Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles (3,900 km²) in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are over 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009, Metrobus provided more than 133 million trips.^[4] On a typical weekday, it provides more than 400,000 trips.^[3]

Metro stopped issuing and accepting paper bus transfers as of January 4, 2009; bus and rail riders must use a SmarTrip card to receive the transfer discount.^[5]

Fares

The current Metrobus fare structure is as follows:^[6]

• Local bus within Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland, and District of Columbia (except as noted below): $1.70 (using cash) $1.50 (using SmarTrip)
• Express bus: $3.85 (using cash) $3.65 (using SmarTrip)
• Express Airport buses 5A and B30: $6.00

Discounts may be available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and DC students.(*must have valid ID)

Up to two children, per paying adult, 4 years of age or under ride for free. Children 5 years of age or older pay adult fare.

Express routes: J7, J9, P17, P19, W13, W19, 11Y, 17A, 17B, 17G, 17H, 17K, 17L, 17M, 18E, 18G, 18H, 18P, 29E, 29G, 29H, and 29X.

Transfers and passes

All Metrobuses have SmarTrip card readers which automatically deduct the correct fare from a rider's SmarTrip card (including transfer credit). Formerly, Metrobus issued paper transfers which gave the rider free transfers to any regular bus for two hours. Beginning January 4, 2009, when a rider uses a SmarTrip card they will automatically receive rail-to-bus transfer credit, and bus-to-bus free transfer time for regular buses is increased to three hours. Express routes have different requirements. This section discusses the transfer policy to and from Metrobus and other regional bus operators. The routes can be Metrobus routes or routes of other regional operators. Note that as of January 4, 2009, transfer credit is issued on a SmarTrip card, riders using cash payment cannot obtain a paper transfer, and thus must pay full fare upon boarding the bus. On June 27, 2010, the transfer window was reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours.

NOTES:

1. Local Buses: Metrobus local routes, Ride-On, The Bus (Prince George's County), DC Circulator, Fairfax Connector (except Routes 380, 595, and 597), Connect-A-Ride, Fairfax CUE, DASH, and Arlington Transit.
2. Express Buses: Metrobus express routes, PRTC OmniRide, PRTC MetroDirect, Fairfax Connector routes 380, 595, and 597.

Current fleet

Metro is currently in the process of having 203 New Flyer LFA, Bus rapid transit style buses delivered. These new buses will be painted in a Red/Silver (Local) and Blue/Silver(Express) paint scheme. 38 of these 203 buses will be painted in the Express paint scheme while the other 165 will be painted in the Local paint scheme. Metro is also currently in the process of repainting its current buses into the Local and Express paint scheme. Red/Silver painted buses will be used on local routes and Blue/Silver buses will be used on Express routes. These buses will have either "local" or "express" on the top of each side of the bus for easy identification.^[7] The numbering represents its region of operation. To differ the regions numbering system, Maryland letter is (prefix) to the route number and Virginia letter is (suffix) to the route number. For example: C22 (Maryland) & 15L (Virginia).

WMATA is adding a total of 533 hybrid buses to replace its diesel bus fleet. Each new "New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40" bus costs $571,737 and is expected to break down less frequently as well as offer greater fuel economy. With the latest purchase of 152 hybrid buses for $89.3 million from New Flyer of America, WMATA's Metrobus fleet will consist of 600 diesel buses, 553 hybrid buses and 339 natural gas fueled buses.^[8]

Divisions

There are 9 divisions (a.k.a. garages, yards or lots) in the Metrobus system. Two of them are open on weekdays only.

Open seven days a week:

• Bladensburg (B), located at 2251 26th Street NE, in the District. (It is the largest lot in the system.)
• Four Mile Run (F), located near the stream of the same name in southern Arlington at 3501 South Glebe Road, just south of Crystal City. This garage handles West Ox and Royal division routes on weekends and is a CNG depot.
• Landover (L), located at 3433 Pennsy Drive in Landover.
• Montgomery (M), located at 5400 Marinelli Road, just east of Rockville Pike in Rockville. It is situated a block east of the White Flint station.
• Northern (N), located at 4615 14th Street, NW in the northwestern portion of the District. The facility is a former trolley barn for the Capital Traction Company.
• Southern Avenue Annex (P) (also known as simply "The Annex"), located on the Capitol Heights, MD side of Southern Avenue by Marlboro Pike. This garage, which was previously open weekdays only, has now expanded to seven days a week due to the closing of Metrobus' Southeastern division garage on March 28, 2008.
• Western (W), located on 5230 Wisconsin Avenue, NW in the Friendship Heights neighborhood of the District.

Open weekdays only:

• West Ox (A), located at Alliance Drive and West Ox Road in Fairfax, VA, right next to Lee Hwy (US 29). This division replaced the Arlington division.
• Royal Street (R), located on 600 North Royal Street in Alexandria.

Limited-stop routes

Current

• Columbia Pike (16F)
• Richmond Highway (REX)
• Georgia Avenue (in District of Columbia) (79)
• Pennsylvania Avenue (39)
• Wisconsin Avenue / Massachusetts Avenue (37)
• 16th Street (S9)
• University Boulevard / East-West Highway (Montgomery County) (J4)
• Leesburg Pike (28X)
• H Street / Benning Road (X9)

NOTE: Routes bolded and in parentheses

Proposed

• Potomac Yard
• Southern Avenue / National Harbor
• Veirs Mill Road
• New Hampshire Avenue
• Eastover / Addison Road
• Little River Turnpike / Duke Street
• East-West Highway (Prince George's County)
• Greenbelt-Twinbrook
• Massachusetts Avenue / U Street / Florida Avenue / 8th Street / MLK Avenue
• 14th Street
• Colesville Road
• Anacostia - Congress Heights
• Georgia Avenue (in Montgomery County)
• North Capitol Street
• Rhode Island Avenue
• Rhode Island Avenue Station to Laurel

^[9]

Richmond Highway Express

Richmond Highway Express a.k.a. "REX", is a Limited-Stop bus line that operates between King Street – Old Town station and Fort Belvoir along the Richmond Highway corridor in Fairfax County, Virginia. The current "REX" fleet consists of twelve 2006 Orion 07.501 (VII) CNG (2674–2685) buses painted in a blue-and-gold paint scheme, which operate out of the Four Mile Run division. REX began service on September 26, 2004, replacing parts of Route 9A (which now operates between Huntington station and The Pentagon). The original REX bus fleet consisted of twelve 2000 Orion 06.501 (VI) (2073–2084) buses wrapped (but not painted) in blue-and-gold paint scheme before the aforementioned newest Orion 07.501 CNG buses arrived in 2006.

See also

• List of Metrobus routes (Washington, D.C.)
• Metro Transit Police Department

References