July 3, 2008
Transit on Thursday: The Bus Upswing Edition
Did you get an email from Metro yesterday?
If you did, you're now an important part of a new program that's attempting to find ways to improve the service of the S bus lines, which run between Silver Spring and downtown D.C. The first step in the The Metrobus 16th Street Line Study was surveys which were distributed to riders of any S line bus on June 18.
The email contains details about a community meeting that that will include the community surrounding 16th Street in the planning of the upgrades:
The format of the public meeting will be as follows: an open house will take place from 6:30 to 7:00, during which participants can review project materials and speak individually with members of the study team. After that will be a brief presentation to inform participants about the study and what will be taking place at the meeting. Following the presentation will be a breakout session where participants will split up into smaller groups at tables to discuss challenges facing the 16th Street Line and potential solutions. A member of the study team will be present at each table to facilitate the discussion. And finally, participants will report back to the larger group what was discussed at their table.The format of the meeting sounds like as good a chance as any to bring up some of the other broader issues that affect the S lines, like six buses bunching up at the same stop.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 15, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church at 16th and Newton Streets NW.
The study also has a website where you can learn more. With the potential for improvement on this line, in addition to the recent rollout of changes to the 30s line, things are looking up for crosstown/cross-jurisdictional bus transit in the District. Of course, we'd love to hear from those of you that live near 16th Street in the comments - what changes would you like to see on the S line?
After the jump: 11th Street is set for some heavy road work, and your usual roundup of the transit stories this week.
Photo by noahdevereaux
11th Street Reconstruction Scheduled: Thanks to neighborhood blogger 14th and You, there's word from ANC 2F06 commissioner Mike Bernardo that 11th Street NW will be undergoing some massive reconstruction, beginning (hopefully) this fall, and ending who knows when. The work, which will be similar in scope to the work that was done on P Street west of Dupont Circle and Q Street near Logan in the last year or so, will no doubt affect the large amounts of traffic that uses the street to commute, as well as the popular 66 and 68 lines of Metrobus. The work is scheduled to cost up to $8 million and will run between L and O Streets. We'll keep you in the loop when the project officially gets off the ground.
BRT Takes How Long, Now?: This week, the Post featured a big graphic all about the Purple Line. While many of the points made should be old news to transit buffs who have been following the story from the beginning, we did notice one little interesting nugget of information. The alternative to the light rail option is obviously a Bus Rapid Transit system - but it would take a hefty 66 minutes to get from Bethesda to College Park using BRT, at current estimates from the Maryland Transit Administration. Of course, the benefit of the BRT option is that it costs about a third of a light rail option, but still - we hope you Maryland commuters have some serious reading material prepared, if the solution ends up being solely BRT.
Engines and Cabooses: Not in the least D.C. related, but still one of the cooler things we've seen in a while, courtesy BeyondDC... Door to door service for MetroAccess - which we mentioned in May - is now operational... Montgomery County roads need $450 million in repairs; only $8 million is budgeted for them (we guess roads authorities know how transit usually feels now)... Slight decline in Fourth of July highway travel expected... We don't know about "devils," but the area's drivers are accident prone... The Onion: 98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others... Of course, it turns out Metro will be open until 3 a.m. on Friday after all - Metro's guide to getting around town tomorrow evening, in case you need it, can be found here. Happy Fourth!
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"the recent rollout of changes to the 30s line, things are looking up for crosstown/cross-jurisdictional bus transit in the District."
Except that the changes have made the 30s lines no longer "crosstown", now it's more like "to and from Foggy Bottom". Metro has significantly reduced one of the best non-transfer ways to get a long distance around town.
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The link to the 16th Street Study is broken. It's missing the requisite "http://"
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I believe the S bus survey mentioned the possibility of an express route, which would be fantastic. Something that stopped at the Woodner, Columbia Rd., U St., and M could probably serve half of 16th Street's rush hour customers. (I'd definitely walk an extra block or two for an express bus.)
Bus supervisors could help with the bus bunching, too, but it would require a lot of rider education - and people would still complain loudly if their bus were the one that had to sit at a stop for three minutes to let the other buses get ahead.
And, since crowded aisles seem to be inevitable at rush hour, we need more vertical poles!
