Metrobus Changes FY2011

[Scrabbleship]

Surprised at some of the exit closings. Why close New York Avenue South when it's the closest exit  to the Greyhound station? Why close Friendship Heights South when it is closer to much of the retail than the north entrance? I see the Silver Spring North closing, which would affect me directly backfiring; many people use it for ease of access to the J's, S's, 1/2/11, and 5 rather than now doing a roundabout route.

Having a job on the western end of the Red Line and often taking the Red in from work into DC, I can say that it's rare that I get a ride that doesn't have some slowdown due to there being too many trains and it's dragged out trip times. Two years ago it was still possible to get from White Flint to downtown in rush hour in about 30 minutes. Today it's closer to 40.

That 16F/7F extension into Federal Triangle should be an all-day extension. I've always scratched my head at how many routes go into DC from Maryland, some going downtown, but all Virginia has had outside rush hour is the 38B.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Surprised at some of the exit closings. Why close New York Avenue South when it's the closest exit  to the Greyhound station? Why close Friendship Heights South when it is closer to much of the retail than the north entrance? I see the Silver Spring North closing, which would affect me directly backfiring; many people use it for ease of access to the J's, S's, 1/2/11, and 5 rather than now doing a roundabout route.

Having a job on the western end of the Red Line and often taking the Red in from work into DC, I can say that it's rare that I get a ride that doesn't have some slowdown due to there being too many trains and it's dragged out trip times. Two years ago it was still possible to get from White Flint to downtown in rush hour in about 30 minutes. Today it's closer to 40.

That 16F/7F extension into Federal Triangle should be an all-day extension. I've always scratched my head at how many routes go into DC from Maryland, some going downtown, but all Virginia has had outside rush hour is the 38B.

By what standard is Friendship Heights south closer to retail?  It is by far the less used mezzanine at the station, and doesn't have direct connections into three different major retail areas in the neighborhood.  The additional distance from New York Avenue north to New York Avenue south is minimal, and again, I'm assuming the north side gets more fares even if it is closer to the Greyhound terminal.  Not everything is necessarily based on your personal needs.  I still think most people consider Union Station to be closer to the Greyhound terminal.

[Transport]

My opinion is some of the duplicate Metrobus/local service routes could have been eliminated with the $$ invested elsewhere.  An example of this cut is the Metro 18E/F which duplicates FFX routes entirely.  Not sure why the duplications were not cut which may have saved some of the late late night services being cut.

That said, overall I think Searle's budget is a good compromise.  I'd rather see the reductions proposed rather than widened RAIL headways and more BUS route eliminations.