Your Favorite Routes

[Tristan]

Just doing an informal survey -- what are your favorite routes in the DC area?  And do you have any past routes that you were also fond of that no longer run anymore?

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I like the 90 a lot, it is hard to believe you are still in Montgomery County for most of that one.  The 70 is also fun, and I like the long, sustained high speed sections on the 10, 26, and 74, among others.

[btconet]

I tend to like the oddball stuff, particularly the peak only routes - something like the WMATA J5.  There are a few such routes I'd like a ride on, like the D5 for example, and I might finally take the G2 one day. 

Speaking of "Ride-On," the 100 and 70 are always a treat, and the Nickel (5) is good for a local bus.

And who can't like the T2?

NoVa?!? Not a lot to like there route wise from what I've seen.  The 24P is cool though.

The L and N in DC are cool as is the S.

[Tristan]

NOVA often gets ignored because we don't have as many transit dependents, and service suffers accordingly.  It's not the type of place where you can just show up and expect to get a great ride in mere minutes, but if you time yourself (with a schedule), you'll get some good riding in.

What about you rail people?  Is Metrorail actually diverse enough for anyone to have a favorite subway line?

[rideonrulez]

WMATA: Z2 Between Olney and Colesville is the best segment, T2 Just love looking at how the other half live, N4 I like to look at the various embassy's, S2-4 My favorite way to get downtown, 80 Something about the North Capitol Street, D6 riding the Macarthur Blvd segment is cool especially when you see the whole J. Crew catalog  , 24P Fast ride between the 2 major transfer points and good equipment and the the 38B pre Orion VII days 

My favorite eliminated route was the N7/9 express from Montgomery Mall-Federal Triangle. That was a fun ride!

Ride On: 1 via Leland St especially, the 5 is my all time favorite, 34, 46 just like to cruise the pike, 47, 54, 61 love the park section on Clopper, 63 best ride between Rockville and Shady Grove, 67, 70 especially the reverse rush trips because there not crowded and the operators roll!!, 76 I've never seen so many corn fields from a REAL bus before!!, 90 especially if you want to see animals such as cows, deer etc!! and love the quick fast ride of the 100!

36, 52 & 53 if they had real buses it would be nice!! Maybe next year.....

Fairfax Connector: Can't think of any except MAYBE the 574

[79MetroExtraMD]

I have alot of favorite routes spread across the region.
WMATA: 3 line, 9 line, 13 line, 15 line, 16 line, 22A, 23A, 24P, 28 line, 38 line
42, 79, 80, C2/C4, C8, D6 (western part), H line, J line, N line, Q2, S line
RideOn: 1, 5, 9, 15, 17, 20, 34, 46, 47, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 67 (Dufief Mill portion), 70, 74, 100
Connector: 171, 310, 401, 505, 950
ART: 41, 52
DASH: 3, 4, 5
PRTC: PMD, CCC
Loudoun: Dulles North, Reverse Commute

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Yes, the Metrorail is diverse enough for me to have favorites.

Best to worst
1.  Red
2.  Orange/Green (tie, it depends on the day)
4.  Blue
5.  Yellow

I like the T2 as well, haven't been on that one in awhile.  I agree about the 63 being the best Rockville-Shady Grove route.  I think I would have greater appreciation for the 100 if I hadn't ridechecked it so much when it was new.

[Scrabbleship]

WMATA
32/36 (and the old 34): The quintessential DC bus ride. Congested, but shows contrasts of a DC so many people don't see. Of course, I could also put the D6, X3, and any of the 90's in here for the same reasons, but this one works best.
79: Fancy buses and the thrill of leaving so many of the 70's in the dust makes this worth the ride alone.
83/86: Long as hell, my one ride was from IKEA to Rhode Island Ave, but it's interesting to see how there is so much changeover between the ends.
J5: Though I take this to/from work most days, the Beltway section can have some good speed sections and (especially during the PM) it can have some interesting equipment including Metro B's and artics.
L2: The contrast of the Adams Morgan section vs. its primary Connecticut Ave trunk, plus the qualities of Connecticut itself are worth the ride.
M4: For a little weekday-only circulator, it gives a taste of "is this really DC".
S2/S4: My ride of choice downtown (or to Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan/U Street) when I don't want to Metro it.
2T: The one time I rode this route, I got a Flxible. The many turns it takes to get to Dunn Loring, largely in residential areas, breeds a LOT of Flx leaning. Must be boring on the weekend though...

