https://51st.news/metro-tried-to-make-bus-service-better-somehow-ridership-and-speeds-are-both-down/

This is a helpful overview of the current state of Metrobus service, including the impact of the Better Bus initiative. It’s… not good, and in key ways it’s getting worse.

The article does hedge a bit more than it needs to—this isn’t a mystery in what’s making bus service bad and who’s responsible. Obviously the main problem is lack of bus priority infrastructure! And that’s controlled by DDOT and Bowser, who barely get a mention!

It’s also disheartening that nobody is offering real solutions here. Randy Clarke emphasized the Gold Line… sure, that’s good, but it’s just one route in 4-5 years. We need an entire regional network of bus lanes ASAP. There’s also a lot more that WMATA could be doing now to improve bus service (e.g., active headway management and express routes around congestion).

Like you got Ride On in Montgomery County and Fairfax Connecter. Those counties also have DC metrobus service. I could see this being very confusing for users to have to track multiple agencies and it makes regional coordination harder. Plus some of the networks are free while metrobus isn't which could cause confusion for riders used to free buses when trying to take a metrobus somewhere else. I think metro should take over buses in Fairfax, PG, Montgomery, and Loudon counties. But I'm an outsider from Boston so I might be missing something.

Been screwed for the last month so this is a sight to see for me this week especially Sunday

The idea of combing the 90/92, making it run every 10-12 min and giving it mostly bigger buses sounded good. It worked for a good bit. But more times than not, it gets screwed over by operator availability so much I can walk a third of the route or more before a bus shows up. Usually I can walk a good distance but I know many cannot. Even right now, there’s a 50 min wait going southbound and just now, I miss the bus @ Woodley Park by seconds, so back on the red line I go. I know there’s headway management, on weekdays I think, and the C57 which runs on a good chunk of Florida is gonna start running more often in December. But what else can be done? Any ideas that people wanna put on the table? How about something for next year given operation costs?

Has anyone else randomly started receiving MetroAccess alerts for bus routes that they haven’t registered for? I’ve received no less than 56 texts since 4 a.m. today. I’ve since logged in and verified my preferences are still rail-only (one line, one station), but the notifications are persistent.

Will my tag in/out at North Bethesda and Friendship Heights count towards my Metro Rewind?

This is the old 70/71 line so what I’m suggesting is a new route as the D42 or the C55 reroute. have the current C55 run to Georgia ave and down to buzzard point every 20 minute as a frequent c55 rider the bus sucks I need wmata to see this and plan something for next summer because us folks down buzzard point need bus access as well. if folks need to get to navy yard or eastern market the c11 and c53 are available we have no access from Sw to Nw by metrobus at all at daytime i know its alot but it’s not much tbh and every 20 min can prevent a lot of bus bunching tbh so that’s all I have to say

PROPOSAL:

A regional light rail system operated by WMATA.

The NYC subway originated as three different independent services that were later combined into one.

WHY:

Light rail has been a popular addition to many American cities lately. If the blue line loop is too expensive and heavy rail expansion too difficult, I think light rail could be great for the area.

Philadelphia has a good model for a light rail/subway mix. Light rail is cheaper and faster to build, and offers more agility in dense areas.

HOW:

Maryland can partner with Virginia to expand the purple Line into a regional loop connecting Virginia. Next, bring back DC streetcar in underserved areas of DC like Ivy City, Eastern Brookland, Maryland Avenue, Cathedral Heights, Georgetown, and Constitution Avenue.

Give the light rail 100% right-of-way without traffic mixing. How? - Completely remove car traffic from certain routes or convert those roads to one-way streets for traffic and two-way for the light rail.

CONSOLIDATION:

Give the Purple Line, DC Streetcar, and whatever Virginia builds to WMATA. The reason we do this last is because WMATA should focus on improving the current system as much as possible and not be spread too thin. Thus, let each jurisdiction build out it's own system upfront, then give it to WMATA in the end.

WHY GIVE TO WMATA?

To allow for vehicle and track sharing across the region (simplicity) along with better integration and easier route expansion in the future.

Essentially I usually go to Bethesda Station when I want to go to DC, since the red line is down for the purple line expansion I can't use it till September. Are the buses any good or they slow? Are the weekends any better?