{"id":12860,"date":"2025-07-29T17:05:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/?p=12860"},"modified":"2025-08-10T17:11:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T17:11:39","slug":"weigh-in-on-wmatas-better-bus-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/weigh-in-on-wmatas-better-bus-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Weigh in on WMATA\u2019s \u2018Better Bus Network\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Sam P.K<\/strong>.<\/strong> Collins<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Maven McGann<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the latter part of June, the\u00a0Washington Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (WMATA)<\/a>\u00a0rolled out a revamp of the decades-old bus system with the goal of improving frequency and reliability.<\/p>\n

However, less than a week into what\u2019s known as\u00a0Better Bus Network Redesign Project<\/a>, several bus riders, including one who once used the bus to pursue their K-12 education, said the changes are more than they can bear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first bus I took was the wrong one. I\u2019m now 30 minutes late,\u201d Southeast D.C. resident Adariah George said on the morning of July 3 while on her way to her job at a local summer camp.<\/p>\n

George, an 18-year-old newly minted alumna of KIPP Legacy College Preparatory Public Charter School in Southeast, said she has used the Metrobus throughout much of her educational career. In recent years, the A bus line, which touched Anacostia Metro Station, Livingston Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and Southern Avenue SE, counted as her go-to routes of choice.<\/p>\n

Those routes, now consolidated into C11, run similarly to what was formerly known as the A4, A8, P6 and the 35. However, George said the fewer stops and somewhat of a new route threw her into a state of frenzy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re taking buses away from where I\u2019m close to, so now I have to go further for a bus stop,\u201d George said about the new route, noting she knows of other youth in the D.C. metropolitan area who have had similar experiences. \u201cYou have to leave out earlier because it\u2019s going all around everywhere except straight to a certain destination, so it just takes longer to get everywhere. It\u2019s less accessible from certain areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Changes Get Underway, WMATA Officials Engage Riders<\/strong><\/p>\n

On June 29, WMATA launched the Better Bus Network, its first systemwide overhaul of the Metrobus system in half a century.<\/p>\n

The redesign changed the name of every route, removed more than 500 stops, and restructured schedules. The first letter of each route is now dictated by its direction (C for crosstown and D for downtown) or destination (A for Virginia\u2019s Alexandria City and Arlington County; F for Fairfax County, Virginia; M for Montgomery County, Maryland;\u00a0 and P for Prince George\u2019s County, Maryland).<\/p>\n

The names of limited and express routes end with X.<\/p>\n

Additionally, buses on 11 new routes are scheduled to run every 12 to 20 minutes throughout the day, offering more frequent service for high-traffic stations. The new bus system also aims to better connect riders to L\u2019Enfant Plaza in Southwest, and Maryland\u2019s Downtown Silver Spring and National Harbor.<\/p>\n

WMATA officials say the Better Bus Network, intended to increase bus frequency and service as well as produce clearer routes, follows years of community engagement, rider surveys, and transit data. Days into the bus system revamp, they reported what they described as minor issues, including missing signs at bus stops.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, WMATA officials availed themselves to residents and tourists using the regional transit system.<\/p>\n

Randy Clarke, WMATA general manager and CEO, acknowledged that the transition has been harder for some than others. He expressed plans to engage residents in August as students and families prepare for the new school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou generally hear more from people that are not as happy as people that are happy, but we are monitoring that very closely,\u201d Clarke told The Informer. \u201cMost people that take the bus are residents of our region, and once they learn the new trick, they\u2019re good to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Variety of Viewpoints About the Better Bus Network<\/strong><\/p>\n

While, to some WMATA officials, the short-term discomfort pales in comparison to the overall goal of the Better Bus Network, bus riders throughout the D.C. metropolitan area are struggling to navigate their communities.<\/p>\n

For instance, a D.C. government employee who requested anonymity said they felt out of place on the new bus system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like we\u2019re part of some big experiment that nobody explained to us,\u201d the D.C. government employee said.<\/p>\n

Joshua Boone, a native Washingtonian who\u2019s taken the Metrobus more than half of his life, experienced a similar change for what was formerly known as the A4.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer the old one because I had just moved to Southwest and was finally getting that bus route down,\u201d said Boone, an IT specialist. \u201cNow I gotta just do a little more adjusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Boone, young people would count among those most affected by the Better Bus Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome don\u2019t have cars, most don\u2019t have credit cards for Ubers,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who have to figure it out the hard way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much to Boone\u2019s amazement, the newly named bus line still drops him off in front of his apartment building. Until he gets his slightly adjusted route down pat however, he continues to lean on WMATA\u2019s online trip tools as a guide.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll let you know how many minutes until it comes,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI think it has been pretty accurate the last few times I\u2019ve used it\u201d<\/p>\n

Elleanore Hancock, a Southeast resident who rides the bus daily, said she doesn\u2019t understand why WMATA changed the entire bus system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re making me feel very frustrated and a little bit conflicted because I have to do the utmost unnecessary things,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cBefore, you could just put in a stop number. Now you can put in a stop number, but you have to actually check the bus route and see where it goes. If you don\u2019t pregame, you\u2019re just null and void, you\u2019re out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reina Carroll, another bus rider who said she depends on the transit system to get to her jobs, said she has both complaints and positive feedback for the Better Bus Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made the routes longer which adds longer wait times between buses,\u201d said Carroll, a Congress Heights resident of five years. \u201cBut the C11 and C15 bus change makes it easier to get to Eastover and Navy Yard without having to get off and walk far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, Carroll admits that she has yet to get acclimated to the new bus system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where the bus is taking me half the time,\u201d she told The Informer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey\u2019re taking buses away from where I\u2019m close to, so now I have to go further for a bus stop,\u201d George said about the new route, noting she knows of other youth in the D.C. metropolitan area who have had similar experiences. \u201cYou have to leave out earlier because it\u2019s going all around everywhere except straight to a certain destination, so it just takes longer to get everywhere. It\u2019s less accessible from certain areas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[725,731,4,14],"tags":[828,827,830,836,832,769,829,831,834,826,835,833,198,121,825],"class_list":["post-12860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-chevrolet-dtu","category-2025-maven-mcgann","category-chevy-dtu","category-washington-informer","tag-bus-network","tag-buses","tag-d-c-government","tag-kipp-legacy-college-preparatory-public-charter-school","tag-lenfant-plaza","tag-maven-mcgann","tag-metrobus","tag-metrobus-system","tag-national-harbor","tag-sam-pk-collins","tag-silver-spring","tag-southwest","tag-washington-dc","tag-washington-informer","tag-wmata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12862,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12860\/revisions\/12862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nnpa.org\/chevydtu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}