The report makes recommendations in five key areas to improve speed, service reliability, and on-time performance for buses in the District, all drawn from best practices: The poor performance of these 34 high-ridership bus routes earned the system a collective grade of “D.” Meanwhile, bus speeds averaged just 9.5 mph over the entire month, which is consistent with the historical trends showing Metrobus speeds across the entire system getting slower every year. Buses showed up on time only 60% of the time over the entire month. The data show service is largely unreliable and unpredictable, with buses regularly arriving much later than scheduled, and headways rarely maintained. The study collected data throughout May 2019 for 34 routes in the city’s nine high-ridership priority bus corridors, and the findings demonstrate the systemic challenges Metrobus riders encounter on a daily basis. On an average weekday, Metrobuses transport over 200,000 riders around the District on 298 miles of roadway, providing essential access to jobs and services far beyond the reach of Metrorail.īus service in DC is especially critical for low-income residents and people of color: These riders make up an overwhelming 82% of all Metrobus passengers, and 53% of riders earn under $30,000 a year, which is considered extremely low income. Metrobus, however, remains an important way for people to get around DC. Metrobus ridership in DC has dropped by a startling 12% over the last five years, a steeper annual decline than many peer cities including Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta. The companion joint report includes best practices, recommendations, and updates on recent steps by DC and Metro. It shows that the District’s major bus routes suffer from poor reliability and sluggish speeds, which contribute to the system’s declining ridership. The study was developed from real-time data collected in May 2019 by MetroHero.

That’s what the first-ever DC Metrobus report card study from the Coalition for Smarter Growth and MetroHero found.

Buses in the District are slow and unreliable as its riders already know, but five key improvements could make them much more useful.