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Riding D.C. Circulator can be much more pleasant than riding Metrobus; lower fares, more frequent buses and simple, quick routes. Starting Oct. 3, the buses will drive east of the Anacostia River for the first time.
The D.C. Department of Transportation began D.C. Circulator in 2005 as an easy way to get around areas that had a lot of activity. Most of the buses travel in Northwest. But the Circulator may end up serving other purposes as well in Ward 8, where 20 percent of people earn less than $10,000 a year and the unemployment rate is higher than 20 percent.
“You can live in the same city and there can be so many walls, real and perceived, for children, families and households who want to enjoy their D.C. experience,” ANC 8D06 Commissioner Kianna Fowlkes said during Tuesday’s DDOT public hearing. “Circulator is a really good way to extend over to this side and make us feel like we have access to the same sites, cultural or economic, to jobs, to the same food.”
Fares cost $1, which is 50 cents cheaper than Metrobus. The buses are more reliable, arriving every 10 minutes, and only make three or four stops a mile. The buses are proposed to start at Skyland and arrive at the Harris Teeter and the Potomac Avenue Metro.