Proposed bus cuts spur objections from ANCs from Glover Park to Ivy City

Metro’s proposed elimination or consolidation of multiple bus routes across the city is drawing criticism from neighborhood leaders who say the cuts would undermine efforts to link cross-city communities, reduce traffic and combat climate change.

Critics will have a chance to sound off this afternoon at Metro’s public hearing on the proposals, which are part of the proposed 2021 budget. The deadline for written comments and an online survey is Monday, March 2. If approved, the changes — which Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) officials say would avoid duplication and better match service and ridership — would go into effect July 1.

While annual and even twice-yearly changes to bus lines in DC are a normal occurrence, the proposals released in early 2020 have prompted a surge of letters and resolutions from advisory neighborhood commissions and residents across the city. The limited response from WMATA — which scheduled a single briefing for commissioners rather than send representatives in reply to ANC invitations across the city — added to tensions.  

“Originally we had hoped and had received numerous commitments from [WMATA] that they would be here to explain their proposals in person,” said ANC 3B chair Brian Turmail during his commission’s Feb. 13 meeting, which drew a large crowd of residents unhappy about reduced bus service. “They changed their mind after having committed several times to be here. I left with them that our invite still stood and we expected them to be here.” 

Turmail, whose ANC represents Glover Park and Cathedral Heights, noted that staff members had similarly promised other commissions that they would attend their meetings to speak with constituents. Instead, WMATA held a Feb. 11 meeting with ANC commissioners where officials discussed the proposed changes and asked that residents comment directly to WMATA — which ANC 3B did not consider an adequate substitute for speaking with the public.

Residents in Glover Park are concerned about the proposed consolidation of the D2 and G2 routes, as well as the proposed elimination of the D1 — a rush-hour route that runs from Tunlaw Road NW to Franklin Square in the morning and in the opposite direction in the evening. The D2 connects Glover Park with the Dupont Circle Metrorail station; the G2 currently runs from LeDroit Park to Georgetown University’s gates at 37th and O streets NW.

“I asked the director of bus planning, ‘The last time you saved our D1 route, it was because you found a pot of money. … Is that likely to happen?’” said ANC 3B secretary Ann Mladinov. She said he smiled at her and said, “There’s always that pot of money.”

WMATA spokesperson Sherri Ly confirmed that “a discussion between Metro staff and the ANC commissioner about funding options to maintain service to those served by the D1” did occur, but she had no further comment about that discussion. She noted that the D1 is one of nearly 70 routes throughout the Washington area with proposed changes or consolidations. Ly also highlighted alternative sources for funding the D1, including changing its designation from a regional route, which is defined as regionally significant or crossing jurisdictional lines, to a non-regional route, which is paid for directly by the particular jurisdiction.

“One such alternative would be to consolidate the D1 into the D2, which is a non-regional route,” Ly said. “Funding and service for non-regional routes are at the discretion of the individual jurisdiction. In this case, the District would have the option to determine what level of service to provide and fund.”

All proposals remain in draft form until after the public response period ends March 2. 

A discussion at ANC 3B’s February meeting about the proposed decrease in bus service to Glover Park prompted commissioners to unanimously pass a resolution opposing cuts to the D1, D2, 30S, 30N and 37 bus routes. The latter three routes traverse Wisconsin Avenue NW, where many residents already complain about inadequate service, including crowded buses at rush hour and inconsistent waits at other times.

DC Council members are among those to weigh in on the proposed changes. Chairman Phil Mendelson and at-large member Robert White wrote a joint letter to WMATA on Jan. 8 to express their concerns that the changes would isolate some neighborhoods. Pointing directly to the impact of cutting the 30S and 30N routes, which traverse the city from Ward 3’s Friendship Heights to Ward 7’s Naylor Gardens and Skyland neighborhoods, they wrote, “Cutting crosstown bus routes would sever critical connections between diverse communities.” 

For those daily riders who commute the entire length of the 30S or 30N — a trip that already takes an estimated 90-plus minutes each way — cutting the routes would require an early-morning transfer near the National Mall to a different bus or to Metrorail. The ANC 3B resolution notes that the additional time and cost for daily commuters would be a “serious burden, particularly for low income riders.”

ANC 4C, representing parts of Petworth, voted unanimously on Feb. 12 to oppose the elimination of the 54 route along 14th Street NW. Metro is proposing to replace the 54 by adding more service on the limited-stop 59, which already follows the same route south of 14th Street and Colorado Avenue NW; with the change, the 59 would extend to the Takoma Metrorail station.

“While we note the need to improve bus performance and increase efficiencies, we also recognize that this change will disproportionately affect ANC 4C senior residents, residents with disabilities, and residents of affordable housing developments,” the resolution reads. While the 59 route would add stops north of Colorado Avenue and absorb riders from the 54 route, Metro’s proposed consolidation would eliminate seven stops in ANC 4C alone.

The commission also objected to a proposed $1 increase for MetroExpress buses — including the 59 route.

ANC 1A, representing Park View and Columbia Heights, signed a similar letter Jan. 8. In language that also appears in the ANC 4C letter, the commission noted that it had advocated for the creation of the 59 bus route in previous budget years and emphasized that it did so “with an eye towards balancing equity and access to the neighborhood with improved efficiency and reliability.”

In Ward 5, proposed cuts to the X1, X3, X8 and D4 routes have drawn objections from ANC 5D, which represents Carver-Langston, Ivy City, Gallaudet University and parts of Trinidad. Commissioners wrote a letter in opposition and launched a petition that to date has garnered more than 400 signatures. The letter notes that WMATA has consistently underestimated passenger crowding on X2 buses, which travel from the Minnesota Avenue Metro station to Lafayette Square. The problem would increase exponentially if the line were to absorb additional passengers from the bus routes on the chopping block, commissioners wrote. 

WMATA’s proposal calls for eliminating the X1 and X3 routes; extending some rush-hour X8 trips to serve stops between Union Station and Foggy Bottom currently served by the X1; and cutting service after 10 p.m. on the D4 route from Ivy City to Franklin Square.

In its letter, ANC 5D dismissed WMATA’s contention that “the X2 would be able to support additional riders at rush hour by simply adding more buses.” Commissioners also criticized the idea of cutbacks in an area that is seeing substantial population growth, particularly among young adults “who are developing work, family and transit habits.”

Concerns about the impact on students has factored into objections to other proposed cuts. At the Jan. 16 WMATA board meeting, students from Ward 2’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Ward 3’s Woodrow Wilson High School were among those who took advantage of a brief open comment period to express their concerns about traveling to and from school safely without reliable bus service. 

In Ward 3, others have cited the impact slashed bus services would have on residents of the new short-term family housing facility on Idaho Avenue NW, slated to open in a few weeks. 

“In March, 50 families (180 people) will move into the Ward 3 shelter. They won’t have cars. They will need those buses. We need more bus service, not less,” ANC 3C commissioner Angela Bradbery tweeted. 

Mendelson and White — who chairs the DC Council committee that exercises oversight over Metro — also noted in their letter that the shelter location was chosen in part for its easy access to bus service. ANC 3C, representing Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Massachusetts Avenue Heights, McLean Gardens and parts of Cathedral Heights, passed a resolution on the subject at its Feb. 19 meeting.

Public testimony on the proposed bus changes can be submitted in-person at today’s WMATA hearing at 600 5th St. NW, with signup beginning at 4 p.m. Access to the online survey and details on the budget proposals are available at wmata.com/budget.