DC Area Transit Zone

Oh if you have any suggestions feel free to include them.

it depends what you're talking about, the signs as in the bus' electronic sign or the sign as in the bus stop sign.

here's my opinion:

the buses should remain orange crushed...upgrading to colored signs for design and even more branding is just a waste of money. most people who ride the buses know what route they are riding anyways, so it's not gonna help that many people.

as for the bus stops...all the limited stop and express routes should have their stops noticeable (a good example is the 79, S9, 37, and 39...notice how they have their branded signs on their limited stops). I know some routes (like the J4) could really use them, this would eliminate some confusion and complaints of drivers missing people's stops (when they were not supposed to stop there anyways).

This should clear up some confussion

Why is the J4 not promoted as an "express" route?  Shouldn't that be running with the blue buses?

Honestly, from my past observations from a few years ago, that route doesn't haul that many people. Has that changed since then?  Honestly, it could be promoted as the express option to the F6...at least somewhat, right?

Quote from: Tritransit Area on February 22, 2010, 11:03:19 AM
Why is the J4 not promoted as an "express" route?  Shouldn't that be running with the blue buses?

Funny you say that since every J4 I've seen since the storms has had one of the Express LFA's running on it. Quite a departure from the parade of older buses the route historically has gotten.

QuoteHonestly, from my past observations from a few years ago, that route doesn't haul that many people. Has that changed since then?  Honestly, it could be promoted as the express option to the F6...at least somewhat, right?

From my own observations (heavy on the Bethesda-Wayne & Fenton side), the J4 has a lot of its ridership splintered. Heavy on the College Park-Langley Park side, hit or miss between Langley Park-Silver Spring, somewhere between the two between Silver Spring-Bethesda, a limited number of people going from one of the three outside some service workers and other cases. It serves good purposes given that DUH BUS bailed on CP-Langley service on the east end and provides a clear shot for the people who have to get to Bethesda from Silver Spring and vice-versa on the west end.

A friend of mine who is a grad student at UMD who lives inside Summit Hills actually uses the J4 to get to and from campus and has called it "the best kept secret of Metrobus". He's right.

Yeah, I remember riding between Silver Spring and College Park - there wasn't much in the way of ridership.  I'm guessing the LP/CP portion is heavy because of the people waiting on the C bus who are pleasantly surprised by the J4.

Silly me never realized that the J4 went all the way up to Bethesda.  Of course, it's the route that you are always pleasantly surprised to see, especially when it pulls into Silver Spring with a Flx.

The last time I rode the J4, it was on a 9600...

The J4 saved me on my first ever comprehensive Metrobus trip a couple years back (Silver Spring to Bethesda for a job interview). The sight of a 40% full Metro-D behind my packed-to-the-gills Orion VI on the J2 got me off that bus in a jiffy.

Oddly enough, the one time I boarded the J4 at College Park, the bus was 75ish% full leaving there. Might the lack of a true CP-LP besides the J4 after DUH BUS's screwing up of the 17 have anything to do with it?

For a limited bus, the J4 makes a lot of stops and is pretty slow.  One can theoretically make it across faster by taking a C2/C4 to Langley Park, 15 to Silver Spring, and J2/J3 to Bethesda (and of course, hop on the J4 if it shows up before any of the buses mentioned above do). 

As I've said in the past... I think WMATA's route numbers are very confusing and at times inconsistent.  I'd like to see a separate express bus designation sort of like NYCTA does.  Either that or number them in a different series.

In bus stops, they could identify express and/or limited routes as such.  Not sure it's necessary for local routes since most routes are local.

It kinda seems like they are trying to start doing the "limited" designation with the 9s (at least on the Maryland/DC side).  Hopefully they can continue to work to make sure that the bus system is easier to take/understand. 

That being said, they could honestly promote that J4 a bit more...somehow....  I'm not sure that many people know about it.