D.C.’s Circulator won’t be circulating for much longer.
After 18 years, the program will start to wind down Oct. 1.
Service officially ends on Dec. 31, according to a news release from the District Department of Transportation.
“We greatly appreciate the valuable service DC Circulator provided to the District over the past 18 years,” acting DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum said in a statement. “We are grateful for the employees who supported the program and the riders who chose Circulator as part of their commute.”
Here’s what’s winding down:
- Termination of Rosslyn-Dupont Circle (RS-DP)
- Elimination of late-night service on Woodley Park-Adams Morgan (WP-AM) and Georgetown- Union Station (GT-US)
- Remaining routes will operate on 20-minute headways, a 10-minute increase from current arrival times
- Woodley Park-Adams Morgan (WP-AM), Georgetown-Union Station (GT-US), Congress Heights-Union Station (CH-US) and Eastern Market-L’Enfant Plaza (EM-LP) routes will end service at 9 p.m. daily, rather than midnight
The National Mall route will continue to operate until 7 p.m. daily.
D.C. was expected to put the brakes on the Circulator under a new budget proposal from Mayor Muriel Bowser.
As WTOP’s John Domen reported, the mayor said rising costs for something that people aren’t using is too hard to justify when she has a budget to balance.
The union representing Circulator employees said it wasn’t given much notice about the deceleration of service.
“The Union only received a few hours’ notice of the DDOT announcement,” Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 said in a statement. “The Union is deeply disappointed by how the process has played out so far. Local 689 has been consistent in our calls to bring over Circulator workers and integrate soon-to-be defunct routes into the Metrobus network. We are looking forward to working with WMATA to help those workers earn a better quality of life and ensure riders are not forgotten.”
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