I think the X2 line is beyond "bunching". There just are not enough buses running on that line during rush hour. Over and over I see full buses passing people (including myself) by. WMATA is making a big splash about revamping the "30's" bus lines. Now it's time to turn their attention to the X2.
I'm with Rob. The X2 is HORRIBLE. It's slated for some express routes- but not until 2010. I also hope the express routes are Smart card only buses, since a big part of the bus ride time is people paying with cash. I've pretty much given up on the bus these days and walk 15 minutes in the wrong direction to Stadium Armory- and I get to McPherson Square in about half the time as it takes on the X2. Looking forward to the new buses though- I saw them in LA in June, and was jealous! I had no idea we were getting them here in DC!
"WMATA is making a big splash about revamping the "30's" bus lines."
I saw an ad for this on the 90 bus this morning(!?!) What's the deal with that?
As for express routes, I don't know if they really work. I take the 79 on ocassion when I go to class and I'm lazy. If that bus is behind a local on Georgia Ave though, it will stay behind that local, during its local stops and all. There's just no room for the express bus to navigate, except for that seven block span where it goes down 9th instead of 7th into Chinatown, saving a whopping 30 seconds in the process. Maybe it's better during rush hours, but I can't tell. I can't imagine it being any different on H.
The 30's all go down Pennsylvania Ave . They come down Wisconsin before that, don't know where they go after Penn. They just added some express routes to that line (there's like six buses with numbers in the 30's). I guess the same thing is slated for the X2 but it's needed yesterday, not in 2010. I've been fortunate that I have the D3 as an alternative. Otherwise I would have started a mailing campaign to our council people to somehow force WMATA to improve the X2 service.
I take the X2 every day and I have never had a problem with people on the bus. I just read a book and mind my own business. the kids can get a bit loud sometimes but they are like that on most bus routes in the city. It is amazing to me though how packed the bus is no matter what time of day I ride home. It always seems to take forever to get through those stops between 12th street NW and North Capitol. Even if another X2 just rolled through 10 minutes before there will still be 20 people waiting at the Chinatown stop. I have started taking the metro to Eastern Market and walking the mile and half home from there. A new Circulator route, an express bus, or some alternatives would be at least great to try.
I ride the X2 on a daily basis and yes on some days the bus is horrible, some days not bad, and some good. Just yesterday, 3 young men got on through the rear door, and one was sitting on the floor smoking a cig with the smoke coming into the bus. I asked him to stop the smoking, which he eventually did. One day, I noticed some liquid running under my feet just to hear a woman say, "damn that dude is peeing on the floor". It is more the norm that the drivers do NOTHING about anything. People eating, drinking and litering is more than normal. Some drivers do clean up their buses while others state that is not their job. To me keeping the bus clean is their job as well as ours. The rules say no eating and drinking, but who pays attention to them? Alot of us do, but alot don't. I would like for the metro officials to ride this bus for one week steady and see what really goes on. I bet they don't even have the balls to do it. Until there is more security, or the drivers take matters into their own hands, I doubt if the mindset will change. I heard that sometime next year all buses will only accept Smart cards, no more paper transfers. I also wish that the drivers would ask all riders that get on the front for fare and not let some pay and some not. Enough steam blowing about the X2...
I take the X1 to work everyday even though it makes me slightly late to work, as it typically doesn't hit my stop until about 8:40, but I do this, because the X2 is HORRIBLE!!! So if it means getting to work a few minutes late so I don't have to deal with the overcrowding, smelly, unknown substances that I tend to step in on the X2, so be it. Now, as for the ride home, I have to take the X2 because the X1 no longer runs when I leave. It is always over crowded and people are not the friendliest. I have complained to Metro and they basically gave me a standard answer and won't give me any more information on the revamping of the X2 line. Every rider that I have talked to about it, has the same complaints, so I don't know what the hold up is on fixing the X2. It is in some serious need!
My problem w/ the X1 is that so many people pile up waiting for the X2 sometimes that the X1 is overflowing as well because the X2 people are understandably jumping on it out of desperation. So that really takes away the whole X2/X1 option in the morning. I honestly have not had too many bad experiences with the people on the X2, just the fact that there are so many people packed onto it.
I sometimes hop on the X1 and go to North Capitol and switch back to the X2. One time recently the X1 was about half a block ahead of the X2 at 14th Street NE, but I had to wait about 10 minutes for the X2 to get to North Capitol.
I have more problem with angry and/or drunk adults than the kids.
The X2 is the worst bus EVER. I refused to ride it. I would either walk to/from China Town or catch a cab.
75% of the time there is a fight, or at least some sort of verbal Altercation.
All X2's should be the extra long busses. It doesn't make any sense that at 3 in the afternoon there is a normal size X2 bus.
I think the members of this blog are the only ones that pay...And we are in the minority. There is an easy solution to the transfer problem. IN columbus, the buses actually take the transfers like they do money. This way there isn't any asking for transfers or people finding day old transfers on the streets.
I also agree that they should only take smartstrips.
