Photo by PoPville flickr user Mike Maguire
Metrobus moderate snow plan canceled for today – from WMATA:
“Metro service update – Tuesday 6:40 a.m.
UPDATE: All Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess service is operating on a regular weekday schedule today, Tuesday, February 9. There are no weather related issues to report.”
via “Preserve Local Bus Service on 16th St. NW”
The petition from Change.org says:
“We oppose the elimination of any bus stops along the route of the S2 and S4, specifically the ones at L, Q, V, Lamont and Newton Sts. NW.
We support having all S2 and S4 trips serve Metro Center and Federal Triangle, arriving and departing from the terminus at 10th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
16th St. already has an express line, the S9, for riders who prefer faster trips with fewer stops. In addition, the time saving that DDOT projects from eliminating bus stops is minimal (1 to 1.3 minutes), while the inconvenience for older and disabled riders would be significant.
Forcing riders to transfer to make a short trip between downtown and Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan or Mt. Pleasant would also be a major inconvenience, and will reduce ridership, increase the Metro subsidy and put more cars on the road, thus increasing air pollution and traffic congestion.”
From WMATA:
“Metrobus transitioning to *LIGHT* snow plan – service restored on all routes, w/ detours, as of 8:30a Info:
“All Metrobus routes are expected to operate during a light snowfall. Some routes have known problem areas because of factors like hilly terrain or narrow streets that could prevent buses from operating safely until those areas are cleared and treated. When conditions prevent safe operation, buses will detour on a route-by-route basis. Passengers may experience increased wait times due to road conditions.”
Info on all the routes here.
Photo by PoPville flickr user Rich Renomeron
“Dear PoPville,
I live in Columbia Heights and commute by bus in the evening. I catch the bus at 11th & E N.W. At that stop I can catch the S2, S4 and the 54 buses. Sometimes I like to wait for the 54 because it’s faster. However, the drivers have a bad habit of just driving off and not picking up passengers at my stop. Short of laying down in the road and getting hit by the bus I don’t know what else to do to get the drivers to understand that I want to be picked up. I wave my hands wildly and stand right at bus stop but they shoot by me like they’re in the Indy 500 and just keep on going. It’s happened to me at least 6 times since the summer. I’ve written three complaints to Metro and all I get back is the generic “we’ve received your message and will get back to you” kind of response.
My question is: is anyone else having this problem with the 54 bus or is it just me?”
From Metro Transit Police:
“Metro Transit Police have arrested the man wanted for assaulting a Metrobus operator on November 6, 2015.
Darren Lowell WEST, Jr., 20, of Northwest DC turned himself in to the Metro Transit Police warrant squad yesterday and was arrested without incident. Subsequently, West admitted to punching the bus operator because he was “angry.”
The incident occurred on the 92 route while the bus was servicing the bus stop at North Capitol and P streets NW. The suspect walked past the bus operator without paying. When the bus operator requested the fare, the suspect walked to the front of the bus and, without warning or provocation, punched the operator multiple times in the face with a closed fist. A passenger aboard the bus, acting as a Good Samaritan, had to physically pull West off of the operator and force him off the bus.
The operator was transported to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and was released.
MTPD released images of the suspect within hours of the incident and sought the public’s assistance to identify him. Media coverage and public tips were instrumental in obtaining an arrest warrant for West.
West will face assault charges in the District of Columbia where, under DC law, assault on a bus operator could carry an enhanced penalty at sentencing.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user evegophotos
From WMATA:
“Riders along the busy 16th Street corridor may notice that “new bus smell” on their commute home as Metro today put in service five brand-new 60-foot accordion style articulated buses, replacing some of the oldest vehicles in the fleet.
The new buses are part of a larger order of 21 articulated buses and 274 standard buses that will be put in service over the next year, replacing vehicles that are at the end of their 12-year lifespan.
The 21 new articulated buses will run on three of Metro’s busy north-south corridors: 16th Street (S-Line), 14th Street (50-Line), and Georgia Avenue (70-Line). Combined, these routes carry more than 50,000 passengers on a typical weekday.”
This is a pretty funny shot from jamietre. He writes, “Finally, WMATA and I agree on something! I don’t really hate Mt. Pleasant. Just Mount Pleasant street. But the marquee cracks me up.”
Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here.
Thanks a million to the reader who kept updating me with the whereabouts of this crazy bus until I could finally snap a photo. It’s been spotted on Rock Creek Church Road for almost a week. Dang, I suppose this would’ve made for a good caption contest. Well, if you’re feeling particularly inspired we can have a bonus caption contest.
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://dcist.com/2008/06/18
http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot
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They look pretty good. This is what I imagined bus shelters would like in 2008 back when I used to ponder about this sort of thing in the late 90s.
