WMATA Washington

[DCTransitFilms]

25 minutes ago, Harvestman said:

My parents grew up in the Baltimore/Silver Spring area and found this pamphlet in some old files recently.  It was a supplement to the March 21, 1976 issue of the Washington Star and describes the very minimal service provided in Phase 1 of the subway's operation.  There are several station naming and alignment changes, along with a couple of stations being swapped between the Yellow and Blue Lines.  Hope these scans are useful...

Oooooooooooooo thats nice.

[Chris.A]

On 1/17/2020 at 6:24 PM, DCTransitFilms said:

I think 6159 and 6186 officially moved to FMR via a Facebook group

Seems that Metro is going to cut upwards of 22 bus lines. Since I focus on the VA side of things, I'll just list some of the proposed VA WMATA routes. 

3A, 3T

5A (obviously)

7Y would be cut back to Pentagon. No longer going to downtown. They might as well revive the former 7E route if they are going to do that.

10N (I have yet to see these buses in action and probably never will at this rate)

15K

16G (for some reason)

22A (replaced with a modified 22F. They should just kill the 22 family in general except the 22A and revive the former 25A and 25C lines IMHO).

29W (This route is kinda pointless. They should just have those either as 29G trips or have the 29C be bi-directional during  rushhours)

TAGs (This service is losing ridership like crazy and the recent bus strike certainly didn't help matters...)

 

If all this happens, I think the VA depots routes should be assigned like this:

West Ox

1s,

2s

4A (during rushhours)

8W (during rushhours)

17B (Split with Cinderbed)

26A

38B (split with Four Mile Run on weekdays)

 

Four Mile Run

1s( weekends)

2s (weekends)

3Y

4B

7s

8s (except for 8W)

10s

11Y (PM service)

16s

22F

23s

25B

28s

38B (split with West Ox on weekdays)

Metroways

 

Cinder Bed

11Y (AM service)

17s (17B split with West Ox)

18s

21s

29s

REX

 

In terms of bus fleets in VA, this will easily be the end of the Orion 7 reign in NOVA for the CNGs will all be retired and the hybrid 3Gs from Cinder Bed will go back to the inner city depots. I would also transfer those 2012-13 XDE40s #7180-7202 from West Ox and get about 23 more 2010 DE42LFAs from the city. Possibly #6554-6577. Don't know if Four Mile Run will be getting some new 2020 XN40s though.

 

[DCTransitFilms]

7 hours ago, Chris.A said:

Seems that Metro is going to cut upwards of 22 bus lines. Since I focus on the VA side of things, I'll just list some of the proposed VA WMATA routes. 

3A, 3T

5A (obviously)

7Y would be cut back to Pentagon. No longer going to downtown. They might as well revive the former 7E route if they are going to do that.

10N (I have yet to see these buses in action and probably never will at this rate)

15K

16G (for some reason)

22A (replaced with a modified 22F. They should just kill the 22 family in general except the 22A and revive the former 25A and 25C lines IMHO).

29W (This route is kinda pointless. They should just have those either as 29G trips or have the 29C be bi-directional during  rushhours)

TAGs (This service is losing ridership like crazy and the recent bus strike certainly didn't help matters...)

 

If all this happens, I think the VA depots routes should be assigned like this:

West Ox

1s,

2s

4A (during rushhours)

8W (during rushhours)

17B (Split with Cinderbed)

26A

38B (split with Four Mile Run on weekdays)

 

Four Mile Run

1s( weekends)

2s (weekends)

3Y

4B

7s

8s (except for 8W)

10s

11Y (PM service)

16s

22F

23s

25B

28s

38B (split with West Ox on weekdays)

Metroways

 

Cinder Bed

11Y (AM service)

17s (17B split with West Ox)

18s

21s

29s

REX

 

In terms of bus fleets in VA, this will easily be the end of the Orion 7 reign in NOVA for the CNGs will all be retired and the hybrid 3Gs from Cinder Bed will go back to the inner city depots. I would also transfer those 2012-13 XDE40s #7180-7202 from West Ox and get about 23 more 2010 DE42LFAs from the city. Possibly #6554-6577. Don't know if Four Mile Run will be getting some new 2020 XN40s though.

