Members,

The upcoming summer Red Line shutdown will cause significant inconvenience for transit riders in eastern Montgomery County and beyond. With shuttle buses replacing trains between the Fort Totten and Glenmont Metro stations, trip times will be longer for transit riders, and congestion will become worse on the roads paralleling the closed Red Line segment. The shuttle buses will use Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County to connect transit riders to the affected stations, but these buses will be slowed by traffic congestion on this busy state road, a problem which will likely worsen with the Red Line closure.  

The Action Committee for Transit supports the Montgomery County Planning Board’s proposal to implement dedicated bus lanes along the shuttle bus route for the duration of the Red Line closure. The lanes will make both the shuttles and regular bus service faster and more reliable, easing the adverse impacts of the Red Line closure on thousands of transit riders.  

Metro and the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) have both studied dedicated bus lanes on the Georgia Avenue corridor prior to the announcement of the summer Red Line closure. These efforts have involved consultation with the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), which maintains and controls Georgia Avenue. Temporary bus lanes along Georgia Avenue between the Glenmont Metro station and the District line can act as a pilot program for the feasibility of permanent bus lanes on this route. Agencies including Metro, MDOT SHA, and MCDOT have the opportunity to gather real-world data from the temporary lanes to inform future decisions about permanent bus lanes on Georgia Avenue.

As the Planning Board’s letter explains, this corridor already has substantial bus ridership and is served by multiple bus routes. Many of the people who use these bus routes regularly are people of color or low income. The addition of the shuttle buses this summer to replace Red Line trains will dramatically increase the number of people riding buses along Georgia Avenue.  Dedicated lanes will benefit all of these transit riders by making trips more reliable. 

While motorists may object to converting an existing lane on the road to a dedicated bus lane, such a change would benefit all road users by maximizing the movement of people along the corridor. With both shuttle buses and regular bus routes using the dedicated lanes, the bus lanes will see dozens of buses per hour and move thousands of people.  They will do so more efficiently than lanes clogged by cars and trucks—vehicles that are typically only occupied by one person.  Bus lanes will also provide transit riders with faster and reliable travel times; which makes such riders less likely to switch to driving or rideshare, modes that would further clog the road. 

ACT strongly supports implementing dedicated bus lanes on Georgia Avenue from the Glenmont Metro Station to the District Line during the summer Red Line closure. ACT further supports using this pilot as a blueprint for permanent bus lanes after the Metro reopens. The disruptions to transit riders this summer will be unavoidable—but with dedicated bus lanes—we can lessen the burden on transit riders, motorists, and the whole community.

Sincerely,

Sean Emerson

President, Action Committee for Transit