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I went on a quick trip to DC yesterday and took advantage of the Rush + service to get to Virginia from Gallery Place.  Things didn't seem to bad and the Yellow Line trains ran VERY frequently.  It helps that there happened to be a Yellow Line that turned around in front of a train heading to Franconia from Greenbelt, which pretty much gave us an empty train from Mt. Vernon Square to go to Virginia.

I was a bit surprised to see how the train essentially emptied out at Pentagon station, but that makes sense with all of the commuter buses that serve this the transit center there.

I wonder if, in the future during rush hour, trains from Mt. Vernon Square could head to Franconia-Springfield and trains from Greenbelt could head to Huntington. Of course, the real test won't be until this fall, when schools go back in session and people are back to work after their summer vacations.

Wait, WMATA operated those services?  What routes were these? I think one may have been the Bethesda 8?

Awesome news!  I can't wait to see them on Ride On duty.  I would love to see them in the Ride On scheme as well (preferably the blue and white, but I'd be curious to see them in the Green/Yellow/Blue scheme as well).

That is very true - people are more likely to complain than to give compliments.  I do, however, wonder what the complaints about Rush + have been so far (outside of Blue Line riders that are less than thrilled with their "reduced" service).

Oren, thanks for mentioning Greenbelt, as I swore that's where cars were tested previously.  What is preventing WMATA from just starting to test the new cars at this facility while the new one is being built?  I wonder if the technology used on these cars is so radically different from the previous generation of railcars that they need an improved facility.

Also, I do wish that WMATA would take notes from fellow agencies about weekend service disruptions and such.  The NYC Weekender seems to be working quite well, and if something like what they did with the Red Line happens again, they should release the schedule for the trains that run every 24 mins as well as a schedule for the trains running in the core...and spread the trains out as well!  The amount of overcrowding reminded me of 8th Ave trains in NY during PM rush hour...

$25?!  That seems to be a bit steep, unless those are, in fact, off the trains.

Apparently this is due to delays in production as well as the building of a new test track.  The line is set to open December 2013 or so, while the test track facility is set to open March 2014 (although WMATA would be able to start using it January of 2014).

I really think it would be a better idea to delay the opening of the line until there are enough extra cars for the service.  The existing fleet is strained as is...

http://washingtonexaminer.com/silver-line-to-use-old-rail-cars-initially/article/746116

Wow, there are already so many Xcelsiors on the road? I'd rather have them than the LFAs anyway (I dislike those buses quite a bit, honestly). I managed to grab a ride on one on route 64...with the BAE hybridrive system, and it was quite nice and fast although somewhat loud.

It is so sad to see Orion go   I "grew up" with them in a sense, from the Ride-On TMC Citycruisers and Orion Is to the IIs, Vs, VIs, and VII that ran on the various systems around DC Area. I'll definitely miss this company.

I didn't know that MTA Commuter Buses had a receipt program like NJT.  It's great to see that ridership has increased.  Is the trip any faster now that the new section of the ICC opened?

Enjoying the galleries and experiencing severe nostalgia with the Ride On Gallery.

So am I correct in that the oldest buses in the fleet are now the 1999 40 foot Orion Vs?

This really is very sad news, but then again the writing has been on the wall for some time. You can see this in the DC Area, where Orion was once a stronghold and although there have been some VIIs produced for WMATA, Fairfax, and Ride On, those systems seem to have gone elsewhere for the majority of new buses they are purchasing (even though WMATA is in the process of receiving an order of Orion VIIs).

I hate to get political, but things like this happen when there's no long term surface transportation bill, transportation budgets are slashed, and nobody knows what's going to happen in the next few months, much less years from now to invest in new vehicles.

I have yet to ride one of these buses, but wow there is plenty of reason for concern.  I guess a lot of the old Gillig Phantoms are filling in for them in the meantime?

Six months...I imagine the buses they are looking at would be the 3900s that are about to leave WMATA and the SEPTA El Dorado Transmark REs that are due to leave SEPTA.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/post/metro-to-add-bus-service-alter-routes/2012/03/22/gIQAaSWGUS_blog.html?wprss=rss_dr-gridlock

The changes will go into effect in June on bus routes in these areas, including Naylor Road to Potomac Park, Pennsylvania Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, 16th Street NW, Georgia Avenue, Southwest waterfront, Leesburg Pike and New Carrollton to Silver Spring.

Finally the F4/6 is getting some well needed attention.  Hopefully they find a way to add more service to alleviate the severe crowding.

The money to pay for the changes to the priority bus corridors comes from a $5 million surplus in Metro's fiscal 2011 budget. Metro General Manager Richard Sarles said there was a surplus after Metro paid off a "preventative maintenance loan" and did an audit.

Interesting, but I hope they would be able to find the money to keep the changes in place after the next fiscal year.  I'm glad the bus division hasn't been forgotten as they work to fix up Metrorail.

Very nice!  This is the bus that was hit by a MARC train, isn't it?

Oh!  I was confused by the corridors, lol - that's for clearing that up for me!