Northwood News ♦ April 2020

Proposed Metrobus and RideOn Route Changes

By Sharon Canavan

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) described their proposals to adjust or eliminate local area Ride On and Metrobus routes at two Open Houses in January and a Public Workshop in early March.  According to transit authority staff, the bus route adjustments are largely intended to realign existing routes once the new Bus Rapid Transit route starts operating on US 29/Colesville Road in mid-2020.

Bus Rapid Transit, which has been rebranded as “US 29 FLASH,” will have limited bus stops between Burtonsville and the Silver Spring Transit Center.  In the Northwood-Four Corners area, these buses will run every 7.5 minutes during the peak morning and evening rush hours and at 15-minute intervals at all other times and stations (including midday, evening, and weekends).

The two closest FLASH stops in the Four Corners area will be located:  (1) at the Burnt Mills Shopping Center, and (2) near the Shell station on Timberwood (going south) and by Montgomery Blair High School (going north).  More information on the entire US 29 FLASH route can be found at www.ridetheflash.com/us29.

Proposed Metrobus Cuts to Z Bus Service

At the Public Workshop and Open Houses, WMATA staff described the proposed cuts to Z routes that are being considered as part of their budget process.  Metrobus lines Z2 (Ashton-Colesville), Z8 (Fairland), and Z11 (Greencastle-Briggs Chaney Express) will be eliminated.  WMATA staff who attended the Public Workshop on March 3rd stated that the Z6 route will expand its service to six buses per hour.  Currently, the Z6 runs approximately every 30 minutes.

All of the Montgomery County Council members, as well as seven state senators and 19 state delegates, signed a letter to WMATA’s board of directors opposing the transit cuts.  The WMATA board will vote on its budget later this spring and changes, if adopted, will go into effect July 1.

Proposed RideOn Route Changes

RideOn has proposed significant changes to its current routes operating in the White Oak-Takoma Park-Wheaton-Silver Spring area:

• RideOn 8/Wheaton-Forest Glen-Silver Spring route is being redirected to run from the Wheaton Metro to south Four Corners, the Forest Glen Metro, and the Montgomery Hills area to the Silver Spring metro.  The RideOn 8 route will no longer operate beyond the Schweinhaut Senior Center and along Brunette Avenue to the Silver Spring metro.
• RideOn 9 will only run on the portion of its current route on University Boulevard back and forth from Four Corners to the Wheaton Metro.  The portion of its current route on Colesville Road that goes to and from Silver Spring will be eliminated.
• RideOn 13 will be eliminated to be covered by other Ride On routes.
• RideOn 14 route from Takoma Park, which currently turns onto Franklin Avenue, will be extended west/east on University Boulevard to loop around the “jug handle” in front of Safeway to return to Takoma Park.  Riders will be able to transfer to the future Purple Line at the Piney Branch Road stop.
• RideOn 19 will no longer run on Dennis Avenue and Portland Road in the north and south Four Corners neighborhoods.  Instead, this route will primarily serve the North Hills of Sligo and Indian Springs neighborhoods, which will not have convenient access to a US 29 Flash stop.
• RideOn 21 and 22 will no longer run on Colesville Road alongside our community.  These routes will terminate in the White Oak area and riders will need to transfer to the US 29 Flash.
• RideOn 129 will be terminated and replaced by the US 29 FLASH.

Changes on these RideOn bus routes will be postponed until Fall 2020 (rather than May as originally proposed).  Maps showing the proposed changes can be found on the McDOT website at www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/.

One of the ideas that RideOn is considering for serving the Four Corners area is offering “Flex Serve” that will operate small 11-passenger buses which can be called on demand via a phone app.  Currently, a pilot Flex program is operating in two zones — the Wheaton/Glenmont area and in Rockville.  RideOn staff have indicated that the proposed Flex service in this area will be rolled out as a permanent service, not a pilot.  The boundaries for this Flex service, however, have not yet been established.

Flex is envisioned as a first/last mile service.  Riders can request any pick-up and drop-off point within the Flex zone, including a ride to the new BRT/FLASH stops.  After summoning a Flex bus, the app will direct a rider to a nearby corner for pickup.  Although the bus will generally stop at an intersection within a couple of blocks, it could be a different corner every time depending on a particular vehicle’s route.

Persons with disabilities will get picked up and dropped off at the actual locations they specify.  User wait times for the pilots have typically been no more than seven to nine minutes.

A Flex bus will only operate within its established zone.  For example, a Flex bus could deliver riders to the future BRT stop on Colesville, but not all the way to Silver Spring.

Depending on where RideOn ultimately decides to set the boundaries for Flex, this service could provide more flexibility for transit users in the Northwood-Four Corners community.

[Canavan, NFCCA’s Immediate Past President, currently lives on Edgewood Avenue.]   ■