Ride On
1: The Leland St. portion, though slow, is always a good ride and the Grubb Rd/Washington Ave portion is also good for some turns.
5: What everyone else said, though once it gets past Kensington it becomes pretty straightforward.
7: Sure, it's a cutaway ride, but it offers a nice view of old-line suburbia.
34: Though getting past Medical Center in rush hour sucks, it's a nice cross-section of southern Montgomery County, especially since it ate the 42 up and even moreso during the peak-hour Aspen Hill trips.
46: The easy way up and down the Pike.
63: My first experience with the Gaithersburg part of Ride On (I worked right on the 63 for a week) and a nice back way between Rockville and Shady Grove.

Man, I need to spend some more time on some Gaithersburg routes and I need to get some more WMATA action done...any suggestions?

[Nabinut]

Favorite DC line:
80 (Always C40LFs) from Fort "Rotten" to near Union Station.
38B through Georgetown and the bridge leading into Rosslyn.

As for Ride-on:
I love the 1 especially the neighborhood portions. You think NIMBYs would have put a stop to that by now..
Also the 55 is high on my list (NFI C40LFs) along the speed stretches

[WayneNYC]

I have a few too.

At WMATA those that come to mind are the 22A, 24P, S2/4, Z lines, J2, J4, F4/6 and Q2.  The 5A was awesome when FMR still had Orion VIs.  REX too.

At Ride On I like the 1, 5, 15, 55, 70 & 100.

[WES]

Mine are
WMATA
-79, F8, 34, 5A(same with Wayne with the Orion VIs-it just isn't fun anymore since the O-h noVIIs started running on them), 97

Ride On
-5, 15,46, 55(most likely a Flyer), 61( and the old 62), 70, 100

Fairfax Connector
-505

The Bus(can you believe it)
-15x(they always seem to have some speedy drivers)

[Perry]

For WMATA, I used to like the Q2 on the stretch of Viers Mill between Randolp and Parklawn Dr, the 24M was a good one but the P was also ok, the 7 from Pentagon to Shirlington, the 13 wasn't bad, 38B was cool.

PRTC, Linton Hall Metro Direct was my all time favorite, of course since I planned it and did the initial schedule.  Cross County was ok but I could never figure out a way to keep that thing on time until we were allowed to run it every hour. The Dale City OmniLink was pretty scenic too.

Ride On, the 70 was good and the 90 was fun.

FFX Connector I liked the 380 and the 505.

[WMAveteran]

From back in the day for busses: I vote for the N7/N9 express from Montgomery Mall to Federal Triangle.  It ran on the Beltway and the Clara Burton Parkway and the Whitehurst Freeway - a sweet, quick and high speed run when the traffic wasn't stopped. For streetcars: nothing could beat the #20 to Glen Echo from Union Station once it entered the private right-of-way north of Key Bridge.

[btconet]

Nodding to the past, I do miss the old #42 line service that ran from Mt. Pleasant to (IIRC) Stadium-Armory.  I used to hit a record store up in Froot Loop (Dupont) back in the early 90's, and it was so damn cool to ride a Flxible NEW LOOK from Union Station to and from the store in MID-DAY!!!

[Perry]

The N7/9 was great.  I liked the N9 better than the N7 that ran until recently.  The ride of Mass. Ave. was so painfully slow while the N9 shooting over the Whithurst to Clara Barton was great. 

I used to like the SmartMover routes too.