Two days are left to comment on proposed major service changes and proposed fare media change for the DC Circulator system that will take effect in April 2018.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is collecting feedback on the following proposed changes through Friday, February 9, 2018.
The proposed fare media change is the elimination of unlimited-use paper passes used only on DC Circulator. DC Circulator will continue to accept the unlimited Regional Bus Pass on SmarTrip cards. No change is proposed to the base fare of $1 per trip.
If the changes take effect, two routes will change their relationships with Union Station as well as with parts of the neighborhoods they serve.
The Union Station – Navy Yard Metro (US-NY) Circulator Route will no longer travel from Eastern Market to Union Station. Instead, the route would connect the Eastern Market Metrorail station and L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station via Barracks Row, M Street SE/SW, and the Waterfront Metrorail station. Additionally, the route would have permanent Saturday service from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and new Sunday service from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
On the Potomac Avenue Metro – Skyland (PS) Route the portion of the route traveling along Good Hope Road SE route to Skyland, turning at Alabama Ave SE will be discontinued and replace by a route along Stanton Road SE to Congress Heights. The portion connecting Potomac Avenue and Eastern Market Metro Stations would be replaced by an additional section linking Eastern Market to Union Station.
According to points provided by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) the proposed major service changes are:
• Potomac Avenue Metro – Skyland (PS) Route – Realignment of route to serve Union Station and Congress Heights Metro via Barracks Row and Downtown Anacostia
• Potomac Avenue Metro – Skyland (PS) Route – Regular Saturday service from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and new Sunday service 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Union Station – Navy Yard Metro (US-NY) Route – Realignment of route to serve Eastern Market Metro to L’Enfant Plaza Metro via Barracks Row, Navy Yard Metro, M Street SE/SW, and Waterfront Metro
• Union Station – Navy Yard Metro (US-NY) Route – Regular Saturday service from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and new Sunday service 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Regular late-night service will be added between McPherson Square to Union Station from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Comments can be submitted online until midnight Friday, Feb. 9th. Details on the changes, including maps (above) and data about the changes can also be viewed in the Proposed Major Service Adjustment Plan, published Dec. 2017.