bus

“Dear PoPville,

I’m wondering if you can help shed some light on what’s going on with the X2 bus line. For the entire week, buses have been running about 45 minute delays during evening rush hour, and the tracking app has been completely inaccurate. The WMATA page indicates only that buses will be detouring around H St and 1st NW, although the X2 and X9 buses have already been doing this for over a month.

I understand the X2 is known as one of the worst lines in the city (demonstrated by the recent urine incident and violent threat to a driver), but it’s also one of the busiest routes. If a recent traffic pattern change is resulting in the delays, WMATA needs to find an alternative immediately and restore service to the normal timetable.”

Side note: From Metro Transit police yesterday:

“A suspect arrested overnight by Metro Transit Police detectives for assaulting an X2 Metrobus operator with a Sterno can yesterday also is being charged in connection with two more serious cases.

Aric Lewis Holmes, 19, of Southeast DC was arrested by MTPD detectives and Crime Suppression Team members shortly after 10:30 p.m. yesterday in the area of Minnesota Avenue Metrorail Station. Detectives also arrested his associate John Webb McPhaul, 21, of Northeast DC.”

“Dear PoPville,

The points made in it are very much true. Since I moved to the neighborhood and started taking the 63 to downtown the points made in the alert have become increasingly vexing.”

Ed. Note: The survey includes other bus routes as well:

From WMATA:

“ATU Local 689, the union representing Metrobus Operators, is currently engaged in an unauthorized and potentially unlawful labor action that is significantly impacting riders on the X2 line. The stated goal by union leadership is to draw attention to safety concerns, specifically bus operator assaults, following an incident on Saturday. This is a subject on which Metro and the union agree: Absolutely no one should be assaulted simply for doing their job. However, we disagree with impacting Metro customers who are simply trying to get to work and school by Metrobus Operators refusing to provide bus service in a disruptive and unlawful job action.

Metro and the union also agree that laws need to be strengthened to help protect bus operators, including enhanced penalties for anyone who assaults a frontline transit worker. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

Without fail, the H3 turns right from Columbia Road onto Harvard. Every time it does this, it barely makes it! It either clips the curb (shocking pedestrians who are waiting for the light) or if it forces traffic heading south on Harvard to back up. It’s so illogical! I’m attaching a few pics. Is there anything we can do about this?! Why does WMATA not see that this is simply dangerous & inefficient?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

From DDOT:

“The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will kick off a series of public events on the design phase of the 16th Street NW Bus Lanes Project. As part of the events, DDOT will provide a project overview, present roadway layouts, and gather feedback.

The 16th Street NW Bus Lanes Project is an effort to improve bus service and reliability in the 16th Street NW corridor. The corridor was identified as a transit priority in moveDC, the District’s multimodal transportation plan. In April 2016, DDOT released the 16th Street NW Transit Priority Planning Study, which proposed a set of recommendations to advance to the design phase. The recommendations included peak-hour, peak-direction bus lanes; bus service changes; bus stop improvements; and transit priority infrastructure. The project’s design phase will use recommendations from the 16th Street NW Transit Priority Planning Study to begin environmental documentation, and to develop preliminary engineering designs.

There are three opportunities to provide input on this phase of the project. All events will cover the same material and seek public feedback. (more…)