This is a stupid idea. It is monumentally inconvenient for anyone who coming in from the north part of the District and who is leaving early in the morning. The virtue of Metro Center/Chinatown pickup locations is that they can be easily accessed from all lines with no transfers. Can't you just make the people get permits for their own corner?

Ick. Replacing a location walkable from 4 different Metro lines with one served by only 1 is a monumentally bad idea.

Speaking of buses, does anyone know why there were a gazillion tour buses parked along Route 110 between Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon last night? They were all empty too with no people in sight.

i wonder how it'll affect stops outside of the city, like the one at my office building in Bethesda.

esingles - it was "practice sessions by four ceremonial marching platoons" and expect more of that every tuesday this summer. so 66 to 110 might be kind of a clusterF

I like being able to walk to Dupont for DC2NY.. makes my trip a whole lot more pleasant. I can see not allowing them to park right outside Metro Center exit right downtown, but seriously a block or two away, sure, why not? Just get rid of a lane of parking.

All those bus lines should be replaced by affordable high speed rail anyway.

Ok wait complainers its not has bad as you think.

1. This is right over the L'Enfant Plaza Metro stop, 4 lines, sorry red you have to transfer. And it is not 2 blocks, its about 500ft from the Dst Entrance (same block).

2. Harder to get out of DC... what? You are right off 395 to 295 and you don't have to scamper up NY Ave to get to 295. This should be much faster.

3. Downside it is located under the Plaza. But what does it matter NYers don’t go down to DC, they think you city is Sh!t anyways. But hopefully if will give a shot in the arm to the atrocious underground mall.

DC Bureaucrat 1: I’ve noticed that private companies have been successful at providing cheap, relatively convenient travel to and from major population centers on the east coast, isn’t there something we could do about that?

DC Bureaucrat 2: Yes! Let’s require a special permit and charge for it.

DC Bureaucrat 1: Good idea! That will probably increase the price a bit, but what about the convenience?

DC Bureaucrat 2: Well, you know how the different companies pick up in different locations so the consumer can choose the location closest to them or that’s easiest to get to?

DC Bureaucrat 1: Yeah…

DC Bureaucrat 2: What if we made all the buses leave from the same spot?

DC Bureaucrat 1: Brilliant!

DC Bureaucrat 2: Well, its noon – time to call it day.

I don't actually think this is such a terrible idea. The proposed new site is pretty easily accessible, I don't think the buses will be significantly slowed by taking the (slightly) longer but (slightly) less congested southern route along 295, and I've got to admit that Gallery Place has lately become a kind of automotive black hole. As in, "nobody drives there any more, it's too congested" traffic.

That said, I wouldn't blame Marylanders like ahark1pd for being upset, if this means the buses are routed away from their established interim stops. What may be good news for Cheverly or Bowie may be bad news for Bethesda or Rockville.

@G Lover - (1) how is L'Enfant Plaza a 'confusing' part of the city to get to? You can take several metro and bus lines and the drive is actually pretty simple from northwest - just take 7th street until you get into southwest and viola, you're there. Not too hard. and (2) Cars can broken into at any place in the city, hell, they get broken into in Dupont very frequently. If you take the necessary precautions with leaving your car unattended for several days, you should be in no less 'danger' than leaving it in one of the 'safe neighborhoods'.

I think it's funny that everyone says that L'Enfant is inconvenient for people. If you live in Arlington, Southwest, Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights, Mt Pleasant and many other neighborhoods, this spot is actually pretty easy to get to. I have taken the 5A to Dulles Airport several times and have had no problems with it.

I like this decision - we definitely dont need these buses taking up lanes in metro center, blocking lanes of traffic because they are sticking out the back and people blocking the streets with their luggage. This is a smart decision that, like all location decisions in this city, convenience some and inconvenience others.

It's not that L'enfant is inherently inconvenient. Removing all other options for boarding/dropoff locations is what's inherently inconvenient. There should be at least three spots in the city where buses can choose to pickup/dropoff.

Actually this could work well. Chinatown/Gallery Place traffic has gotten really congested, and these buses really gum up the works. Also the bus stops are very confusing for some of the passengers. L Enfant is easy to get to, and has really wide streets.

I, too, like being able to walk to the pick-up spots in Dupont Circle, especially for early morning and late night drop-offs. Moving all the buses to L'Enfant would less convenient for us Red Liners (esp. with having to transfer and with such sparse Metro service in the late evenings/weekends).

So, generally, DCist readers don't like the location switch. What about the whole idea of a bus terminal in general? Perhaps if it was in a different spot like Union Station?

DDOT published notice of this plan in the DC Register a few weeks ago. (What? You don't read the DC Register? What's wrong with you?!) What DDOT should have done was gone to the various bus companies to let them know what they were planning, so that the bus companies could let their customers know about the changes.

And Why the Eff is Terry Lynch quoted in this story? That man is a total quote whore. You need a quote? He's got one for you. No matter if it has absolutely nothing to do with his day job.

There used to be a Greyhound Station on NY Avenue north of Metro Center. Real estate prices drove them out. They moved to the area north of Union Station. Same thing happened. You've got all those parking lots south of where AV used to be, but again, all that area's due for development.

They should put it at the RFK Stadium Metro. It never gets used outside of events, there's plenty of parking, you've got instant access to 295. But of course, boo hoo, it's inconvenient for someone. Go ride a freaking doorknob for all I care.

Idling buses are a traffic and pollution nuisance, so I can definitely see why the DDOT employees would think about implementing a policy like this. It gets the buses away from crowded, pedestrian-heavy entertainment districts like Chinatown and Dupont. That's better for drivers at Friday rush hour, but also better for pedestrians and people who want to enjoy a beer outdoors in those areas.

But the stop definitely does inconvenience red-liners and people who work downtown. It serves four metro lines, instead of five. Jtmeyer is right when he says the foul-up here is removing the other locations throughout the city as pickup spots. What DDOT should really be investigating is how to create several pickup spots throughout the city that are 1) away from traffic and restaurants, and 2) still convenient to metro and bus lines.

So, maybe you make the buses avoid parking right at 7th and H, and require they move down the block to 8th Street, which is pretty dead. You have them line up on N Street in Dupont instead of right at the Metro entrance. And you designate a spot in Foggy Bottom that is low on traffic (I've seen DC2NY, I think, dropping off GW kids at 23rd and I), etc.

Then, you make the companies bid for a set number of permits for the most popular spots, like at Chinatown. Those will naturally cost more than the slots at the less popular slots, like Foggy Bottom. It will also push buses out toward stops at metro termini like Greenbelt, which would be nice because those will probably make for quicker trips. It's a free market solution that cuts down on traffic congestion, and makes it so I don't have to breathe through exhaust while enjoying a Tsingtao in Chinatown (though that would probably be a more authentic Chinese experience anyways).

RFK is a great site but logistically poor location. If DCgov offers a builder to locate a giant commercial complex on top of the big bus terminal, then the old convention center will work.

Monkey-don't leave out the US Dept of ED employees-hopefully the fumes won't hinder them from leaving children behind