Shuttle bus services

(Flickr photo by techne.)

I'm not really a fan of shuttle bus services because I think they tend to be moves out of desperation, that commercial districts want and need more customers and they think that access is an issue, but really the issue is the quality of the offer. (People will come if you have good stuff, regardless of the transportation question. Although sure, limited transportation options will reduce overall patronage.)

I know that the N22, which connects the Navy Yard, Eastern Market, and Union Station via Capitol Hill, has anemic ridership. Same with that dog of a bus route that won't die, the Adams Morgan Link (97), which connects Woodley Park and the U Street subway stations via Adams-Morgan, and fully duplicates the 90s buses. It has the lowest ridership of any bus in the city, but it is protected by Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, who sits on the WMATA board, and chairs the Council Committee that oversees the City Department of Transportation.

So today's Express blog reports on a new shuttle service for H Street, to support that budding entertainment district there. See "H St. NE May Get New Shuttle Bus by End of Spring."

Maybe that's a good idea because a lot of the people who go out at night don't like to ride Metrobuses. But why would they like to ride a shuttle bus? It's still a bus and maybe it just isn't hip enough for the night-time crowd, regardless of how it's branded.

But I think the routing is wacked. According to the Express report, the shuttle will connect Union Station and the Benning Road subway stations, via H Street, Benning Road, and Minnesota Avenue.

Seems crazy to me.

A better routing and much shorter would link Union Station and Eastern Market, via H Street, Maryland Avenue, and 8th Street. This would serve the Orange line, in addition to the blue line, which is served by the Benning Road station.

Likely the route between 15th Street and Benning Road NE and the Benning Road subway station will have no patronage for H Street, especially at night.