Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line


The Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line, designated Route Y2, Y7, Y8, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney or the Georgia Ave – ICC Park & Ride Lot. The line operates every 20 minutes during the weekday peak hour and weekend late nights, 30 minutes all other times on weekdays, and 40-45 minutes on weekends. Y2 trips are roughly 55 minutes long, Y7 trips are roughly 62 minutes long, and Y8 trips are roughly 70 minutes long. This route provides service along Georgia Avenue in Maryland providing service to multiple communities.

Background

Routes Y2, Y7, and Y8 operate along Georgia Avenue providing frequent service to multiple communities. Route Y2 operates daily as a direct service between Silver Spring station and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, skipping both the ICC Park & Ride lot and the Leisure World clubhouse. Route Y7 operates on weekdays only via the Leisure World clubhouse but instead terminates at the ICC Park & Ride lot instead of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. Route Y8 operates daily on the same Y2 routing but serves the Leisure World clubhouse. Routes Y7 and Y8 only operate between 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM when the Leisure World clubhouse is open while route Y2 rarely operates between those hours on weekdays.
Routes Y2, Y7, and Y8 operate out of Montgomery division. It often uses articulated buses due to its high ridership volume.

History

The line originally operated under former streetcar lines prior to becoming buses in 1973. During Metro's inception, routes Y2 and Y4 operated between Silver Spring station and Kensington before being replaced by Ride On through the 1980s-1990s. Then route Y4 operated between Rockville and Glenmont station before being replaced by Ride On route 49 in 1998. Route Y1 operated between Montgomery Village and Potomac Park. Route Y3 originally operated between Leisure World and Southwest Mall, then became apart of the Homecrest-Wheaton Line. Both the Y1 and Y3 were later discontinued around the 1990s and replaced by Ride On routes.
The original Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line operated as routes Y5, Y6, Y7, Y8, and Y9. At one point during its inception, route Y5 would operate between Leisure World to Federal Triangle, then operate as part of the Norbeck–Wheaton Line until the 1990s when it was replaced by Ride On route 48. Route Y5 would later join the Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line. Route Y6 operated between Glenmont and Wheaton before being extended to Aspen Hill. Route Y7 would operate between Montgomery Village and Southwest Mall. Routes Y8 and Y9 would only operate between MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and Silver Spring. All routes would primarily operate along Georgia Avenue.
During the 1980 to 1990s, routes Y5, and Y7 were rerouted to operate with routes Y8 and Y9 MedStar Montgomery Hospital and Silver Spring. Y6 would also join the line but would keep its same routing between Glenmont and Aspen Hill.

1990s

In the 1990s, route Y6 was renamed route Q3 which would operate on its same routing. The route was later replaced by Ride On route 41 in 1998.
Y5 was also eliminated and replaced by routes Y7, Y8, and Y9.
Since the 1990s, the Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line operates as the following:
On September 7, 2003, route Y5 was reincarnated to operate between Montgomery General Hospital and Silver Spring via the Norbeck Park and Ride and Leisure World in order to supplement routes Y7, Y8, and Y9.

2011 Changes

On December 18, 2011, new service was added to the new Intercounty Connector Park and Ride Lot off Georgia Avenue. Routes Y5 and Y7 would enter the Park and Ride in order for passengers to transfer to MTA Maryland 201 and 202. Service to the Norbeck Park & Ride Lot was discontinued.

2012 Study

Between 2011 and 2012, WMATA released a study on the Y lines. At the time, the Y line was suffering from insufficient run time, inconvenient service frequencies, and operational issues the line has. Proposals were to simplify the line, add time to schedule buses, combine bus stops together, improve amenities at bus stops, and convert route Y9 as a MetroExtra route. These changes will go under short to long term plans.
At the time of the study, frequencies goes as the following:
On August 24, 2014, routes Y5 and Y9 were discontinued by WMATA and replaced by routes Y7 and Y8 in order to simplify the Georgia Avenue–Maryland Line. Route Y7 would also be shortened and rerouted to Georgia Ave–ICC Park & Ride Lot instead of MedStar Hospital while route Y8 would discontinue service to the Leisure World clubhouse remaining straight along Georgia Avenue. During the weekends, route Y7 would only operate between Leisure World clubhouse and Wheaton station.

Temporary Y4

Between October 14, 2014 and December 12, 2014, a temporary route Y4 was introduced as the Leisure World–Olney Line running on weekdays between 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM in order to provide residents access to the Leisure World clubhouse from Olney. This was because residents lost direct access to the clubhouse on August 24, 2014 when the Y8 became a direct route. Passengers would have to walk from the clubhouse onto Georgia Avenue to take the Y8 instead of waiting at the bus stops as the Y7 would take them to Silver Spring or up to the Georgia Ave–ICC Park & Ride Lot on weekdays only.

December 2014 Changes

On December 14, 2014, a new route Y2 was introduced to operate a direct routing between MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and Silver Spring station which was the Y8 routing and former Y9 routing. Route Y8 was also rerouted back to the Leisure World clubhouse but discontinued all weekend service. Route Y4 was also discontinued as there was no need for the route to operate anymore as the Y8 covered the same routing. These changes were all towards customer feedback and frustration due to the August 24 changes.

September 2015 Changes

When the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center at Silver Spring station opened, routes Y2, Y7, and Y8 were rerouted from its terminus along Wayne Avenue to the new transit center. The Y2, Y7, and Y8 were assigned to Bus Bay 219 on level 2.

June 2017 Changes

On June 25, 2017, weekend route Y8 service was restored operating its full route. Route Y7 also discontinued weekend service on the same day being replaced by routes Y2 and Y8. This gives residents from Olney weekend service to the Leisure World clubhouse which has not happened since the 2014 changes.

Incidents