D.C. has expanded its Neighborhood Connect shuttle service to include the Fort Lincoln neighborhood, the Shops at Dakota Crossing in Ward 5 and the NoMa-Gallaudet University Metro Station in Ward 6.
“DC Neighborhood Connect was created to provide more transit options and improve transportation equity for our residents,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement Wednesday.
“With this expansion, residents have more options to travel to amenities and Metro stations where they can enjoy and take advantage of all that our city has to offer.”
DC Neighborhood Connect, part of the Department of For-Hire Vehicles, is referred to as a “microtransit” service as opposed to a mass transit service. It doesn’t pick up a large number of riders at regular stops.
Instead, customers request rides using an app on their smartphones or call 202-398-0500. Then a van comes to pick them up in designated areas and drops them off within that area.
“DC Neighborhood Connect gives residents in Wards 1, 4, 5 and 8 one more way to reach jobs, education, buy healthy foods, reach health care and get to their destinations easily and affordably,” DFHV Director David Do said.
Service zone boundaries have shifted alongside the expansion.
According to the announcement: A new Zone 1 is bordered by Georgia Avenue, Eastern Avenue and Michigan Avenue (including parts of Wards 4 and 5).
A new Zone 2 is bordered by Georgia Avenue, Florida Avenue, Bladensburg Road and Eastern Avenue (including parts of Wards 1, 4 and 5).
Residents traveling to and from Washington Hospital Center or the Brookland Metro Station are able to cross Zones 1 and 2.
Zone 3 serves Ward 8 East of the Anacostia River.
More information is online.
