Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau sent the letter below to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to share feedback from Ward 1 constituents and ANC commissioners on the proposed Better Bus Network redesign.

Feedback on WMATA
Bus Network Redesign
July 15, 2024
GM Clarke,

As the comment period for the 2025 bus network redesign draws to a close, I want to briefly elevate feedback I have received from Ward 1 constituents on proposed routes. You should have also received well-considered resolutions from our Ward 1 ANCs; I echo their feedback and encourage you to give those resolutions the appropriate great weight.

In no particular order:

14th Street

As someone who worked to fund and create the current 59 express route in the first place, I share concerns expressed by residents that this service is proposed to be eliminated. The buses on 14th Street are regularly very crowded and in need of more frequent and reliable service. Seeing as DDOT is now looking at this corridor for enhanced bus priority treatments, this is a good time to invest in enhancing service on what would be the new D52 and D54 routes – and hopefully the D5x.

Mount Pleasant

I support the through-running of bus routes through Mount Pleasant to connect more of the neighborhood to west of Rock Creek. However, the proposed D72 ends at Van Ness; I have heard from residents that this route would be made much more useful by extending to Tenleytown, which would also provide access to Jackson-Reed HS and Deal MS.

I want to echo appreciation that the proposed network through Mount Pleasant would eliminate the difficult and unsafe left turn buses currently have to make from Mount Pleasant Street onto Irving.

I believe you have heard a lot of feedback in favor of retaining access to Foggy Bottom/Kennedy Center on what are currently the 42/43 buses. While there was initial pushback on modifying those routes in the first place, the current endpoint at the Kennedy Center has proven popular, while for many residents service to Farragut Square would likely be redundant to other, faster, options.

Adams Morgan

I’d like to elevate the many comments – even before the network redesign – in strong support of continuing C53 service to the Adams Morgan-Woodley Park station, rather than ending at the Ellington Bridge. Especially with the loss of the WP-AM Circulator, WMATA’s proposed network will fall far short of the needed connectivity for Adams Morgan residents to access Metrorail stations. In particular, there is no proposed service that appropriate connects the Columbia Heights and Tenleytown stations.I also want to highlight a more specific concern of mine with WMATA’s current and proposed bus routing through in Adams Morgan. The Adams Morgan Pedestrian Zone has seen major success on the corridor, and I regularly hear from residents who would like to see it be implemented much more frequently. However, running buses like the C51, C53, and C55 up 18th Street (Florida Avenue to Columbia Road) present a major barrier to regular pedestrian zone implementation. Even without the pedestrian zone, bus service on 18th is often very slow without easy options for improvement. I strongly encourage WMATA to use the network redesign as an opportunity to consider an alternative route that serves the neighborhood in a way that enhances both transit service and pedestrian space.

LeDroit Park and U Street

A very common source of feedback I’ve received from LeDroit Park residents concerned about a reduction in connectivity to their neighborhood. In particular, the proposed network does not have any corollary service to the present-day G2, cutting off access between LeDroit and Georgetown.

As you look to address this concern, I encourage you to look to the development plans for the Dupont Circle-Georgetown-Rosslyn Circulator that would have extended service to U Street. The loss of both the G2 and that future Circulator route creates a notable gap in crosstown service, including potentially strong transfer points to other routes in the network.

I also strongly encourage you to consider a C5x route, an express/limited-stop version of the present-day 90 buses. This has long been a priority of mine to implement, and express crosstown service on this critical corridor would be very well-used.

Lower Georgia Avenue

The new D74 route is one of the most exciting new additions to the proposed network. Ward 1 neighborhoods are generally well-served by buses if you’re trying to get downtown but are not well- connected to each other. A bus from the Georgia venue metro to Adams Morgan and Dupont fills a transit gap that is currently unserved. My core concern is that it will not be frequent enough to prove as useful as it could be. I would strongly encourage an enhancement to service frequency and more effectively connecting Park View/Pleasant Plains and Adams Morgan, Dupont, and Foggy Bottom. I also believe the D74 or some variant would be a strong addition to the proposed 24-hour network.

For the sake of brevity, I have not mentioned the many positive components of the network that will improve service for Ward 1 residents and the whole region. I also want to express my support for the comprehensive bus stop consolidation included alongside WMATA’s proposed network. While it is never a popular decision to remove bus stops, I recognize that more sensible bus stop spacing is one of the best ways to improve service and reliability for all riders.

I look forward to working with you and your team on the finer details to address this feedback. I am available for any further questions.

Sincerely,

Brianne K. Nadeau
Councilmember, Ward 1
Chair, Committee on Public Works & Operations