Photo by StreetsofWashington

The D.C. Department of Transportation has announced the beginning of operations for dedicated bus lanes on Georgia Avenue. Beginning today, buses traveling from Florida Avenue to Barry Place NW will have a less congested route, and drivers who disregard the lanes will be fined.

The lanes can be used by transit buses, tour buses, charter buses, school buses, active passenger service taxicabs, bicycles (not pedicabs), para-transit service vehicles, and authorized emergency vehicles, according to DDOT. These vehicles only can ride in the lanes on Mondays through Saturdays between 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Stretching about four blocks, the lanes are part of a pilot program, says DDOT spokesperson Terry Owens, adding that they will be monitored by officials. This means that drivers who park in the areas during restricted times will get a $200 ticket. Additionally, drivers who aren’t under the restriction can only dip into the lanes when their cars are 40 feet ahead of making a turn at an intersection or into a driveway, otherwise they’ll be ticketed $200 as well.

“We will use this project to influence how we proceed with larger projects in the future,” Owens says. Later this spring, drivers will see a red surfacing on the route and DDOT will place signage along the corridor as well.

The department conducted a transportation study on lower Georgia Avenue in 2007, and construction for the bus lanes began last summer. Another busy corridor, 16th Street, is slated to get its own bus lanes in two to four years.

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