 

I think the 3A, 3T, 10N, 16G, and 22A are fine along with the 30N/30S, 37, B30, D2, D4, F12, X1/X3, Z2, and Z8. WMATA is gonna get rid of the 5A once the Silver Line opens, Z11 will be discontinued when Ride On Flash begins service, and the 54 is following a similar scenario as the S2/S4/S9 proposals. WMATA been trying to get rid of the B8/B9 and combine E6 and M4 into one route all these years, and D1 is the same as the D2 and D5 the same as the D6 tbh but with minor extensions. Only reason why I'll keep the 30N/30S is because of direct service without getting off to transfer and F12 is a neighborhood connector to the people in Landover. Also its no point on splitting the 17B as it only got 4 total round trips and the 29W is kinda the same of the 29C/29G. W2/W3 can be combined into one route as both routes the same and A4/W5 could get reconstructed. Maybe keep either the C11 or C13 and shorten the W14 up to the Oxon Hill Park and Ride. Also the 7Y and 16C should continue service to DC since they're cheaper than the train during rush hours and many passengers wanna get cheap rides. 

In my opinion, give F4 more service on the weekends (at least 15-20 minutes), give F6 at least Saturday service, more later service  for the 86, F8, T14, T18, (up to 8 on Sunday and 9 Saturday),  make the W6/W8 into one route (either eliminate W6 or W8), reconstructure the Q lines, keep the NH2 as is, add midday service for the K9, J4, and if they wanna, shorten the B30 to Arundell Mills and reduce the fare. 

[DCTransitFilms]

Cinder Bed is FINALLY back to normal. Workers ended the strike last week and almost all routes are fully restored. The only routes that will not operate are the TAGs shuttles (S80, S91) as of right now. But we can finally go back to normal on 99% of the routes. 

[Rob S]

6376 and 6377 are back at Cinder Bed.   Does anyone know if 8094 is still at FMR?

[Chris.A]

6 hours ago, Rob S said:

6376 and 6377 are back at Cinder Bed.   Does anyone know if 8094 is still at FMR?

#8094 is back at Sheppard's Parkway depot. Drove by Four Mile on Friday and it was no longer there. They do have several D40LFRs now though. Also, saw a retired DASH bus 2004 Orion 5 the other day broken down near Landmark (possibly bus #83). 

[DCTransitFilms]

4 hours ago, Chris.A said:

#8094 is back at Sheppard's Parkway depot. Drove by Four Mile on Friday and it was no longer there. They do have several D40LFRs now though. Also, saw a retired DASH bus 2004 Orion 5 the other day broken down near Landmark (possibly bus #83). 

Yeah FMR has a couple D40LFRs to fill in since of the retirements of the Orion VII CNGs. They're 6103, 6159, 6170, 6181, and 6186 as ik. 

[Rob S]

DASH has several buses listed on public surplus for auction including some Neoplan buses.  

[Chris.A]

On 1/30/2020 at 3:48 PM, Rob S said:

DASH has several buses listed on public surplus for auction including some Neoplan buses.  

One was in a scarp yard on 234 in Prince William county until recently. Anyway, went to Bladensburg depot over the weekend and saw several retired 2000 Orion Vs and 2006 Orion VII OG CNGs, including a #2700 shockingly. Among the Orion Vs was #2130 and #2190 along with others. In all there were about 10 or so units parked OOS awaiting scrap and about 4 or 5 Orion VII OG CNGs (40 footers, not the 30 footers) doing the same thing. I think the #2700 was #2716, but I'm not too sure. Also at the depot were about 8-9 2011 XDE40s in the express scheme.

