Results tagged “circulator”

The folks at NextBus have just released an application for the BlackBerry, available for $2.99 at this link. It appears to work somewhat similarly to the iPhone version, which we reviewed earlier this year. BlackBerry users, be sure to let us know how it works for you.

Following the introduction earlier this year of Where's My Bus?, the real-time mobile bus arrival application for the DC Circulator bus system, today the District Department of Transportation announced the launch of its own Circulator iPhone app, available for download for $0.99 from the iTunes Store.

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.

Last week, we reported that the Georgetown/Union Station route of the popular Circulator bus would cease traveling up Wisconsin Ave. beginning Oct. 4, and Monday the District Department of Transportation announced several other route changes to the Circulator buses. The changes will result in the complete cancellation of the National Mall loop during the off-season, plus the loss or addition of service to some stops on other routes.

The Georgetown/Union Station route of the popular Circulator bus is slated to cease traveling up Wisconsin Ave. to Whitehaven St. before it turns around, DDOT spokesperson John Lisle confirmed today.

While Metrobus users have been eagerly awaiting the official July re-launch of NextBus, DDOT and Mayor Adrian Fenty announced today that Circulator riders now have a mobile application, dubbed "Where's My Bus?", that allows smartphone users to track Circulator buses in real time. All you have to do is go to http://circulator.dc.gov/ from any mobile device (the url works in any browser, really), select the Circulator route and bus stop, and it'll tell you where the closest bus is.

      

The "soft" part of the launch of the city's new Circulator bus routes came to an end today, as D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), and DDOT acting director Gabe Klein all came out to 18th Street and Columbia Road NW this morning for an official ceremony to kickoff the new bus lines.

On Friday, DCist reported that the two new Circulator bus routes had been set for a soft launch starting today. At the time, the posted schedule information indicated that the Union Station–Navy Yard Metro route would only be in service on weekdays from 6 a.m.–7 p.m., with extended service on Nationals game days—but not, we presumed, on weekend Nationals game days. It turns out that that is incorrect: DDOT spokesperson Karyn LeBlanc has since confirmed that the new Circulator line will operate on weekend days when the Nats are playing at home. "Any day there is a game we will run service, including weekends," LeBlanc said. "On a weekend day with a game we will run service all day from 8 a.m. to either 7 p.m. or midnight, depending on how late the game is."

We've been pestering DDOT for more details on the two new Circulator routes the city has planned, one that would travel through Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights, U Street and McPherson Square, replacing the 25 cent 98 bus that used to go between U Street and Adams Morgan, and another that would run from Union Station, through Barracks Row to Nationals Park, replacing the N22 bus. Last week, the Washington Business Journal's Jonathan O'Connell dubbed the new routes "Party Lines,", and offered up a homemade Google map of the proposed Adams Morgan route. But with no official routes or stop listings yet announced by DDOT, only vague dates for when they'll begin running (sometime this spring?), and zero information about them available on dccirculator.com, reliable details on the new Circulator lines are still hard to come by.

You already knew about the new Ciculator route planned for Adams Morgan, which looks set to replace the 25 cent 98 "link" route as early as March. The Examiner reports today that another new Circulator route, this time running from Union Station to the brand new Capitol Visitor Center to Nationals Park, is also in the works. This Circulator route would replace the N22 Metrobus route. Metro's board meets on Thursday, and plans to discuss the proposed routes then. Both new lines, if approved, would begin March 30.

So sayeth The Examiner, which has Ward 1 Council member and Metro board member Jim Graham confirming that the buses have already been ordered and are scheduled to arrive in March. The new Circulator route is intended to replace the 98 bus, the 25 cent shortbus link that connects U Street to 18th Street. The $1 Circulator will go much farther than the 98, and will include parts of K Street, U Street, up through Adams Morgan and Woodley Park as well as Columbia Heights - we'll be excited to check out an exact route map when it's ready. There's a public hearing set for Wednesday, Nov. 19 about canceling the 98 bus, at 600 5th Street NW at 6:30 p.m.