Montgomery County Metro ridership up 94.6% year-over-year

Montgomery County commuters have been returning to the Metro subway system in force in recent months, according to the latest data from WMATA, the D.C.-area transportation authority that operates it. Ridership in January 2023, the most recent month for which data has been made public, was up 94.6% over January 2022. Pandemic-era data released by Google in 2020-2022 had shown much weaker ridership, and a turtle-like pace of increasing return to the system after the initial lockdown of 2020.

A Red Line train approaches the
Rockville station

The biggest surges, 296.6% at Shady Grove and 263.6% at Rockville, may have had more to do with maintenance-related closures at those stops over the last two years. Grosvenor-Strathmore was the next-highest, with an increase of 140.5%. Twinbrook had the smallest increase at 8.7%. WMATA's numbers are based upon the number of entries and exits recorded at each station, so they do not count gate jumpers, only paying customers.

Bethesda Metro station escalator-to-stairs transition update (Photos)

The devolution back to the stone age continues at the Bethesda Metro station. WMATA chose to remove the oft-broken plaza-to-bus-bays escalator earlier this year, rather than build a canopy to protect the escalator from weather. It will be replaced with another staircase. The installation and opening of the new stairs is supposed to be completed by this summer, according to the transit agency.

Ride On 23 will not service 9 Bethesda stops during long-term Ridgefield Road/Westbard Avenue construction detour

UPDATE: MCDOT has confirmed that the actual closure of Ridgefield Road is set for 12:00 AM on June 5, 2022. The decision was made because the Maryland State Highway Administration would only allow Montgomery County to shut the road down on a weekend, and at night. Expect the Ride On detour to begin on June 5, then.

There's more bad news on the Ridgefield Road closure front in Bethesda. For at least 12 months of the closure of Ridgefield between River Road and Westbard Avenue, Ride On Route 23 will drop 9 of its usual bus stops in Bethesda. The bus will detour around the construction using Little Falls Parkway, and rejoin the rest of its stops at Westbard and Massachusetts Avenue when bound toward Sibley Hospital, and the reverse when heading toward the Friendship Heights Metro station. Detours begin June 1, 2022 or June 6, 2022 and will end on May 31, 2023, according to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT tweet says "June 1," but its detour announcement says "June 6." I am awaiting a response from MCDOT and will update as soon as I hear back).

A Ride On Flex shuttle bus will operate between the Westwood Shopping Center on Westbard and the Ride On stops still operating on Massachusetts. It will turn around on Fort Sumner Drive and head back to the shopping center.

A Ride On Flex shuttle bus like this will
operate between the Westwood Shopping Center
and Massachusetts Avenue to replace the
Westbard Avenue stops of Route 23

Stops between Little Falls Parkway and Ridgefield Road along River Road? Well, you're out of luck, according to Montgomery County. So if you rely on Ride On 23 to get to Whole Foods, McDonald's, 7-Eleven or Talbert's, you're out of business for at least a year. Although the official County announcement does not mention this, if you are a River Road rider who needs to get to and from the Friendship Heights Metro station, the T2 Metrobus is another option.

Folks like this who rely on 
Ride On 23 along River Road are
about to get some tough love from
Montgomery County

The detour plan discriminates against Ride On 23 riders, and discourages use of transit at a time when gasoline prices are at an all-time high. This is only the latest transit failure related to the 2016 Westbard sector plan. The County Council already eliminated the proposed Westbard Transit Hub, and a Westbard-Friendship Heights Metro free shuttle bus, from the plan prior to approving the document. More recently, the Council voted to end free Ride On service, instituting a $1 fare that will take effect July 1, 2022.

"Elections have consequences."
- President Barack Obama

Maryland selects new Purple Line contractor

Maryland transportation agencies, along with the Purple Line Transit Partners entity, have finally selected a new contractor to replace the one that quit before completing the light rail project. Maryland Transit Solutions (MTS) - a partnership between Dragados USA, Inc. and OHL USA, Inc. - won the bidding war, Purple Line Transit Partners announced today. 

The announcement states that the final financial agreement should be signed by February 2022. Construction would then resume next spring. Jane Garvey, chair of PLTP's board, praised the fact that the search for a new partner took less than the 18 months typically needed to complete the bidding process on a project of this complexity. Only two bidders were ultimately in the running. The collapse of the construction process left a large swath of incomplete infrastructure and shuttered public amenities across Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Long Branch and Prince George's County.

Montgomery County residents in parks, grocery stores more than before the pandemic, data shows

Residents still not going back to the

office, transit, or general shopping 

in great numbers

Montgomery County residents are shopping inside grocery and drug stores in larger numbers than they were before the pandemic, the latest Google Mobility data show. They're making even greater use of parks than before Covid-19 officially arrived last spring. Other travel hasn't bounced back as strongly, such as going into the office, or commuting there by transit. And in-person retail shopping for items other than groceries and medicine remains sluggish, in relative comparison.

Using a baseline of mobility data Google collected from Montgomery County residents' devices between January 3 and February 6, 2020, behavioral changes are evident. The latest Google data covers the period between Monday, July 19, 2021, and Monday, August 30, 2021.

Hillwood Manor Park in Takoma Park

Over the last half of this summer, County residents were using parks 28% more than they were at the start of 2020. One caveat to that: the new data covers a warm, summer period, while the baseline was taken during the height of winter.