On 1/30/2020 at 3:48 PM, Rob S said:

DASH has several buses listed on public surplus for auction including some Neoplan buses.  

Also saw a C40LFR (#2822) on the 25B on Monday. Took a video as well. BTW, DASH don't seem to use Orion Vs on the weekends anymore. Haven't seen one since last December. 

On 1/28/2020 at 7:34 PM, DCTransitFilms said:

Yeah FMR has a couple D40LFRs to fill in since of the retirements of the Orion VII CNGs. They're 6103, 6159, 6170, 6181, and 6186 as ik. 

Oh yeah, I noticed that bus #2646 was on the 10A late last night. Around midnight. I give these buses til around Apirl-May before these are completely gone and the 3000s til August.

[DCTransitFilms]

On 2/5/2020 at 12:06 AM, Chris.A said:

One was in a scarp yard on 234 in Prince William county until recently. Anyway, went to Bladensburg depot over the weekend and saw several retired 2000 Orion Vs and 2006 Orion VII OG CNGs, including a #2700 shockingly. Among the Orion Vs was #2130 and #2190 along with others. In all there were about 10 or so units parked OOS awaiting scrap and about 4 or 5 Orion VII OG CNGs (40 footers, not the 30 footers) doing the same thing. I think the #2700 was #2716, but I'm not too sure. Also at the depot were about 8-9 2011 XDE40s in the express scheme.

Also saw a C40LFR (#2822) on the 25B on Monday. Took a video as well. BTW, DASH don't seem to use Orion Vs on the weekends anymore. Haven't seen one since last December. 

Oh yeah, I noticed that bus #2646 was on the 10A late last night. Around midnight. I give these buses til around Apirl-May before these are completely gone and the 3000s til August.

Rip the Orion Vs. Some 2700s were at Blade a bit but they since been retired. Only known 2700s still in service are 2723, 2724, 2727, and 2730 as the rest are probably retired (or trackers don't work). Also some Blue Orion VIIs operate on Local routes but its rare to find unless you're at Blade who don't care about whats scheme the buses are in lol.

[DCTransitFilms]

6162 is at FMR now

Here’s some of the proposed changes for some Metrobus routes, fare hikes, and service levels that are apart of the budget cuts for 2020. Lots of people won’t like the D buses, 37, F12, 7Y, 16C, A4, W5, W4, X1, X3, Q buses, Z8, and other routes on here. P
 

https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/budget/index.cfm#main-content

[Border City Transit]

7 hours ago, DCTransitFilms said:

Here’s some of the proposed changes for some Metrobus routes, fare hikes, and service levels that are apart of the budget cuts for 2020.

It's never fun to see service cuts... but I'd say WMATA did a good job minimizing impact and cleaning up services that are way past their expiration date. I like the E6+M4 combo; it will act as a useful "far Northwest crosstown" rather than being limited to short-distance rail feeder service. I am also fully in favor of removing the ill-advised 30N / 30S routes. There is adequate service in these corridors without this holdover from another problematic route.

Elsewhere, they're finally starting to simplify the service -- hopefully this makes the system more approachable for would-be users.

One thing I'm not keen on is the extra fare for MetroExtra. In Austin, Cap Metro tried a higher fare for their MetroRapid routes -- and it was blamed for hobbling the entire service. They finally leveled fares with local service. Part of me thinks this is a red herring -- I can't imagine they'll go through with disproportionate higher fares on routes they're billing as the future of the bus system.

 

[DCTransitFilms]

3 hours ago, Border City Transit said:

It's never fun to see service cuts... but I'd say WMATA did a good job minimizing impact and cleaning up services that are way past their expiration date. I like the E6+M4 combo; it will act as a useful "far Northwest crosstown" rather than being limited to short-distance rail feeder service. I am also fully in favor of removing the ill-advised 30N / 30S routes. There is adequate service in these corridors without this holdover from another problematic route.

Elsewhere, they're finally starting to simplify the service -- hopefully this makes the system more approachable for would-be users.

