After conducting rider surveys last November, WMATA is considering changes to the L1 and L2 bus lines. Community engagement on those changes thus far has been limited to an online survey WMATA sent out on May 3rd and was open only until May 11.
ANC 3F, like everyone else, found out about the survey on May 3rd. At their May 15th meeting, commissioners unanimously passed a resolution asking that Metro extend the survey deadline, send a representative to their June 19th meeting to explain the rationale for the changes, and refrain from making changes before doing more outreach and research on rider impacts.
These are Metro’s proposals:
Proposal A: Convert all Route L1 buses to Route L2 buses. All buses between Chevy Chase Circle and Farragut Square would run along the L2 route in order to simplify service options and increase weekday frequency between Chevy Chase Circle and Farragut Square. (Metro doesn’t specify but it would seem the L1 route to Foggy Bottom and Potomac Park would be eliminated.)
Proposal B: On weekends only, terminate every other Route L2 trip at Woodley Park. Between Chevy Chase Circle to Woodley Park, buses would run every 20 minutes instead of every 30 minutes, BUT between Woodley Park and Farragut Square, buses would run every 60 minutes instead of every 30 minutes.
Proposal C: Consolidate bus stops that have low levels of use and are close to other stops to improve travel speeds.
The full text of ANC 3F’s resolution is here and below.
RESOLUTION REGARDING PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE L1/L2 BUS LINES
May 15, 2018
WHEREAS the L1 and L2 bus lines provide important transportation services to residents in ANC 3F; and
WHEREAS WMATA has proposed potential changes that could significantly impact these lines; and
WHEREAS WMATA recently conducted an online survey to solicit community input on these proposed changes; and
WHEREAS the community – including ANC 3F – was first notified of this survey on May 3 and the survey closed on May 11, leaving little time for the ANC to publicize and respond to it;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that ANC 3F urges WMATA to:
- field the survey for an additional three weeks;
- send a representative to the next ANC 3F meeting on June 19, 2018, to discuss the proposed changes (including the underlying rationale such as costs and impacts on traffic and travel choices) and present results of the survey; and
- refrain from making any decisions about changes to the L1 and L2 lines until meaningful community engagement has been undertaken that truly reflects the significance of these two lines to the ANC 3F community and so many others throughout our city.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Commissioners Adelstein and Jakopchek are authorized to speak on behalf of ANC 3F regarding this matter.
ANC 3F approved this resolution at its meeting on May 15, 2018, which was properly noticed and at which a quorum was present, by a vote of 5 in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 abstaining.
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Chuck Schilke says
The existing L1 and L2 buses are a very important feature of Van Ness/Forest Hills life and culture that should not be tampered with lightly. The high level of service is crucial to making the apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue appealing to residents and to maintaining the value of the buildings. Also, an alternative to the Red Line is needed in the Connecticut Avenue Corridor when the Red Line is “single-tracking” or otherwise experiencing issues.
Am I the only one who has noticed that the announcement of the potential reduction in L1 and L2 bus service coincided with another Metro announcement that it wants to run more Metrorail trains on the Red Line to Shady Grove? One plausible interpretation of this coincidence of potential service reductions of the L1 and L2 buses in the District and potential service increases into upcounty Montgomery County from a budgetary perspective is that Metro is shifting resources from the L1 and L2 routes in the District to Montgomery County. We should ask Metro is this is what it is doing.
Finally, in my opinion as a real estate practitioner and professor, altering these bus routes as WMATA proposes will perceptibly if not hugely affect both residential and commercial real estate property values along the entire Connecticut Avenue corridor and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Everyone who lives in Upper Northwest Washington should fight as hard as they possibly can about this ill-conceived idea.
We need Metro to show all data that has led to this decision, explain to us why they are making it, and also explain why they allowed so little time for input, as well as such limited channels for input (no public meeting!)