DC2NY Bus To Go Out of Business?

 Thanks to a reader for sending the below information. I don’t know if I’d call L’enfant plaza a “scary, unsafe” location but it is certainly interesting to know that DC2NY thinks they’d go out of business if forced to move there.  So what do you all think – is it unfair to make all the intercity buses move to this location?

“Your readers who use intercity buses should be aware that new ’emergency rules’ by the DC DOT are going to force all buses into a scary, unsafe, and inconvenient strip of road in southwest DC –by July 3rd.

DC2NY bus is probably going out of business due to the new DDOT emergency rules, WHEN they go in effect July 3rd. The owner of DC2NY returned my email with a voice mail and said they’d met with DDOT to tell them that they’re not the problem, but he said DDOT doesn’t care. He sounds like there is nothing he can do. New rules go into effect July 3, and the only DC Council person to get back to me was Mary Cheh, who said she was not aware of the new rules. I have it unconfirmed that one other bus company, with 20+ employees, will also leave DC, and I’m working to confirm that.  Looks like jobs will be lost, and minorities/poor will have one less travel option.  (Mayor Fenty and all the at-large council members have not returned my emails.)

The links below are the original story, the DCist story, and the DDOT’s website, which has PDF’s of the rules and the new application for using the strip of road in SW.  The application is really arrogant if you know anything about how these buses work.  For example, no public vending of tickets.  Anyhow, NY and Philly don’t seem to have a problem with the buses.  (The reader comments in both stories are great, too.)

I’d start an advocacy website/log, but it looks like these new rules are going to go in effect nothing short of a law suit, and after speaking with two bus companies, I do not get the feeling they are headed in that direction.

DC should prepare itself to be mightily embarrassed, once again; and we should all look forward to catching our buses in Bethesda after July 3rd.  Maybe you guys can find out what ‘complaints’ were really made about the buses?  Maybe the complaints come from a bus company that has it’s own private loading space and is exempt from the new rules?  Greyhound?  Why the ‘Emergency Rules’ with no live-public hearing, little media coverage, and a 30 day window?  Why weren’t the bus companies informed until 15 days after the rules were entered into the DC Register?”

http://www.examiner.com/a-1446804~Low_cost__regional_bus_companies_forced_to_load_in_designated_zone.html

http://dcist.com/2008/06/18/intercity_bus_terminal_planned_for.php

http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1255,q,563937,ddotNav,|32397|.asp