While others might anagram it ME ROT, Metro says it’s finally ready to give Metrobus some loving. Yes, you read that right, Metrobus, the service so neglected that even WMATA board members call it the “poor stepchild” to Metrorail. Anyone who rides the bus as much as I knows it’s not a poor stepchild, it’s the poor bastard stepchild to Metrorail.
Now WMATA says its gonna give Metrobus some loving. Board Chairman Gladys Mack has pledged to make 2006 “the Year of the Metrobus” and the board seems to be backing up her words with action. To quote from WMATA’s press release:
As part of the proposed fiscal 2007 budget, Metro is proposing to save $2.4 million by eliminating 28 late night Friday and Saturday Metrobus routes, 11 weekday and weekend Metrobus routes, and re-investing the $2.4 million on selected bus routes to improve service reliability and reduce crowding.
Metro also wants to spend $2 million on additional relief for crowded buses to cut down bus bunching and improve on-time performance. An additional $3.6 million is needed to enhance bus service along major corridors including breaking up long unreliable routes, creating skip stop service, increasing spacing between downtown bus routes and providing improved traffic and parking management with assistance from local governments.
Maybe its just a coincidence, but I think I’m seeing the first physical signs of that change in attitude – new LNG-powered buses circling NoVA and downtown DC routes. Check out the photo at right. Sleek and sexy, eh?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
