Route F6 operates weekdays only between New Carrollton station and Fort Totten station mostly along Sargent Road, Good Luck Road, Finns Lane, Campus Drive, Ager Road, and University Boulevard without having to take the train. It connects the New Carrollton, Riverdale, College ParkHyattsville, University Park, Chillum, Carole Highlands, and Queens Chapel communities to various Metrorail stations and parts of Northeast DC. Route F6 currently operates out of Landover division.
History
Routes F4 and F6 were created as brand new Metrobus routes on February 19, 1978, to replace the segment of the former J2 & J4 streetcar lines between Silver Spring & Beltway Plaza, when Silver Spring station opened. J2 was truncated to only operate between the Silver Spring station & Montgomery Mall only while J4 was truncated to only operate between Silver Spring station & Bethesda, instead of operating all the way to Beltway Plaza Route F6 originally operated between Prince George's Plaza and Greenbelt Center in Old Greenbelt, F6 operated on the former J2 & J4 streetcar lines between Silver Spring and the intersection of East–West Highway & Ager Road and Prince George's Plaza & Beltway Plaza, via University of Maryland College Park Campus. F6 also operated on the former F9 streetcar line routing along Ager Road, Hamilton Street, Queens Chapel Road, and Belcrest Road to get back to Prince George's Plaza. The only difference though, would be that F6 would provide new Metrobus service between the Beltway Plaza & Greenbelt Center, which the former routes J2 & J4 didn't provide.
1993 Changes
On December 11, 1993, route F6 was rerouted to New Carrollton station running alongside route F4. The segment of F6's routing between Prince George's Plaza and University of Maryland College Park Campus remained mostly the same, but would be rerouted to divert to serve station. Route F6 would then be rerouted to operate along Paint Branch Parkway, then using River Road to enter College Park–University of Maryland station, and then operating the rest of the way to New Carrollton station along River Road, Kenilworth Avenue, Good Luck Road, Auburn Avenue, Riverdale Road, Finns Lane, Harkins Road, and Ellin Road. Service between the University of Maryland College Park Campus & Greenbelt Center was replaced by extended route C2 being extended from Beltway Plaza to Greenbelt Center via Greenbelt station.
1999 Changes
On September 12, 1999, route F6 was extended to Silver Spring station via West Hyattsville station. The route operated along Queens Chapel Road, Hamilton Street and Ager Road to serve West Hyattsville, then follow route F4's routing to Silver Spring along East-West Highway, Ethan Allen Avenue, and Philadelphia Avenue.
2003 Changes
On May 15, 2003, the original bus bays inside Prince Georges Plaza mall, were demolished in order to build a new Target store. Routes F4 and F6 along with routes 86, C4, F8, R2, R3, R4 and TheBus 13, 14, 18 have stopped entering and looping inside around the mall.
2008 Changes
On September 28, 2008, the former Silver Spring Bus Bay was closed and ultimately demolished so that the new Silver Spring Transit Center could be built. Since then, both routes F4 and F6 terminated at the temporary stop that WMATA placed right on top of the curb, located on the northbound side of the intersection of Wayne Avenue & Colesville Road.
2010 Proposed Changes
During 2011, WMATA proposed to split the F4 and F6 routing into two routes. While the F4 remained the same, the F6 was proposed be rerouted to serve Fort Totten, keeping its routing between the New Carrollton station & intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road the same, except route F6 would be rerouted to operate on the Route R3 routing between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway & Fort Totten along East-West Highway, Riggs Road, Sargent Road. This was proposed in order to reduce redundancy with F4 between Silver Spring station and the East West Highway and Riggs Road intersection. The proposal was brought up again in 2012 with the same similarities.
2012 Changes
In May 2012, WMATA announced route F6 will serve Fort Totten station beginning June 17, 2012. Route F6 service between New Carrollton and East West Highway & Riggs Road was the same, but was rerouted to turn from the East West Highway and Riggs Road intersection to replace route R3. The portion of F6's former routing between the intersection of East–West Highway & Riggs Road & the Silver Spring Metro station was completely replaced by route F4.
2019 Changes
Beginning on September 1, 2019 for nine months, the College Park Metrobus loop was temporarily closed for construction of the Purple line at College Park station having all stops located along River Road. As of a result, route F6's bus stops were moved onto River Road in order to serve the station. There were no detours that affected route F6.
2020 Changes
Beginning on April 20, 2020, parts of Calvert Road was closed due to the ongoing construction of the Purple line. Route F6 was temporarily rerouted to backtrack from College Park–University of Maryland station and to turn back onto Kenilworth Avenue and operate along East West Highway and Adelphi Road before resuming its regular route along Belcrest Road when operating to Fort Totten station. Service to New Carrollton station will follow the same path vice versa before resuming its regular route. Service to University of Maryland is temporarily replaced by the C2, C8, and J4 while service along Adelphi Road is temporarily replaced by the F8 in the meantime. However the reroute has not operated due to the 2019-20 COVID-19 outbreak and Metro's reduced service since March 13.
