The X2

Going, going, gone. Metro's current HQ building. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority is moving. The iconic(?) Jackson Graham Building in Judiciary Square has been the Metro HQ since 1974. However, the agency has been looking to move into a space that better fits its future: the consolidation of office spaces. They decided to sell the Judiciary Square building, a process that should begin early next year. The new HQ will be in a currently empty, c.1965 office building at 300 7th St SW in L'Enfant Plaza. This is across the street from a Metro rail entrance, near several Metro bus lines, and across the train tracks from a VRE station. The building was previously the longtime home of the USDA. It will eventually become the work home for 1,300 WMATA employees & contractors when renovations are completed, likely sometime in late 2020 or early 2021. Renderings of 300 7th St SW post-renovation. Source: WMATA. The Jackson Graham Building is in a **prime** s...

Metro/WMATA enters a new phase next week, starting Sunday June 25. Long debated structural changes are coming and we'll have to adjust to the new normal of less service and higher fares. Whether the performance rates improve will be one of the big questions, but Friday morning's Red Line meltdown was *not* a good omen. Here are some of the biggest changes.  Biggest news for Carver/Benning Rd/H Street NE : Bus fares for regular routes, including the X2 and X8, will now be $2.00 (up from $1.75).  The X2 bus will run additional late night service until 4 AM, daily. Late night service will include ~30 minute headways. Metrorail will close at 11:30 PM on weeknights (M-T). Sunday rail service will end at 11:00 PM.  Friday and Saturday night rail service will close at 1:00 AM. Minimum and maximum rail fares during peak hours will be $2.25 and $6.00, respectively.  Minimum and maximum rail fares during non-peak hours will be $2.00 and $3.85 respectively....

A few months ago, I was surprised to learn that Metro was adding a second bus route that would serve National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. National Harbor is a mixed-use real estate development geared towards hotels and entertainment. It comprises about 2 square miles and is adjacent to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The existing route ( NH1 ) connects National Harbor to the Southern Ave Metro station on the DC border. The new NH2 route appears to offer a slightly faster route from here in Carver Langston. Last week I decided to try it out. The NH2 bus arrives at National Harbor by way of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and makes stops in Virginia including King Street Metro station, which was my connection. Here's the whole journey in Storify form, but the bottom line is the trip from Carver Langston to National Harbor took 1 hour and 18 minutes from boarding the X2 bus to hopping off the NH2 at the casino, which is the first stop at National H...

The DC Department of Transportation will hold a meeting to discuss the Environmental Assessment for the streetcar's eastward expansion. The meeting is on Thursday May 19 . Details from DDOT are listed below. One of the reasons the development for streetcar is so important is that people should have some level of confidence that, when necessary, they can rely on a transit alternative to Metrorail or Metrobus. This is especially pressing since there are now planned delays and closures due to the SafeTrack initiative . Driving is one alternative, but so are walking, biking, car share, taxis/ride share, and now, streetcar. So, if your normal mode can't work today, well, there's always a backup, and a backup to that backup. Some redundancy in transit is OK ( some ). The basic plan is to extend the streetcar line from its current eastern terminus Oklahoma Avenue NE down to the Minnesota Ave Metro station, the Benning Road Metro station, or both. With this mild expansion, t...