As you know, Arlington Transit (ART) service on a new ART 87 Pentagon Metro-Army Navy Drive Shirlington route this past Monday absorbing the ART 82 and Metrobus 22b. You can see the route map and schedule at http://www.commuterpage.com/art/87main.htm . Beginning with the first day ridership, especially in the Nauck neighborhood (former ART 82 route), has exceeded projections and caused overloads on selected morning peak period trips to the Pentagon. ART has responded by adding one additional bus to cover these trips to alleviate the over-crowding.
Peak period service frequencies are every 20 minutes – same as the Metrobus 22b. On Monday evening and a few trips in the mornings, ART 87 buses have run late due to oversight issues. These issues are being resolved. We expect that the ART 87 will be run as well and be more attractive than the Metrobus 22b.
The blog posts that I have read have been helpful in this effort. Thanks. Please continue to let me know how you like the 87. Hopefully, Shirley Park, The Grove and Avalon Bay residents will also use the 87 to reach Shirlington’s restaurants, shops and movies (see link http://www.commuterpage.com/art/villages/Shirlington.htm ) as well as taking it to the Pentagon. Thank you for riding ART.
Steve Yaffe is the ART Operations Manager for Arlington County Transportation in the Department of Environmental Services.
Is there any word on whether or not the 22nd & South Kennmore stop that was eliminated in the 87 switchover will be making a comeback? A lot of folks were catching the bus there before the 82 was eliminated, and now there is virtually no convenient bus stop available. The 74 stop to the north is quite a hike, and the 87 stop at 24th and S. Glebe is not much better. The commuters that live in the townhouses near 22nd and S. Garfield Street kind of got the shaft because of the re-routing.
Posted by: Justin | July 02, 2009 at 11:06 AM
A community meeting will be scheduled during the school year, probably in October or November to discuss options for new service in your area. Implementation of a route change affecting Nauck or nearby neighborhoods is unlikely until the end of April, 2010. Your other option is to take Metrobus 23 or 10B from the Kenmore & 22nd stop to Shirlington Transit Center and transfer to the Metrobus 7 line for the most direct and frequent trip to the Pentagon. To show how the schedules link up, use the Trip Planner on www.wmata.com. The Trip Planner also includes ART as well as other local transit services.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | July 02, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I'm on the other side of Arlington so I don't take this bus, I absolutely applaud this approach to informing and engaging the public! This is absolutely how public services should it: communicate about the issue, explain what's being done to resolve it, and ask for more suggestions from the public. Bravo!
Posted by: Gavin Baker | July 03, 2009 at 10:43 AM
The driver of the 6:30 am bus from Shirlington is consistently 10-15 min late getting to the Pentagon. It's becoming a little frustrating as he opens the doors when there are no stops....or he only opens one door and people have to yell to him to open the others. He really has no clue what is going on. I thought the service would be better but I am highly disappointed with the lack of consistency from the driver and ART. Understanding it's a new route, but it's pretty bad. Does ART plan on doing anything about this driver? I know GPS is on the bus and ART/Forsythe have to know that the bus is consistently late.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 06, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Complaints should be called into 703-228-RIDE (7433) or emailed to Questions@CommuterPage.com. Please include the 4-digit bus number, day, time, route, location and direction - whatever is applicable. The 228-RIDE folks will transfer the comment to an internal on-line system, specify the issue type (e.g.: Late Bus, Courtesy) and send the comment via e-mail to the responsible party with an automatic cc to me and the Forsythe General Manager. We use that system to track complaints as well as completeness and promptness of the response. Safety-related complaints get immediate attention.
Comments that aren't complaints also can be tracked through 228-RIDE or, if you think the issue is worth a discussion, placed on www.arlingtontransitblog.com.
Your concern about one of the ART 87 drivers has been transferred to the 228-RIDE system, and a response is due in 3 days or earlier to my office.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | July 06, 2009 at 10:22 AM
ART 87 is overcrowded in both the morning and evenings. I ride at 804, 824 or 844 in the morning and at 543 or 603 in the evenings. I have not been able to get a seat--passengers must stand and the busses are becoming quickly overcrowded. HELP!