Since I started riding the S bus before the advent of SmarTrip cards, I do have to thank WMATA for rolling those out. Boarding goes more quickly now that most of us just swipe a card.
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Has anyone heard anything new on when the Nextbus system will be going back online? That feature alone made Metrobus 1000x more usable.
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fixing the link, thanks.
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MoCo transit authorities are foolish to believe that anything short of a light rail line that is *fully* integrated with Metro will make the Purple Line a success. A bus line (anything that takes over an hour to travel only a handful of miles shouldn't be considered "rapid") simply will not be used to nearly the same extent as a rail line that is unimpeded by traffic. After all, while the BRT option might be cheaper than the light rail, it's not as if the BRT is free--its costs still run well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. If we're going to expend all of this energy and money constructing this thing, at least do it right.
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66 minutes by bus from Bethesda to College Park? How long does a Metro ride take? I can freaking hitchhike faster than than, and that's without swining my junk at oncoming traffic.
A dedicated bus lane is the only way to cut that time down, and that would probably cost as much as a light rail line between Bethesda and College Park. And that's assuming the Chevy Chase Country Club crowd protests by blocking the bulldozers with their parasols, spats, and riding crops.
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I may have to start using the buses on 16th Street, since it seems like drivers on that particular road between Silver Spring and downtown are out to kill me on my bike. Every day, I get swerved around and honked at and sometimes commanded to "use the sidewalk" like it's illegal for me to roll on asphalt. I'd write out the traffic codes on my back, but I'm afraid that some SUV will mow me down especially for that.
I use the road because it's easier to navigate than the choppy sidewalks, and because it's the law that bikes can use the road as well as cars. It's not a particularly great road to ride on, but it's the fastest for me. 7 miles of sidewalks would be terrible.
Any other bikers feeling the hate on 16th Street? Or has everyone been scared away?
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knuckleup: of course, you're just a selfish, whiny biker. that's what half the commenters here throw at you whenever you try to say anything as a biker.
don't let the bastards get you down, i say!
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@ kunckleup
I'd never commute on 16th Street. It's mad out there. What's wrong with 14th? There's a bike lane part of the way and curb-side parking which decreases the chance of you getting sideswiped by a passing car. (Of course, the chances of getting doored increase.) Why not take Beach Drive? If you're going to get hit by a car, it might as well be surrounded by beautiful trees and wildlife.
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Thanks Metro! Now I'm late everyday thanks to the new 30 bus system. I got on a 32 bus today at Lafeyette Park and the driver told me it was the end of the line at The Archives building. Too bad, that I work on Cap. Hill and had to wait another 25 minutes for the next 30 bus. Great idea Metro.
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The S1 line (the rush hour only line) is always super crowded, which I think can be solved by offering a couple double buses during the busiest times.
As for biking down 16th, it scares me. I only start at out Euclid, but I cut over and take 17th, which is suprisingly pretty bare, except between M & I Streets. If I were coming from SS, I'd definitely take the 14th Street bike lane route.
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@ recyclist: I only started commuting from Silver Spring last week. It was a shocking change to the part of the Crescent I had been using before. 14th Street is that much better? I'll try it this afternoon and see if I get that same about-to-be-murdered feeling. Thanks!
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Actually, the new 30s line still includes significant crosstown service. You can see an explanation of the changes here. The 32 and 36 go from Friendship Heights to Southern Avenue and Naylor Road metros, respectively. Each comes every 10 mins in the peak (effective 5 minute headways) and every 30 mins off-peak (effective 15 min headways). The difference is that there are now limited-stop services that run during rush hour (from Friendship Heights to Archives and from Naylor Road to Foggy Bottom). There are also "neighborhood" routes that add service for shorter distance trips.
Deep, you must have gotten on the 37. That's the one that goes to Archives. The 32 would still take you to Capitol Hill.
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I have a couple of suggestions for 16th St. Get rid of on-street parking. Some idiot always forgets to move their car and the tow trucks can only move so many by rush hour. The traffic is horrendous on Saturdays and Sundays and getting rid of on-street parking would speed things along. The far right lane (Southbound mornings and Northbond evenings) could be used for buses only or a sort of HOV-3/bus lane.
The S1 should be an express bus (though I am biased since I take it) and all express buses should be Smartrip only.