DC Circulator to offer additional routes

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From the Examiner this morning,

In just over a week, the District will begin offering two new routes on its D.C. Circulator system, a big leap for the bus service that has had just three routes.
The new lines will extend the north-south reach of the local bus system. One will run from Union Station close to the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium. The other will run from Woodley Park through Adams Morgan and the Logan Circle area into McPherson Square.
They will replace similar routes served by Metrobus. But the new lines aren't exactly the same as Metrobus routes N22 and the 98, known as the Adams Morgan-U Street Link.
"We are not doing the 98," Metro Chairman and D.C. Councilman Jim Graham told Metro board members last month. "It's a brand new route."
That line will have limited stops, he said, intended to reduce traffic congestion. It will start service March 29. The new replacement for the N22 will also have a modified route and times. It begins March 30, said District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle.
The District also will be rolling out 14 new buses with the new routes, he said. More details are expected soon on specific stops and service hours.
"We're very excited about them," Lisle said. "They are going to serve a lot of people."
The Circulator system began in 2005, and Lisle said it is approaching an eight-million ridership mark. The existing routes run from Georgetown across K Street to Union Station; north-to-south from O Street Northwest to the Maine Avenue waterfront in Southwest; and around a segment of the National Mall. "We think the time is right to expand it," Lisle said.
The District subsidized the service for both Metrobus N22 and 98 routes, but city officials have said it is cheaper for them to operate the lines than Metro. Circulator bus drivers make a starting wage of $14 an hour compared with $15.62 for Metrobus drivers. The gap keeps growing with seniority. Circulator drivers max out at $17 an hour, Graham said, while Metrobus drivers can earn more than $26 an hour.
For riders, it's a break as well. The Circulator fares are $1, compared with the current bus lines, which cost up to $1.35 for cash fares. The buses also operate on 10-minute intervals instead of harder-to-remember set bus schedules.