Photo via DDOT.

When streetcar service actually begins, as officials say it will later this year, it will cover a route already traveled by Metrobuses on the X2 line. Beyond the obvious difference — one is a streetcar, the other is a bus! — the services will differ in another way: X2 service will begin earlier in the day and end later at night than streetcars, if proposed regulations are accepted.

Here’s what said regulations are proposing:

The streetcar will run from the Hopscotch Bridge on H Street NE to Benning Road and Oklahoma Avenue NE from 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, streetcars would run between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m., while Saturday service would start at 8 a.m. and end at 2 a.m. Sundays and holidays would see the shortest service, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

X2 buses leave the Minnesota Avenue Metro station at 4:15 a.m. Monday through Friday, and Lafayette Square at 4:04 a.m. during the same period. Those times are just slightly longer — a couple of minutes — during the weekend. The last bus leaves Minnesota Avenue around 2:20 a.m. and Lafayette Square around 3 a.m. on all days except Sunday.

This should not surprise anyone. The streetcar system will be operated by the District Department of Transportation, not WMATA, which also runs the Circulator system. The proposed streetcar hours are in line with hours on three popular Circulator routes. Proposed fares are not mentioned in the new regulations.

Another difference from the X2: Bikes will be banned on streetcars between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

So it seems, at least initially, late-night revelers will be able to take advantage of the streetcar system on the weekends to get back to Union Station in time to catch a Metro train before 3 a.m. People who stay for last call and early morning commuters? They’ll have to stick with the bus.