One thing I'm not keen on is the extra fare for MetroExtra. In Austin, Cap Metro tried a higher fare for their MetroRapid routes -- and it was blamed for hobbling the entire service. They finally leveled fares with local service. Part of me thinks this is a red herring -- I can't imagine they'll go through with disproportionate higher fares on routes they're billing as the future of the bus system.

 

The E6 and M4 combo been a thing for like 10 years now and the 30N and 30S could go. 

[WMATAC40LF]

11 hours ago, Border City Transit said:

It's never fun to see service cuts... but I'd say WMATA did a good job minimizing impact and cleaning up services that are way past their expiration date. I like the E6+M4 combo; it will act as a useful "far Northwest crosstown" rather than being limited to short-distance rail feeder service. I am also fully in favor of removing the ill-advised 30N / 30S routes. There is adequate service in these corridors without this holdover from another problematic route.

I agree with your assessment about the E6 and M4. Those two (especially the E6) rarely have that many passengers, so the current two route setup seems like a waste of money. However, as someone who has ridden the Wisconsin Avenue routes many times, I can tell you that eliminating the northwestern portions of the 30N/30S routes (without adding additional service on the 31/33 to compensate) would be a really bad idea. Maybe they could get away with it on weekends, but on weekdays (and especially during rush hour), basically every bus on Wisconsin is jam-packed.

[DCTransitFilms]

16 hours ago, WMATAC40LF said:

I agree with your assessment about the E6 and M4. Those two (especially the E6) rarely have that many passengers, so the current two route setup seems like a waste of money. However, as someone who has ridden the Wisconsin Avenue routes many times, I can tell you that eliminating the northwestern portions of the 30N/30S routes (without adding additional service on the 31/33 to compensate) would be a really bad idea. Maybe they could get away with it on weekends, but on weekdays (and especially during rush hour), basically every bus on Wisconsin is jam-packed.

Yeah also don't like the W4 extension to Fort Drum or the G2 and D2 combination and D1 and D5 could be eliminated as they're the same as the D2/D5 but with minor extensions. Also don't like the F12, 22A, 3A, 3T, and some the other cuts imo. 

 

Fun fact:  we had school fights on two bus today (i would post the G14 one but nah) on the G14 from DuVal (on bus 6044), and one on the  P6 from McKinley Tech today (on bus 2835). 

[Chris.A]

14 hours ago, DCTransitFilms said:

Yeah also don't like the W4 extension to Fort Drum or the G2 and D2 combination and D1 and D5 could be eliminated as they're the same as the D2/D5 but with minor extensions. Also don't like the F12, 22A, 3A, 3T, and some the other cuts imo. 

 

Fun fact:  we had school fights on two bus today (i would post the G14 one but nah) on the G14 from DuVal (on bus 6044), and one on the  P6 from McKinley Tech today (on bus 2835). 

I think it is stupid mean while to get rid of the downtown portion of the 7Y. That's basically the former 7E's routing. Also, they should really get rid if the 22F and bring back the old 25A and 25C that they discontinued back in late 2014/ early 2015. The 5A, 15K, most of the 3 Lines, 29W, and Tags, I'm not surprised by. Is the 26A well in terms of Ridership? I only rode that bus once in the past 3 years.

On 2/14/2020 at 2:11 AM, WMATAC40LF said:

I agree with your assessment about the E6 and M4. Those two (especially the E6) rarely have that many passengers, so the current two route setup seems like a waste of money. However, as someone who has ridden the Wisconsin Avenue routes many times, I can tell you that eliminating the northwestern portions of the 30N/30S routes (without adding additional service on the 31/33 to compensate) would be a really bad idea. Maybe they could get away with it on weekends, but on weekdays (and especially during rush hour), basically every bus on Wisconsin is jam-packed.

I am shocked to see the 30N and 30S on here. The 22A I kinda figured they would do away with eventually, but the 22C?!?

