Would You Like to See the DC Circulator in the Neighborhood (& If So, Where)?
Yesterday, a member of the community brought to my attention an interesting post on Greater Greater Washington where the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) for Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle have voted to ask the National Park Service and the city to consider a DC Circulator route from the Lincoln Memorial, through Dupont Circle, to U Street. I know that often when engaging the Georgia Avenue community on transit options, the Circulator comes up in the form of a question, such as: “Why don’t we have the Circulator over here?” It was suggested to me that maybe a route connecting Dupont Circle and the Georgia Avenue Metro would be a good idea. So, let’s see how that could work. Below is a map of the current Circulator routes.
I would think that a new route, to be viable, would need to enhance the transit options that are already here AND improve service. Currently, there is no way to get from the Georgia Avenue Metro to Dupont Circle (or even Faragut North) that does not include at least one transfer and some backtracking. This suggests that a Circulator route might enhance existing service. It would definitely cut down on travel time. But, what would it look like? Below is an attempt to map out a possible route, which due to one way streets and sharp corners, seemed to make sense to include Upshur as part of the route.
So the questions to the community become:
- Would you like to see a Circulator route in the neighborhood?;
- Do you like the proposed route above, or do you have a different route you’d like to see?; and,
- What would you like Circulator to connect you to?
If there is overwhelming support for the Circulator in our area and a particular route, I’d be happy to introduce this at the ANC for support.
Explore posts in the same categories: Bus service, DDOTTags: bus service, DC Circulator, transportation
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Park View, D.C. 
February 26, 2014 at 7:35 am
I would definitely support the Circulator route you suggest. It would be a great addition to the transit options.
February 26, 2014 at 7:54 am
I absolutely support a Dupont Circle-Georgia Ave. route! I go to Dupont Circle somewhat frequently and it would be great to have a straight route there.
February 26, 2014 at 8:31 am
GA Ave to Dupont would be awesome and I like the route you suggest. it’s such a pain to get to Dupont from Park View and it’s a trip that I frequently have to make. Would much rather have the option of a bus service than having to drive and fight for parking.
February 26, 2014 at 8:49 am
Like the idea of circulator, to DuPont but wold stayi on Georgia until Barry Place to serve Howard U.
February 26, 2014 at 9:01 am
I think it’s a wonderful idea. I think GA Ave is a better alignment than Sherman. It would help to encourage business and bring more traffic to Georgia.
February 26, 2014 at 9:46 am
That would be a handy route, but I’m curious why you choose Sherman instead of Georgia?
February 26, 2014 at 9:52 am
I definitely like the idea of a GA Ave-Dupont Circulator. Is there a good way to include Adams Morgan in the route?
February 26, 2014 at 10:02 am
This does catch southern edge of AM does it not?
February 28, 2014 at 11:08 am
Ah yes. I see that now.
February 26, 2014 at 9:58 am
This is my commute from home to work. Full support.
February 26, 2014 at 11:17 am
Circulator would be a good option but Sherman is already very heavily trafficked & one lane each way during rush hour. Georgia isn’t necessarily a lot better, but at least there are more lanes. And I agree that a Circulator on GA could increase people going there for shopping, etc.
February 26, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Agree with everyone here. A Georgia Ave. – Dupont circulator would be awesome, especially if it goes by the new Trader Joe’s at 14th and U. I also agree, the route should go down Georgia ave as far as possible to service Howard (maybe go all the way to Florida then hang a right?)
This would be an amazing addition to the already extensive ciruclator network, and could be implemented pretty quickly I would think, at least before the street car is built :).
February 26, 2014 at 1:33 pm
YES PLEASE! I’d love if it even went a little further south of Dupont – like, down 21st and back up 20th – you’d link up Park View with a whole lot of jobs/commutes in Foggy Bottom – World Bank, State Dept, and even make Georgetown decently accessible!
February 26, 2014 at 3:52 pm
+1 on going even further south. Linking to downtown jobs and getting “close” to Georgetown would be tremendously popular.
February 26, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Yes! This would be fantastic!!
February 26, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Georgia Ave to Dupont would be fantastic!
February 26, 2014 at 4:03 pm
Yes Please!!!!
February 26, 2014 at 4:09 pm
I think a Georgia Avenue to Dupont route is a fantastic idea. I personally would prefer it go all the way down to K Street instead of turning around north of Dupont Circle, but even the route you outlined would be a very welcome addition to the neighborhood transport options.
February 26, 2014 at 4:20 pm
Wonderful idea. Let’s make it happen!