Safeway in Damascus

A more apples-to-apples comparison is in grocery and pharmacy shopping; the latter surges during winter months. But during late summer 2021, County residents were going into grocery stores and drugstores 7% more than they were during the height of cold and flu season in early 2020. There has been an increasing strain on grocery supply lines again in recent weeks, as evidenced by Costco reinstating limits on the number of some items that may be purchased, such as paper towels and toilet paper. Business Insider reports that shortages are the result of panic buying over the Delta variant, and of labor shortages affecting the ability to produce, ship and restock merchandise.

CVS Pharmacy

Residents aren't shopping in other types of retail stores, or traveling for non-park recreational activities as much, though. "Retail and recreation" travel was down 12% in late summer this year, compared to early 2020. One would expect recreation to be higher in summer than in midwinter, so that is a notable decline.

Metro Red Line train in Rockville

Travel to workplaces looks better than it was during the lockdowns and peaks of the pandemic, but still follows the national trend of those working from home continuing to do so where possible. Workplace travel was 44% lower in late summer 2021 in Montgomery County than it was in January-February 2020. Those traveling for any reason are often still wary of using public transit. Bus and rail commuting was down 42% in recent weeks, compared to early 2020.

One thing many residents are doing is continuing to stay home. Despite warm weather, County residents stayed at home 11% more over the last six weeks than they did in frigid January-February 2020.

Temporary bus stop set up at 7315 Wisconsin Avenue due to construction

A temporary bus stop has been erected at 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, due to construction work on the northbound side of the road. The sidewalk is closed, as well. Ride On 34 will use this stop during the closure.

Bethesda-Potomac Ride On 36 will no longer stop at Connelly School of the Holy Child "per the request of the school"

Ride On Route 36 will no longer stop at the Connelly School of the Holy Child at 9029 Bradley Boulevard in Potomac as of this coming Sunday, February 28, 2021. That has been the last stop on the route, which has run between the Bethesda Metro station and the school up until now. 

New Route 36 map effective
Sunday, February 28, 2021

Ride On 36 will now loop back to Seven Locks Road via River Road, instead of crossing River Road. Montgomery County's Department of Transportation said the termination of service to the Connelly School stop is "per the request of the school." Click here for the new map and timetable that will become effective this Sunday.

Fact check: Is Montgomery County Ride On bus service being cut by Larry Hogan?

A remarkable column about Montgomery County transit appeared in Friday's Washington Post. It was remarkable for two reasons. First, Post columnists have been silent on transit cuts made by the Montgomery County Council over the last decade, including their elimination of the Park and Ride route for Frederick commuters entering Montgomery, and their slashing of weekend bus service in Damascus. And remarkable because it was...false.

Columnist Petula Dvorak was apparently attempting to write a critical piece about service cuts proposed by the Maryland Transit Administration to MTA bus routes and MARC rail service. But a lengthy introduction, and let's-give-the-Council-free-press quotes from councilmembers, suggest that Montgomery County and its Ride On bus service will be the victims of the MTA cuts.

Ride On Route 55 is specifically cited by Dvorak, and later she says the MTA cuts will make the Route 55 buses even more crowded like "sardine cans." She adds that low-income residents in Montgomery County will be "among those devastated by reductions in bus routes." The article paints Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) as the villain who is behind the cuts.

Just one problem - Ride On is not run by the MTA. Ride On is funded by Montgomery County taxpayers, and is run by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. There are no Hogan cuts to Ride On because Hogan has no authority over or involvement with Ride On. There are no MTA cuts to Ride On routes proposed. If any Ride On cuts are made, they will be made by the Montgomery County Council deciding not to fund those routes.

The column wound up literally being fake news. At best, Capitol Hill resident Dvorak did not realize the MTA doesn't run all bus service in the state of Maryland.

Depicting Montgomery County Council members as heroes fighting to save Ride On bus service in the County doesn't even pass the laugh test, much less a fact check. If they are working so hard to save transit, why have they still not restored weekend service on Route 90 in Damascus, a 2010 Ride On cut that left car-free residents stranded in town on weekends?

Is Montgomery County Ride On bus service being cut by Larry Hogan? Nope. It has been cut in the past by the Montgomery County Council, though.

Fact check score: FOUR PINOCCHIOS 

Bus stop update

Since my last report on the damaged bus shelter on Wisconsin Avenue at Stanford Street, someone has closed the advertising display case door that was hanging over towards the bench. Further repairs are needed to get the shelter back into presentable condition. A bag of trash was left on the bench for riders to discover, apparently. Stay classy, Montgomery County!

WMATA using Greyhound, Bolt Bus as shuttles during Metro station closure

The Bethesda and Medical Center Metro stations will be closed through Friday this week for scheduled maintenance. Yesterday, I noticed that WMATA was using Greyhound and Bolt Bus buses for the free shuttle service they are running between Grosvenor and Friendship Heights. Perhaps it is easier to social distance aboard these buses, but they are certainly more comfortable than Metrobuses. Bring in a Trailways to complete the trifecta!

Chevy Chase Lake construction update (Video+Photos)

Between the redevelopment of its namesake shopping center and the preparations for the Purple Line, Chevy Chase Lake is one of the busiest construction hubs in Montgomery County right now. Multiple residential buildings are rising from the ground at once. And a Purple Line bridge over Connecticut Avenue is taking shape on both sides of the busy state highway - even as the project's contractors are threatening to walk away on August 23, if taxpayers don't pick up cost overruns for the light rail line.