The D.C. Circulator is being booted from circulation but the mayor’s office and Metro have said they have temporary plans to help make up for the lost routes starting next month.
The D.C. Circulator will start rolling back service Oct. 1 and it will end all routes by the start of the new year.
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office and WMATA announced temporary service adjustments Tuesday that are aimed at filling in service gaps left behind by phased-out D.C. Circulator routes.
The hope is that the temporary adjustments will prevent crowding as the old bus routes go away.
The temporary service adjustments are expected to last through July 2025, when Metro plans to launch the “Better Bus Network.” Those changes could add 30 new bus lines and overnight rides to the airport while ending 600 bus stops.
Metro’s board of directors is expected to vote on the proposed plan Thursday. After the vote, the tentative dates for Circulator routes to be reduced will be finalized.
The Rosslyn-Dupont route is expected to be the first to stop service. The rest of the changes come in December under the proposed schedule.
Here’s a chart showing the routes Metrobus is planning to cover.
| Tentative effective date | Circulator route | Proposed Metrobus service change |
|---|---|---|
| October 2024 | Rosslyn-Dupont | Route 38B additional service between Rosslyn and Farragut Square during peak weekend hours to achieve 15-minute headways |
| December 2024 | Union Station – Congress Heights | A new Anacostia shuttle to Stanton/Pomeroy Street every 30 minutes |
| December 2024 | Woodley Park – McPherson | Routes 52/54 additional service on 14th Street NW between Colorado Avenue and Metro Center |
| December 2024 | Georgetown – Union Station | Merge routes 31 and 33 into a single route along H and I Streets NW through Franklin Square and extend via New York and Massachusetts Avenues to Union Station |
Not every circulator route will be backfilled by a Metrobus.
When the route from L’Enfant to Eastern Market goes away in December, it won’t be provided with any additional buses because the stops are covered by existing routes.
“Western stops covered by Route 74; Central stops covered by Route P6; Eastern stops covered by Routes 90/92,” according to the mayor’s office.
Metrorail operates along the route too.
The route on the National Mall will go away in December and not be provided with any service adjustments, according to the news release.
Why is the DC Circulator going away?
Acting D.C. Department of Transportation Director Sharon Kershbaum said removing D.C. Circulator buses will improve the customer experience while being cost-effective.
“By consolidating more bus transit under the Metrobus brand, we can strengthen the District’s overall transit network, avoid duplicative services, and operate more efficiently,” Kershbaum said in a news release.
For one, the changes will save the District a lot of money, according to the mayor’s office.
The plan would use Metro’s current fleet of buses to keep costs down, according to the news release.
“The annual cost is estimated at approximately $10 million, significantly lower than the Circulator’s 2022 operating expense of $42 million,” according to the mayor’s office.
The mayor’s office added it would cost D.C. more than $200 million in capital investments to maintain Circulator operations.
The District’s Department of Transportation is working to connect D.C. Circulator employees to new jobs.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
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