February 26, 2014 at 4:39 pm
+100 for the Georgia Ave Circulator route; agree on the previous note about K street, but any new options would be welcome
February 26, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Yes! I would like to add my support to this. Another option would be to modify the U-street/ AdMo route to connect in GA/Petworth.
February 26, 2014 at 5:31 pm
I would like to see a cross-town route such as the one suggested implemented by either DDOT (Circulator) or WMATA (Metrobus). If the proposed route would result in faster north-south circulation from Park View to U Street along Sherman Avenue, that’d be excellent, but if Georgia Avenue is the speedier option, I’d go with that. I work just north of Dupont Circle and my speediest option to work is by bike today. To have an additional mode that gets me to work practically door to door would be welcome.
On another related note, is there support in the community for opening the portion of Princeton Place between New Hampshire and Georgia Avenues to two-way traffic? And is addressing such a change at the ANC worthwhile if so?
February 27, 2014 at 8:50 am
“On another related note, is there support in the community for opening the portion of Princeton Place between New Hampshire and Georgia Avenues to two-way traffic? And is addressing such a change at the ANC worthwhile if so?”
Yes Please! Does someone know why it’s currently a one-way?
February 27, 2014 at 10:53 am
Why are any of the streets in Park View one way? The whole street configuration in the area baffles me and only makes sense if you only see our streets as thoroughfares for commuters and not for residents. I would really love the entire area to be studied to determine the optimal street configuration for residents, starting with the disaster of the North Capitol/Irving “cloverleaf” to the one way speedways of Kenyon, Irving, Columbia, & Harvard, and the stupid rush hours parking restrictions. If the point of the one way streets is to increase parking availability, why restrict parking 12 hours each day in a way that mostly benefits people who don’t live in our neighborhood! Drives (no pun intended) nuts!!!
February 26, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Absolutely! It is a smart route that addresses a current gap in the transit system. I mentioned it to a couple people at work and they also thought it was a genius idea
February 27, 2014 at 2:53 am
Great idea – getting from Dupont circle to Park View is a unnecessary pain right now. As far as the route between Sherman and Georgia I’m pretty agnostic. If Sherman was significantly faster, that might be better, but Georgia is the safer bet if it’s the same. One thing I wish – the 70 bus actually ran all night instead of stopping for 1.5 hours between 230am and 4am. That’s right when I need it, and when I do ride that first one at 4am it’s practically full!
February 27, 2014 at 6:56 am
YES! Would Love love live for the circulator to connect to upsher. Super convenient!
February 27, 2014 at 8:45 am
That’s a fantastic route, and a needed service. I’d use it. I wonder if the Circulator would want to go as far north as Upshur — they tend to stick in the busiest areas.
February 27, 2014 at 8:48 am
I would love a Circulator route to Dupont, and especially, as others have suggested, as close to Georgetown as we can get! Crossing the Parkway would be phenomenal.
I can see why we wouldn’t want to have the Circulator on the same Ave as the Streetcar, so it might make sense to have it go down Sherman once the streetcar is in place. But maybe that’s not how the Circulators work, maybe, on the contrary, they usually take high volume routes, just faster than everyone.
February 27, 2014 at 9:41 am
GA Ave – Dupont would be wonderful…
I’d also really like (and maybe prefer) to see Columbia Heights/GA Ave to H Street NE, as that takes FOREVER to get to (70 bus to 90 bus) on public transport from GA Ave.
February 27, 2014 at 10:15 am
– This would be excellent and would help fill some of the gap left by the 63 only running during rush hour.
– Why not continue it up Kansas to Missouri, possibly over to New Hampshire and back down to Sherman? The 62 is the only bus that even touches Kansas and that is only south of 5th.
– It would be brilliant if another circulator (or even just a ‘B’ route of of this one) would go east down Florida to where H meets Benning). It would connect to the streetcar and be, oh, so incredibly helpful to get to H.
February 27, 2014 at 10:19 am
The new circulator route should go farther north to Kennedy St. Tons of car-less apartment dwellers live in this area, and big crowds gather every morning at the bus stops awaiting a ride south to the Petworth Metro station. Full buses routinely bypass the bus stops. A circulator would ease the crowding.
February 27, 2014 at 11:59 am
What about something like this?
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zpyBLtJlPPRA.kJs0yFkurp_E
February 27, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Georgia Ave already has a crap ton of buses and will, most likely, get a street car. Let’s try and serve a different population by taking it up Kansas. I was thinking something like this: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z84M9U6vhSTY.kmxOqhnec4RY
February 27, 2014 at 12:45 pm
Thanks. That altered route would be great, but my one concern is the very very very long light at the corner of Ingraham and Illinois. That is unsuitable for a timed circulator. Consider turning right onto Longfellow and a quick right on Illinois, and another right onto Kennedy, then left back onto Georgia and south from there.
