The District Department of Transportation will hold its first ever semi-annual public forum to discuss Circulator service at 6:30 p.m. on March 17. Among the topics on the agenda for the evening (aside from future expansion, of course) is a proposal to shut down the Smithsonian-National Gallery of Art route, which would, in turn, free up money to extend service on the Union Station-Navy Yard route through 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday from April to September.
It’s an interesting proposal: after all, the National Mall route is the most tourist-centric route of the system, which overwhelmingly caters to D.C. residents. The bus only runs during weekends in warmer months and caters to people who are basically looking for a quick way to get from one end of the Mall to the other. It’s pretty easy to conclude that the resources put into that rectangular route — which one would think the National Park Service should probably offer a shuttle for — would be better served for expanding service around a wider part of the city.
So we thought we’d ask: would any of you miss the Smithsonian-National Gallery of Art Circulator if it disappeared?