On 2/13/2020 at 2:37 PM, Border City Transit said:

It's never fun to see service cuts... but I'd say WMATA did a good job minimizing impact and cleaning up services that are way past their expiration date. I like the E6+M4 combo; it will act as a useful "far Northwest crosstown" rather than being limited to short-distance rail feeder service. I am also fully in favor of removing the ill-advised 30N / 30S routes. There is adequate service in these corridors without this holdover from another problematic route.

Elsewhere, they're finally starting to simplify the service -- hopefully this makes the system more approachable for would-be users.

One thing I'm not keen on is the extra fare for MetroExtra. In Austin, Cap Metro tried a higher fare for their MetroRapid routes -- and it was blamed for hobbling the entire service. They finally leveled fares with local service. Part of me thinks this is a red herring -- I can't imagine they'll go through with disproportionate higher fares on routes they're billing as the future of the bus system.

 

TBH, It's been a while since Metro had cuts of this size. Last time was back in 2015 or so.

[DCTransitFilms]

14 minutes ago, Chris.A said:

I think it is stupid mean while to get rid of the downtown portion of the 7Y. That's basically the former 7E's routing. Also, they should really get rid if the 22F and bring back the old 25A and 25C that they discontinued back in late 2014/ early 2015. The 5A, 15K, most of the 3 Lines, 29W, and Tags, I'm not surprised by. Is the 26A well in terms of Ridership? I only rode that bus once in the past 3 years.

I am shocked to see the 30N and 30S on here. The 22A I kinda figured they would do away with eventually, but the 22C?!?

TBH, It's been a while since Metro had cuts of this size. Last time was back in 2015 or so.

5A will be discontinued anyways when the Silver Line opens up while the rest of the VA cuts are from low ridership. 29W can just be converted into the 29C and 29G imo, 22A and 22C idk really, 3A and 3T wouldn't be it because of the riders in the surrounding area, Tags can probably go,. Also I think 22A should stay. 30N and 30S are the same as the rest of the 30s lines but if they wanna eliminate those buses, they gotta add more service for the 31/33 along Wisconsin avenue and probably add extra service for the 32 and 36 then. 37, F12, and X1/X3 should stay because a lot of people utilize that route even if low ridership. The 52/54/59 proposals are just like the S1/S2/S4/S9 proposal with the 59 adding off peak hours just like the S9 getting sunday service. Im not sure about the V1 tho but i would like to see the X8 being extended (that route is kinda borin imo). 

But for sure not a lot of W4 riders will like the buses skipping Anacostia and serving Fort Drum. They won't be able to get direct service to Anacosta anymore and its just gonna cause more problems. D1 and D5 are more of the Same like the D2 and G2 so they can probably go. Also I don't like the G2/D2 combination imo. But the E6 and M4 has been proposed to be merged for at least 10 years same thing with the B8/B9 being discontinued that suffers very low ridership. And B30 could probably just be shorten to Arundel and add both weekend, and regular fare on that bus instead so it can interest more riders and the route can be a success. Lastly if the Q buses discontinue service towards Shady grove, imagine what the Ride On buses botta be like. Completely packed to the brim. 

[Chris.A]

On 2/15/2020 at 8:01 AM, DCTransitFilms said:

5A will be discontinued anyways when the Silver Line opens up while the rest of the VA cuts are from low ridership. 29W can just be converted into the 29C and 29G imo, 22A and 22C idk really, 3A and 3T wouldn't be it because of the riders in the surrounding area, Tags can probably go,. Also I think 22A should stay. 30N and 30S are the same as the rest of the 30s lines but if they wanna eliminate those buses, they gotta add more service for the 31/33 along Wisconsin avenue and probably add extra service for the 32 and 36 then. 37, F12, and X1/X3 should stay because a lot of people utilize that route even if low ridership. The 52/54/59 proposals are just like the S1/S2/S4/S9 proposal with the 59 adding off peak hours just like the S9 getting sunday service. Im not sure about the V1 tho but i would like to see the X8 being extended (that route is kinda borin imo). 