Posted by: Jerald Walz | July 08, 2009 at 07:22 PM
The ART buses look great and are surprisingly cool in the summer weather...well done. But I am noticing that they are getting overcrowded quickly. There was a mass of people at the Pentagon Metro today on the 5:44pm...we ended up leaving about 20-25 people there. I'm not sure if the 5:24 didn't show up or if it was really that crowded there. Also, my wife said the 8:44pm did not show up this evening (7/8), and she had to wait for the 9:04. ART must resolve these issues quickly, there's no excuse for a bus to just not show up at a scheduled stop time. Also, how does ART plan to deal with the fact that the ART bus seats less than the 22B, covers a broader area, and is currently overwhelmed at peak periods, having to leave people behind?
Posted by: John | July 08, 2009 at 09:57 PM
ART has added an extra bus in the AM going to the Pentagon. First stop is at 28th & 26th, just before Avalon Bay at 7:16 AM. The bus follows the route to the Pentagon and runs back empty on the freeway and meets up with the scheduled trips at that same stop. Riders will see two buses at that stop at 7:43, 8:03 and 8:23. If the bus coming from the Shirlington end of the line is full and the extra bus is immediately behind, the destination sign will read that the bus is full and it will continue until someone wants to alight. The extra bus will pick up along the 22B portion of the route.
The route is longer – starts in Shirlington now – and served by 35’ buses instead of WMATA’s 40’ buses. However on the most popular trips, we will be running two buses instead of one along the 22B portion of the route in the morning. Drivers are being coached on this concept and how to coordinate properly.
The evening service will add two more trips from Pentagon – at 5:17 and 5:55. In the evening, that extra bus has to cover the entire route. We need to replace the narrow timetable at the Pentagon stop to reflect that and are beginning that process. The schedule for the added bus will be reevaluated periodically through September to account for the end of the vacation season. A new timetable will be finalized and distributed by early November.
Please sign up for ART Alerts at http://www.commuterpage.com/art/alert_signup.cfm . You can receive these alerts by email or cell phone text and at the Arlingtontransit.com website. Yesterday's ART Alert explained much of the delays yesterday evening due to the accident on I-395 at Glebe Rd. – another factor is being investigated.
The ART 87 is being watched closely. Ridership on the Shirlington end of the route is far higher than when this new route was planned – and the ridership by trip data on the 22B was old. However, we are meeting the challenge (good challenge to have) and will make this route a success.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | July 09, 2009 at 02:52 PM
I think a lot of these problems could be solved by bringing back the 82 (or a similar route) for those on the Shirlington / Green valley side of things. It could also incorporate the stops along Kenmore that were eliminated when the 87 replaced it, which has left a few people high and dry.
Is there any discussion at ART about bringing back the 82?
Posted by: JR | July 12, 2009 at 02:21 PM
I have a few complaints about the 87:
1) Stop the announcement of, "Please move to the rear of the bus" repeating every minutes or so. It is annoying!
2) Several drivers stop too quickly/suddenly, which sends people sliding out of their seats and makes motion-sickness prone folks like myself quite ill.
3) When the bus arrives at the Pentagon, we want it to drop us off at the escalators instead of driving all the way down to where the 87 picks us up. This saves us having to walk all the way to the right and makes us 5 mintues earlier to work.
4) A few drivers do not wait for everyone to sit down or at least grab onto a pole before driving away from the bus stop, which sends folks flying into a seat or they fall. This is especially important for folks who do not appear to be disabled/injured and wind up aggravating their condition by catching themselves to prevent a fall.
Posted by: Maria Jonas | July 22, 2009 at 09:07 AM
I just got back in town form a business trip and I too am not impressed by the new ART 87. I have several complaints:
1) The 22B was standing room only during peak times. So why on earth would someone decide to add a highly populated area like Shirlington to the route AND use a smaller bus?????
