S. on Mar 29, 2011 5:01 pm • link • report
Obviously, the folks who run the Circulator should probably chat with the Metrobus guys across the hall to see if Metrobus can learn from some of the Circulator's successes -- in particular, the fact that the Circ follows a *much* more timely schedule. You never see 5 circulators arrive at the same stop within 30 seconds of each other.
Arguments that DC pays into two separate bus systems are also disingenuous. Circulator and Metrobus play different and complementary roles. (That said, local buses that run extremely long routes and cross jurisdictions do seem like a bad idea, given the high odds of a traffic snarl somewhere along the route.
Oh, and we might as well start calling the X2/X9 a Circulator, given that they run frequently, and on a fairly straight route.
Others like the 90-92-93 "core" route seem fairly easy to understand as well, given that the route takes essentially 3 turns west of the river. (Gosh, I seem to be talking about that line a lot lately....)
by andrew on Mar 29, 2011 5:05 pm • link • report
by sb on Mar 29, 2011 5:11 pm • link • report
by Ryan on Mar 29, 2011 5:11 pm • link • report
But seriously, it can be helpful to think about how lots of pieces will fit together down the road, to minimize spending money on something that you'll just redo another way later. Say you're redesigning some streets — it could be helpful to know if you'll probably want to run buses down them in a couple of years, or not.
by David Alpert on Mar 29, 2011 5:14 pm • link • report
by Liz on Mar 29, 2011 5:27 pm • link • report
by betbox on Mar 29, 2011 5:39 pm • link • report
In my opinion, the proposed godawful mess of overlapping and repetitive routes is symptomatic of a failure to adequately define goals. Bellamy appears to be asleep at the wheel at a moment when an important conversation about expansion is occurring -- why don't we have a permanent DDOT head, anyway?
by reader on Mar 29, 2011 5:39 pm • link • report
by beatbox on Mar 29, 2011 5:43 pm • link • report
Goals are supposed to be broad. Within each goal, there are then objectives and also metrics to measure progress. I'd encourage you to read the entire document (not just the few lines I clipped from it) and then offer judgment. Check out Chapter 3 in particular.
by Alex B. on Mar 29, 2011 5:44 pm • link • report
The plan says that "DDOT should pursue opportunities to provide service on Second St NE" on the Navy Yard route due to peak hour congestion and security measures on 1st Street. You post didn't say anything about this pretty substantial change in your post. Do you know if DDOT has dropped this idea? This provision could, conceivably, lead to much shorter trip times and make taking the route a far more viable option (particularly if they eliminate the the pointless section on Louisiana and Constitution too).
by kvnhntr on Mar 29, 2011 7:51 pm • link • report
Seriously? This should be one of those "You don't get nice things because you don't know how to treat them" kind of items. If DDOT thinks appeasing Marion Barry is more important than keeping the Circulator's free of crime and graffitti, and more importantn, running efficiently, than sure."
Wow. I'm amazed that people haven't called out this obnoxious comment. If you think that crime and vandalism only exist in Anacostia, or if you think that simply sending buses there will result in them becoming vandalized crime scenes, then you must live in some kind of a parallel reality that's far removed from the actual DC. And if you think that your prejudices should deny a quarter of the city access to good transit, then you would probably be happier reading the Washington Times than this blog.
by Mister Goat on Mar 29, 2011 9:00 pm • link • report
Really? Proof? i really thought that the only people running Circulators are First bus (the detailed DDOT does not mention any other operator)!
by Vincent Flament on Mar 29, 2011 10:47 pm • link • report
by David Alpert on Mar 29, 2011 11:56 pm • link • report
Give all routes the same start/end time just change frequency between routes and no slicing routes in half after a certain time (Union Station-Georgetown)
If they cancel the 7th street route how will you transfer between routes other than going to Union Station.
by kk on Mar 30, 2011 12:19 am • link • report
Noma - Union Station - Constitution Ave - 4th or 7th Street - L'Enfant Plaza - Waterfront - Navy Yard - Anacostia - Eastern Market - H Street - Noma - Union Station
or
Union Station - Noma - Convention Center - L'Enfant Plaza - Waterfront - Navy Yard - Eastern Market - H Street - Union Station
Have buses run clockwise and counterclockwise
Extend 14th street line to Archives via Convention Center
Discontinue the Mall route and 7th Street routes
by kk on Mar 30, 2011 12:37 am • link • report
The idea that a fare increase is justified because it serves "wealthy" area is stupid. It's not the area -- it's the people. I took Circulator yesterday on K St. Those people did not look wealthy to me. In fact, they smelled awful. I suspect a large number of them are trying to avoid paying $1.50 for metrobus -- and I do the same -- but believe it or not, poor people sometimes have to get to work on K st and Georgetown. That is the metric.
Killing the cc-waterfront line is good. I'd kill the union station route while you're at it.
The new proposed lines are way too confusing. Circulator lines need to be shorter. Longer lines means more traffic tie-ups. Moving the Rosslyn-Dupont to U st, for example, is just asking for trouble.
I'd keep the $1 fare, but kill transfers to Metrobus. That should moderate the traffic for a bit.
by charlie on Mar 30, 2011 8:41 am • link • report
Indeed, the plan includes plenty of rider demographic data showing that the riders are not wealthy at all. Page 28 shows that 47% of riders make less than 40k a year, and 25% make less than 20k a year.
The proposed fare increase seems like a budgetary move - I don't buy any of the equity arguments.
Indeed, I think it would be a huge mistake to suddenly agree to offer service East of the River and simultaneously raise the fare.
by Alex B. on Mar 30, 2011 9:04 am • link • report
Irrelevant, even if true. The critique of WMATA here is not about operations, but strategy and resource allocation.
by oboe on Mar 30, 2011 9:35 am • link • report
by ShawGuy on Mar 30, 2011 11:29 am • link • report
by Jc59 on Mar 31, 2011 8:04 am • link • report
@Jc59
I do agree with you about NPS. It's hard enough to get to alot of the monuments and tourist attractions. I guess they figure you're bound to walk, but getting to the Lincoln Memorial and Potomac Park is hard because Metrobus only runs in that area during rush hour only. Having a Mall Circulator using Jefferson and Madison Drives would definitely make accessibility easier. NPS just needs to get their thumbs out of their asses and think about practicality instead of monetary gain.
Also, regarding the bus bunching, Circulator buses bunch up as well and they usually have to sit to give some time between buses. Not good if you have a train to catch at Union Station. Metrobuses mainly get bunched up due to terrible traffic conditions and the passenger loads. Most evident, 16th Street. You'll see alot of S line buses coming down not because they are late its just 2 lanes and 15,000 cars and numerous traffic lights (unsynchronized) don't flow traffic properly. It's not so much adjusting the schedules thats the problem (even adjusting by a mere couple of minutes can cost alot more), it's a matter of how traffic in DC can be managed to make bus services run more timely.
I ride both Metrobus and Circulator and I feel that most of the time, traffic is what causes most of the delays and not so much the schedules and whatnot. You have to remember schedules are an approximation and is not an exact science. There are going to be some variations as to what time a bus will come.
by K Conaway on Apr 5, 2011 8:15 pm • link • report
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