February 27, 2014 at 10:24 am
We need to clean up Georgia Av if we want this to be a success… Too many falling down businesses, liquer stores, check cashing and pay day loan scammer as well as pawn shops. Even a strip club!!! These shops don’t reflect the needs of the community.
February 27, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Great idea. What are you doing about it? Just wondering.
February 27, 2014 at 11:56 am
Another thumbs up here. Would be VERY helpful. I also would prefer Georgia over Sherman, but either would be good.
February 27, 2014 at 12:47 pm
The current crap ton on Georgia isn’t enough to get everyone on board in the morning. Kansas Ave. has a crap ton of buses on 5th St. that go directly to the Petworth station.
February 27, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Understandable, the 62 and 64 are both also quite crowded. A circulator up Kansas to Missouri would provide relief for all three of those routes.
Also, what about the folks that live in the giant swath of land between the 70 on Georgia and the 64 on NH that need to get south of Petworth station outside of the 63’s limited hours? Sure, you can get on the metro, but that bus to metro cost adds up very quickly and I know I’m not the only one who tries to avoid getting on the metro to save some $. A $1 circulator would be a dream!
February 27, 2014 at 1:46 pm
I think this is great idea. My only question would be if having a street car run up Georgia (whenever that project is complete) would then make this Circulator route obsolete?
February 27, 2014 at 7:51 pm
I would say, let’s worry about that problem when we come to it. It will be a decade or more before streetcars run on Georgia. The timeline for the Walter Reed development is 20 years to completion, and it is that development that has spurred discussion of streetcars.
February 27, 2014 at 10:05 pm
I agree that there should be a route connecting Petworth metro and/or the 14th St corridor with Dupont Circle. This would be very helpful. It would also be great to have something connecting the same area with Bethesda, as it takes forever to get there by public transit. I would actually recommend that the circulator cut across Military and split to go both north up Wisconsin to Bethesda and south to Dupont through Woodley Park, as it’s a hassle to get to anything in those areas from our neighborhood by public transit. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to take both bus and metro, or 2-3 buses?
February 28, 2014 at 11:27 am
I don’t think the DC circulator should run outside the city, that’s not what it’s designed for. To get to Bethesda take the red line or the E bus to Friendship Heights and jump on a Ride-On or Metro bus going north on Wisconsin. One transfer. The E bus is a 15-20 minute ride from Fort Totten to Friendship via Kennedy St and Military Road. Once in Bethesda you can on get their circulator bus (free, I think).
February 27, 2014 at 11:21 pm
Add me to this list of supporters. It’s a key route for commuters, and I’d use it every day to get to and from work.
February 28, 2014 at 10:09 am
How about a route that goes from Dupont up Connecticut to Columbia to 11th Street, then New Hampshire into Petworth and beyond? I live in Adams Morgan and getting from there to 11th street in CoHi and further into Petworth is nearly impossible on transit without taking a variety of buses.
February 28, 2014 at 11:24 am
agree this would be great
February 28, 2014 at 11:43 am
clearly someones fantasy being picked up at their home and droped off at their office. No. This is a terrible terrible idea. First traffic would be horrible on U street and Dupont. Who would ride the bus to Park View after it drops people off in the morning? Give me a break. There needs to be BRT service from Brookland – Columbia Heights – Admo.
March 1, 2014 at 3:59 pm
Yes full support for a route connecting Dupont Circle and the Georgia Avenue. Let us support 7th avenue as a “Grand Avenue” – support its growth and “rebirth” !
March 2, 2014 at 11:50 pm
I would also like to voice my support for this Circulator route. I think it would make sense, as others have voiced above, to continue the cross-town route to Farragut and Foggy Bottom to maximize the impact for Petworth and Park View commuters. I also strongly support the turnaround on Upshur Street as it would help support that reemerging retail and restaurant corridor.
March 8, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Strong support for the circulator route that you suggest!
April 28, 2014 at 7:02 am
[…] in February, when readers of this blog were asked if they would like to see an expansion of Circulator service to include the lower Georgia Avenue corridor, there was an overwhelming response in support of such an expansion. Due to this, I introduced a […]
July 24, 2014 at 12:27 pm
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Would You Like to See the DC Circulator in the Neighborhood (& If So, Where)? | Park View, D.C.
September 23, 2014 at 2:25 pm
I too think a Petworth to Dupont route would be highly useful and would use it frequently. My girlfriend would use it daily for her work commute.