2) I agree that the constant "please move to the back of the bus" announcement can be very irritating when you're helplessly packed into the bus like sardines.
3) Since it's always standing room only, the bus drivers DO pull away from a stop before letting people find a hand hold. There are elderly people and children on this route during peak times. At this rate someone is going to get hurt.
4) There are very few "stop requested" buttons on the bus and no pull strings like the 22B. It is impossible to signal the driver when the bus is packed full of people.
5) If there has been an extra bus or a double bus added at certain stops/times then you need to post a new schedule so people will get this information and can take advantage.
Why did this whole thing happen? I hope it's not someone's dumb idea to increase patronage in the over priced Shirlington area. Folks on the 22B route will probably prefer the equidistant pentagon city area with better selection, services, and prices.
Posted by: Josh | July 23, 2009 at 10:32 AM
I'll respond to the five comments in order in Josh's email immediately above, can't comment on the last paragraph though.
1. Essentially, one 40' Metrobus has been replaced along the 22B portion of the route with two 35' ART buses for the most crowded morning trips. Drivers are being instructed to coordinate so that you would board the bus immediately behind.
2. That announcement is on one bus - and we have not been able to reprogram the annunciator. The annunciator (announces the stops) will be removed and sent back to the manufacturer tonight. That bus driver will have to announce the timepoints best as he can until the annunciator is fixed and reinstalled.
3. This is clearly a training issue and will be promptly addressed.
4. ART buses don't have pull-strings for "Stop Requested". Our buses have yellow tape mounted vertically between the windows - press on the tape for "Stop Requested".
5. We want to watch ridership levels per trip after school starts again in September before printing a new timetable. A new timetable will be issued by early November. In the meantime, the morning schedule at 26th & Adams has an extra trip at 7:18, then the trips from 7:44 through 8:24 AN have two buses each. The evening schedule has two extra trips from the Pentagon leaving at 5:13 and 5:50 PM.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | July 23, 2009 at 02:44 PM
So is bringing back the 82 still an option on the table? And if it is, any sense of when that discussion would occur?
Posted by: JR | July 25, 2009 at 07:47 AM
A community meeting with ART 87 riders will be held on Thursday, October 22, 7pm at the Avalon Bay Community Room, 2350 26th Court South near the 26th & Adams ART 87 stops. Staff will share a proposed new weekday timetable.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | October 06, 2009 at 05:45 PM
Steve,
I see the comment regarding the ART 87 meeting....however, have not seen anything posted on the buses regarding this meeting. That being said, wouldn't it be helpful to promote this on the buses in the AM and PM for those riders liviing in the Avalon. A meeting without any riders wouldn't do any good.
1. I need to address the driver of the 630 leaving from Shirlington. He is consistently late getting us to the Pentagon(know the schedule is being adjusted....but 20 min from the Avalon to the Pentagon??...) It's gotten so bad that everytime a vehicle approaches from the other direction on Army Navy he slows down...he refused to go around a bicyclist this morning until we were at two lanes on Army Navy(no cars coming in the other direction...and the bike beat us to the Pentagon).
2. There really seems to be no "giddy-up" in his stop-go method...if the light is green he slows down as he approaches the light, he doesn't seem to pay to much attention to the officers waving for him to go when in the Pentagon parking lot(i honestly don't think he understands). I understand "safety" is a priority and I don't dispute that...but I've ridden at all times of the day and this is the only driver that seems to be half-asleep at the wheel....sometimes we will blow by a stop with someone at it and other times we make an unannounced stop in Pentagon City.
Posted by: Brian | October 15, 2009 at 12:26 PM
The driver discussed above has been counseled and will periodically be observed.
Notices for this Thursday's meeting, along with a short questionnaire, are being distributed on the ART 87 buses.
Posted by: Steve Yaffe | October 20, 2009 at 03:24 PM
Thanks for taking a new initiative to achieve counteract the problems that exist in the path ART has responded by adding an extra bus to cover these trips to alleviate overcrowding
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