Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)


Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Its fleet consists of 1,595 buses covering an area of in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. There are 269 bus routes serving 11,129 stops, including 2,554 bus shelters. In 2016, Metrobus provided approximately 123.6 million trips. On a typical weekday in June 2017, it provided more than 390,000 trips.

History

Metrobus was founded on February 4, 1973, after acquiring DC Transit, Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company, Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Transit Company and the Washington Marlboro and Annapolis Motor Lines to combine into Metrobus. During its foundings, WMATA drops transfer charges, extends senior citizen discounts region-wide and begins selected fare reductions on routes formerly served by the different carriers at different rates. WMATA also unifies a new bus livery with red, white and blue paint scheme and purchases 620 buses from AM General with the last buses being delivered in 1974.

Fares

NOTE: all fares are free since mid-March 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, up to further notice.
, the Metrobus fare structure is as follows for cash and SmarTrip:
Discounts are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities and D.C. students.
Up to two children, per paying adult, under 5 years of age ride for free. Children at least 5 years of age pay adult fare.
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All Metrobuses have SmarTrip card readers which automatically deduct the correct fare from a rider's SmarTrip card.
Metrobus issued paper transfers until January 4, 2009. Transfers are now currently attainable only through SmarTrip cards.
On June 27, 2010, the transfer window was reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours.

Fleet

On July 4, 2018, WMATA awarded a 5-year contract to New Flyer for up to 694 buses, order consist of forty-foot CNG, forty-foot clean diesel, sixty-foot CNG, and sixty-foot diesel heavy-duty transit buses. These new buses will replace Metro's older Orion V buses, which were delivered in 2000, and Metro's older Orion VII CNG buses, which were delivered in 2005–2006. Red/Silver painted buses will be used on local routes and Blue/Silver buses will be used on limited stop routes. These buses will have either Local or MetroExtra on the top of each side of the bus for easy identification.
WMATA is adding a total of 533 hybrid buses to replace its diesel bus fleet. Each new "New Flyer Xcelsior XDE40" bus costs $571,737 and is expected to break down less frequently as well as offer greater fuel economy. With the latest purchase of 152 hybrid buses for $89.3 million from New Flyer of America, WMATA's Metrobus fleet will consist of 297 diesel buses, 800 hybrid buses and 458 natural gas fueled buses. Additionally, WMATA placed an order for 110 new buses from New Flyer on September 18, 2019.

Divisions

There are 10 divisions in the Metrobus system.
DivisionLocationAreas servedCapacityNotes
Andrews Federal CenterSouthwest DC, Prince George's County175Opened June 23, 2019
BladensburgNortheast and Southeast DC257Plans to be rebuilt.
Cinder Bed RoadFairfax County160Opened 2018, operated by the private contractor TransDev
Four Mile RunArlington County, Fairfax County, City of Alexandria218Handles West Ox Division routes on the weekends
LandoverPrince George's County210
MontgomeryMontgomery County240
Southern Avenue AnnexSoutheast DC, Prince George's County103Operates Weekdays only, formerly known as "Prince George's" Division up until 1989
Shepherd ParkwaySoutheast and Southwest DC, Prince George's County250Opened in 2012
West OxArlington County, Fairfax County100Operates Weekdays only, shared with Fairfax Connector
WesternNorthwest DC138

Closed depots

Routes

Numbering

Most Metrobus routes follow the rules below:
Odd-numbered routes are typically part-time variants of even-numbered routes.

Richmond Highway Express

Richmond Highway Express, a.k.a. "REX", is a Limited-Stop bus line that operates between King Street–Old Town station and Fort Belvoir along the Richmond Highway corridor in Fairfax County, Virginia. The current "REX" fleet consists of twelve 2009 New Flyer DE40LFA diesel-electric hybrid buses painted in a blue-and-gold paint scheme, all of which operate out of the Cinder Bed Road division. REX began service on September 26, 2004, replacing parts of the now-former route 9A. The original REX bus fleet consisted of twelve now-retired 2000 Orion 06.501 buses wrapped in blue-and-gold paint scheme before the aforementioned Orion 07.501 CNG buses arrived in 2006. The second "REX" fleet consisted of 12 2006 Orion 07.501 CNG buses painted in the blue-and-gold paint scheme, until they were all repainted between June and August 2014. The third "REX" fleet were consisted of 12 2010 New Flyer DE40LFA diesel-electric hybrid buses before being repainted from June 2018 back into the Red Local Scheme due to the units being rehabilitated.

MetroExtra

MetroExtra is a limited-stop Metrobus service, which operates on Metrobus lines that need extra service with faster trips. MetroExtra started service on March 19, 2007 with the 79 that operates between the and stations on the 7th Street/Georgia Avenue corridor.

Metroway

is a bus rapid transit service that began on August 24, 2014. The first phase is the Crystal City/Potomac Yard Transitway, which operates on Route 1 in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia. It is a corridor with 33 platforms and 20 stations located between and. The first 0.8 mile segment in Alexandria runs on a transit lane only. The Arlington County segment began construction in the summer of 2014 and opened April 17, 2016. Metroway originally operated between the Braddock Road and stations and was expanded to Pentagon City in April 2016. Thirteen 2016 New Flyer Xcelsior XN40 CNG buses operate with the blue-and-white Metroway livery. The original Metroway fleet consisted of thirteen 2014 NABI 42 BRT diesel-electric hybrid buses until they were all repainted in December 2016. The Metroway service, which is operated by Metrobus' Four Mile Run bus division, features dedicated bus lanes, transit signal priority, real-time information, custom designed shelters and stations, as well as near-level boarding at station platforms. A Metroway fare costs the same as Metrobus, which is $2.00.

Incidents