Bus-only lanes along MD 355 were activated early this morning between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights. The Bethesda, Medical Center, and Grosvenor Metro stations will be closed for major construction from today until September 6, 2026. Monday morning commuters at the Bethesda Metro station found no personnel from transit agency WMATA on-site to assist customers in locating the free shuttle buses that will be running between the shuttered stations for the next eight weeks. There was also a lack of signage.
Adding to the confusion is that, unlike previous station closures in Bethesda, a hodgepodge of privately-owned charter buses is being employed as shuttles, instead of Metrobuses. And many of those buses had the name of the charter company displayed on the screen above the windshield, instead of the destination.
4 comments:
The absolute most terrifying possibility, if not probability with this, is these bus only lanes will be made permanent. There is already chatter going around town that that is indeed what they intend to do. Does anybody reading this have any doubt in their mind, based upon the ridiculous bike lane takeover all around the county, which has snarled traffic on both county and state roads, that they will not indeed do this and remove an entire travel lane on 355/ Rockville Pike and elsewhere in the area like Georgia avenue? I think not. With situations like this, it's always strongly recommended to write your elected officials. But as we've seen time and again that does nothing. They are in charge and they know what's good for you like it or not. And we don't.
Beyond complaining that no WMATA personnel were there to guide commuters to the buses, why not add that information to this blog? That would be a service.
The buses in the photos have the WMaTA designation placards in their windshields. I’m not sure why you were confused by the charter buses; that’s standard for all of the long term WMATA projects. (It WOULD be unusual if there WEREN’T charter buses.)
They have already stated that the bus lanes in Bethesda and south to Friendship Heights are only temporary, as there is not enough bus users to consider a permanent rush hour only bus lane. North of Bethesda is indeed being studied for possible permanent rush hour only bus lanes. They will likely remain after the Red Line closure, to be studied during normal traffic.
On a similar topic, I am curios why they are considering a Bus Rapid Transit line between Rockville and Bethesda, or Friendship Heights. Why even consider adding a BRT line that traces the exact path of the existing Red Line? BRT might be a great way to extend frequent mass transit in dedicated lanes where Metro does not exist, by why duplicate the services?
The proposed Gold BRT from Rosslyn/Georgetown to Stadium Armory makes a ton of sense, essentially fulfilling the vision of the first leg of the DC Streetcar. It will reduce the load on the Stadium Armory Metro station, and allow events very direct and easy access to the new stadium from Union Station, VRE, MARC, Amtrak and the Red Line. It would also extend enhanced transit access to Georgetown.
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