There is little doubt that the Circulator, the public-private venture which launched in 2005 with two routes, has been a massive success, expanding service several times over its five-year-plus lifespan and developing into a useful alternative and supplement to Metrobus. With such success, it’s understandable that many would like to see more Circulator service in the District of Columbia. But where would that additional service be best placed? Based on data collected from rider surveys and town halls, DDOT now has a pretty good idea.

The transportation agency, which provides government oversight on the service, has released a PDF of recommendations (see after the jump) concerning where Circulator routes should be expanded and installed throughout the city. Future Circulator service is based on “activity centers,” mixed-use corridors which are either already developed or are predicted to be so by 2020; based on the locations of such centers, DDOT has outlined 10 new or extended routes. Included in the recommendations:

• Three exciting new routes: an Adams Morgan-U Street-Florida Avenue-H Street NE bus, a connection between the Southwest Waterfront and Dupont Circle and a Brookland-Tenleytown link which would operate through most of the District’s up-and-coming neighborhoods like Petworth and Columbia Heights and also stop at Washington Hospital Center.
• Three no-brainer extensions, including extensions of the Rosslyn-Georgetown-Dupont route up New Hampshire Avenue NW to 14th and U Streets NW, the Waterfront-Convention Center along M Street to Nationals Park and pulling the Union Station-Navy Yard route up through NoMa and to the New York Avenue Metro station.
• Other suggestions include an Eastern Market-Anacostia-Minnesota Avenue route, a link between the south side of the National Mall and Arlington Cemetery (which we’ll go ahead and dub the Tourist Line now), a link between Georgetown and the north side of the Mall (again, tourists will be thrilled).