Express Buses Eyed for Metro's Crowded 30 Line

METROBUS' CROWDED 30-SERIES BUS LINE, which currently is comprised of the 30, 32, 34, 35 and 36 routes, is poised to get some new numbers: 31, 37 and 39. Those would be local and express routes designed to alleviate congestion and quicken the ride along one of Metrobus' most crowded and delay-plagued corridors. The plan came out of a series of public hearings held in recent months on the future of the bus line.

The proposed changes, which could go into effect by summer, are subject to public hearings, modifications and approval by Metro's board in the coming months, according to a timetable laid out in recent public presentations.

Here's what may be in store:

» The proposed 31 route (in brown on the map at right) would run local service between the Friendship Heights station and Washington Circle in Foggy Bottom via Wisconsin Avenue and Georgetown. Many residents living in Upper Northwest have voiced their desire for new local service between neighborhoods in the Wisconsin Avenue corridor and downtown.
» The proposed 37 express route (in orange on the map) would operate during peak periods between the upper Wisconsin Avenue corridor and the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter station via Massachusetts Avenue, skipping Georgetown all together.
» The proposed 39 route would offer express service during peak periods between the Naylor Road station and Washington Circle via Pennsylvania Avenue.

» The 32 and 36 routes would continue to offer local crosstown service along their current paths between the Friendship Heights station in Upper Northwest and the Naylor Road and Southern Avenue stations on the Prince George's County-D.C. line. That could please residents in Southeast Washington, many of whom have expressed opposition to proposals that would break up crosstown service.

As part of the plan, Metro would also add a new M5 line connecting the Eastern Market and Naylor Road Metrorail stations via Pennsylvania Avenue and Fairfax Village in Southeast Washington.

Full details are available here.

» "Metrobus 30s Line Study" [Official Site]

Maps courtesy Metrobus 30s Line Study
File photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post