No big surprise here, but the Examiner reports that a D.C. Council committee backs a plan to run a city-funded Circulator bus into Arlington, but it rejected a last-minute proposal to start a new route serving residents east of the Anacostia River. The bill now runs to full council.
If you didn't already know, the Circulator operates on five routes, not one of which crosses the Anacostia and the fare is only $1.
Councilmember Kwame Brown objected to the Rosslyn bill, saying the District should not provide a service to VA when it is unwilling to do the same for all of D.C.
It seems that the general consensus is that a SE route will not be added (for now) because it would mean declining service. However, Councilman Phil Mendelson agrees with Brown in that, the Council should not wait to bring the Circulator to poorer neighborhoods.
The District Department of Transportation is open to expansion but the issue is funding and that it would depend on how popular the service is. Most folks view the Circulator as an affordable transportation option linking various districts. The key being that it's linking fully functioning entertainment/business districts. Can we rightfully say River East is a fully functioning "district"? Not in the entertainment sense thats for sure. Now while, I understand that this would allow the Circulator to become multi-modal, I tend to agree with Kwame. The Circulator is fully funded by the District. Unless VA is gonna chip in with some funding, should we be expanding out to VA prior to expanding to other neighborhoods in DC? Should the River East crowd have to wait until the area is more exciting? If the timeliness (or lack thereof) of when the Green Line managed to cross the Anacostia is any indicator on the city's views of public transportation over here, then Wards 7 and 8 should not hold their breath as to if/when we get the Circulator.
What are your thoughts? Do you care if the Circulator ventures in this direction?
