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It feels like it was only a couple weeks ago that the District Department of Transportation confirmed that they would be altering the Georgetown Circulator bus route so that it no longer traveled north on Wisconsin Ave. And the official announcement of the change, wasn't that just last week? Yes, and, oh yeah, that's right. But this morning, city officials announced that they have changed their minds, and the current Circulator route will stay intact.
Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans and DDOT Director Gabe Klein gathered at Wisconsin Avenue and Whitehaven Place NW this morning to make the announcement in person, in a sort of odd show of force for what is really a rather small transportation decision. The Georgetown Metropolitan's write-in campaign to save the existing route appears to have given the three men reason enough to want to appear to be heroes, there to save the day.
"After further review, this administration has determined the route along Wisconsin Avenue is necessary to the residents, businesses and workers who rely on it as an economically reliable transportation choice," is the official statement from Mayor Fenty.
Evans acknowledged the residents who wrote in support of saving the route even more directly: "The great outpouring of support from the Circulator ridership has once again ensured the continued service of this vital transportation option along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor," Evans opined in his statement.
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Haven't DDOT and Mayor Fenty learned not to cross the rich and powerful? Extending Circulator up Wisconsin was a terrible decision that only benefited a minority of the ridership and caused a multitude of delays for the majority.
You just wish you lived in Georgetown.
The rich and powerful ride the Circulator?
No but their house cleaners and nannies do use the Circulator so it is of benefit to them.
And now and again their kids.
wouldn't it serve everyone better if it went all the way up to wisconsin and calvert?
yes!
when the safeway comes back on line it will doubtless get more use, but if it went all the way up to W&C then you'd get service for almost a whole other neighborhood without having to establish another line, no?
which is a long way of saying, +1!
(the Gtown Circ is also a useful way to travel between GU campuses, during shuttle off-times...i was very afraid we'd lose out on this backup.)
Yes!
This is what I want: Georgetown Ciculator and Adams Morgan Circulator to meet around Calvert. My dream of this NW Loop lives on, but now its very unlikely that a route so close to death could possibly be extended to make the connection. Sigh.
"Extending Circulator up Wisconsin was a terrible decision that only benefited a minority of the ridership and caused a multitude of delays for the majority."
@PSUPaulie - What about the Safeway opening at 34th and Wisconsin? This was the closest grocery store for Georgetown residents before it closed for renovations. Opening up Circulator service to Wisconsin will benefit riders traveling to this location when it opens again next year.
WMATA's Ride Guide tells me that the 31, 32, and 36 travel from M St all the way up to Friendship Heights on Wisconsin. I'm guessing those three bus lines could get Gtown residents to the newly social Safeway, Cathedral, Two Amy's, Container Store, Mazza Gallery, etc. with relative ease, no?
An aside: Wasn't the whole point of the Circulator to move tourists from downtown into areas that are notoriously difficult to get to (Georgetown, SW Waterfront, Adams Morgan)?
maybe that was part of the original way the circulator was pitched, but the 14th street line was certainly not sold to AM, 14th and U, and logan that way. it was pitched as a quick way to get between the neighborhoods, not as a tourist draw.
This explains why I saw Fenty and a bunch of others standing for a photo op in front of a Circulator bus yesterday morning. Now if they'd just find a different street to turn the darn things around on!