Metro has added a new limited-stop bus route to alleviate congestion in the growing Rhode Island Avenue corridor on Monday.
The route will travel west from Eastern Avenue toward Franklin Square every 15 to 20 minutes. The bus will run from 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. during the weekdays, making 15 stops westbound and 13 stops eastbound.
The D.C. council allocated $1.2 million toward the project as a part of its 2017 fiscal year budget. The G9 is expected to encounter a thousand riders daily and will primarily serve residents living in the Bloomingdale, Edgewood, Brentwood, Brookland, Woodridge and Langdon Park communities.
In the opening ceremony at the Woodbridge Library Plaza, Metro Chairman Jack Evans acknowledged the current financial and infrastructural state of the transit system, calling it a “resurging Metro.”
“A lot of our D.C. residents rely on the buses to get to places,” said Evans who represents Ward 2. “I am very pleased to say that not only is the District not losing any local bus routes, but we’re actually adding bus service.”
The pre-existing G8, 83, and 86 bus routes as well as the Rhode Island Avenue Metro service the corridor, but many community members complained that these routes were becoming inconvenient for multiple reasons.
According to Kyle Todd, executive director of the Rhode Island Avenue NE Main Street, “There was not a direct pathway into downtown without transferring. The area was also experiencing a lot of growth which led to overcrowding on buses.”
The G8 bus route travels through Franklin Square while the Metro carries riders through downtown D.C. by way of Metro Center and Farragut North, but these options do not service riders who live further down Rhode Island Avenue near Mount Ranier.
The 83 and 86 bus routes also do not reach downtown D.C., showing a service gap between the 4th Avenue intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. The G9 route offers a solution, by stretching from Mount Ranier to downtown D.C.
The implementation of the MetroExtra G9 was supported by the D.C. Council after a study was conducted by Metro Priority Corridor Network (PCN) which was completed in April 2014.
The study showed that residents near the Rhode Island Avenue corridor prioritized having a continuous bus route along Rhode Island Avenue into downtown D.C. Six-hundred passengers who take the 83 or 86 buses are required to transfer along the north and south-bound routes. Fifty-three percent of passengers who take those routes also use the College Park Metro Station at some point in their travels.
Douglas Stallworth, the planning director of MetroExtra G9, said he wanted to extend the route to The University ofMaryland (UMD) but could not get enough support from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT).
“I’m encouraging (MDOT) to do that because its developing out there,” Stallworth said, referring to the increasing amount of food vendors in Riverdale Park and the new art district in Hyattsville. Both towns are located within the corridor.
“We had all of those stops listed in the potential extension. It would make sense to me considering you also have a college right there,” said Stallworth.
Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said the decision to extend the G9 route to UMD is up to the D.C. council.
“They’re the ones who are funding it,” Wiedefeld said. “Any decision to make it seven-days a week or extend it is up to them.”
Wiedefeld also said if the the G9 route shows success in its ability to alleviate congestion, that would help the D.C. Council determine whether to extend the route.