But for sure not a lot of W4 riders will like the buses skipping Anacostia and serving Fort Drum. They won't be able to get direct service to Anacosta anymore and its just gonna cause more problems. D1 and D5 are more of the Same like the D2 and G2 so they can probably go. Also I don't like the G2/D2 combination imo. But the E6 and M4 has been proposed to be merged for at least 10 years same thing with the B8/B9 being discontinued that suffers very low ridership. And B30 could probably just be shorten to Arundel and add both weekend, and regular fare on that bus instead so it can interest more riders and the route can be a success. Lastly if the Q buses discontinue service towards Shady grove, imagine what the Ride On buses botta be like. Completely packed to the brim. 

I'm late on this, but 2009 New Flyer DE62LFA #5447 is out of service (possibly retired) due to a bus fire. Occurred back in December... 

[DCTransitFilms]

7 hours ago, Chris.A said:

I'm late on this, but 2009 New Flyer DE62LFA #5447 is out of service (possibly retired) due to a bus fire. Occurred back in December... 

that happened a while ago and its back running. It was on the 70 a few days ago. 

[DCTransitFilms]

Also 2833 is currently on the Q4 rn

[DCTransitFilms]

Further movements goes as follows:

-6132 is at Bladensburg

-6136 and 6138 are at FMR (I believe)

-7347 is at Southern Ave

-7372, 7373, and 7374 are at Montgomery Again

[DCTransitFilms]

Here some pics on the new Ride On Nova Buses at Gaithersburg garage. Pics via Matthew Lyn on Facebook. 

[Chris.A]

1 hour ago, DCTransitFilms said:

Here some pics on the new Ride On Nova Buses at Gaithersburg garage. Pics via Matthew Lyn on Facebook. 

Holy Cow! They look really nice! How many of these are they getting again? BTW, DASH bus just got some more new buses too. The 2020 XD35s (at least one of them) are now out and about. #530 was on the AT2 earlier in the week and on the AT5 now!

In Metrobus news, not too much to report except that there are officially on 4 #2700's remaining in service and about 15 or so 2600's. All 3000s are still active (at least as far as I know, though some MIGHT be at CET storage, since FMR seems to be missing a few). Are the 2005 New Flyer DE40LFs officially the oldest buses in the system now?

On 2/19/2020 at 8:21 PM, DCTransitFilms said:

Further movements goes as follows:

-6132 is at Bladensburg

-6136 and 6138 are at FMR (I believe)

-7347 is at Southern Ave

-7372, 7373, and 7374 are at Montgomery Again

Also caught #2636 and #2823 late yesterday afternoon on the 16Y and 16C respectively.

[DCTransitFilms]

2 hours ago, Chris.A said:

Holy Cow! They look really nice! How many of these are they getting again? BTW, DASH bus just got some more new buses too. The 2020 XD35s (at least one of them) are now out and about. #530 was on the AT2 earlier in the week and on the AT5 now!

In Metrobus news, not too much to report except that there are officially on 4 #2700's remaining in service and about 15 or so 2600's. All 3000s are still active (at least as far as I know, though some MIGHT be at CET storage, since FMR seems to be missing a few). Are the 2005 New Flyer DE40LFs officially the oldest buses in the system now?

Also caught #2636 and #2823 late yesterday afternoon on the 16Y and 16C respectively.

Ride On supposed to get 15 of those Nova buses I heard. 

2723, 2724, 2727, and 2730 are the last remaining 2700s and 2658 and 2673 are the last red local buses. Not sure if any 3000 series are done yet. 

Also 6114 is back at Southern Avenue.

DE40LFs are the oldest active buses while Orion Vs in reserve still the oldest buses in general. 

[DCTransitFilms]

7375 is also back at Montgomery. Unsure about 7376 and not sure if Montgomery will get back 7376-7379.