12 comments:
I think the X2 line is beyond "bunching". There just are not enough buses running on that line during rush hour. Over and over I see full buses passing people (including myself) by.
WMATA is making a big splash about revamping the "30's" bus lines. Now it's time to turn their attention to the X2.
I'm with Rob. The X2 is HORRIBLE. It's slated for some express routes- but not until 2010. I also hope the express routes are Smart card only buses, since a big part of the bus ride time is people paying with cash. I've pretty much given up on the bus these days and walk 15 minutes in the wrong direction to Stadium Armory- and I get to McPherson Square in about half the time as it takes on the X2. Looking forward to the new buses though- I saw them in LA in June, and was jealous! I had no idea we were getting them here in DC!
"WMATA is making a big splash about revamping the "30's" bus lines."
I saw an ad for this on the 90 bus this morning(!?!) What's the deal with that?
As for express routes, I don't know if they really work. I take the 79 on ocassion when I go to class and I'm lazy. If that bus is behind a local on Georgia Ave though, it will stay behind that local, during its local stops and all. There's just no room for the express bus to navigate, except for that seven block span where it goes down 9th instead of 7th into Chinatown, saving a whopping 30 seconds in the process. Maybe it's better during rush hours, but I can't tell. I can't imagine it being any different on H.
Well 8th, luckily Benning Road and H streets are both fairly wide. The X2 buses already continually pass each other as they travel down H Street.
The 30's all go down Pennsylvania Ave . They come down Wisconsin before that, don't know where they go after Penn.
They just added some express routes to that line (there's like six buses with numbers in the 30's). I guess the same thing is slated for the X2 but it's needed yesterday, not in 2010.
I've been fortunate that I have the D3 as an alternative. Otherwise I would have started a mailing campaign to our council people to somehow force WMATA to improve the X2 service.
I've never taken the X2. Like Tom, I walk 10-15 minutes out of my way to take another bus or the metro...
This is partly because I have heard horrible tales about the kids/teens on the X2. Can someome tell me if it's really as bad as I've heard?
I take the X2 every day and I have never had a problem with people on the bus. I just read a book and mind my own business. the kids can get a bit loud sometimes but they are like that on most bus routes in the city. It is amazing to me though how packed the bus is no matter what time of day I ride home. It always seems to take forever to get through those stops between 12th street NW and North Capitol. Even if another X2 just rolled through 10 minutes before there will still be 20 people waiting at the Chinatown stop. I have started taking the metro to Eastern Market and walking the mile and half home from there. A new Circulator route, an express bus, or some alternatives would be at least great to try.
I ride the X2 on a daily basis and yes on some days the bus is horrible, some days not bad, and some good. Just yesterday, 3 young men got on through the rear door, and one was sitting on the floor smoking a cig with the smoke coming into the bus. I asked him to stop the smoking, which he eventually did. One day, I noticed some liquid running under my feet just to hear a woman say, "damn that dude is peeing on the floor". It is more the norm that the drivers do NOTHING about anything. People eating, drinking and litering is more than normal. Some drivers do clean up their buses while others state that is not their job. To me keeping the bus clean is their job as well as ours. The rules say no eating and drinking, but who pays attention to them? Alot of us do, but alot don't. I would like for the metro officials to ride this bus for one week steady and see what really goes on. I bet they don't even have the balls to do it.
Until there is more security, or the drivers take matters into their own hands, I doubt if the mindset will change. I heard that sometime next year all buses will only accept Smart cards, no more paper transfers. I also wish that the drivers would ask all riders that get on the front for fare and not let some pay and some not.
Enough steam blowing about the X2...
I take the X1 to work everyday even though it makes me slightly late to work, as it typically doesn't hit my stop until about 8:40, but I do this, because the X2 is HORRIBLE!!! So if it means getting to work a few minutes late so I don't have to deal with the overcrowding, smelly, unknown substances that I tend to step in on the X2, so be it. Now, as for the ride home, I have to take the X2 because the X1 no longer runs when I leave. It is always over crowded and people are not the friendliest. I have complained to Metro and they basically gave me a standard answer and won't give me any more information on the revamping of the X2 line. Every rider that I have talked to about it, has the same complaints, so I don't know what the hold up is on fixing the X2. It is in some serious need!
My problem w/ the X1 is that so many people pile up waiting for the X2 sometimes that the X1 is overflowing as well because the X2 people are understandably jumping on it out of desperation. So that really takes away the whole X2/X1 option in the morning.
I honestly have not had too many bad experiences with the people on the X2, just the fact that there are so many people packed onto it.
I sometimes hop on the X1 and go to North Capitol and switch back to the X2. One time recently the X1 was about half a block ahead of the X2 at 14th Street NE, but I had to wait about 10 minutes for the X2 to get to North Capitol.
I have more problem with angry and/or drunk adults than the kids.
The X2 is the worst bus EVER. I refused to ride it. I would either walk to/from China Town or catch a cab.
75% of the time there is a fight, or at least some sort of verbal Altercation.
All X2's should be the extra long busses. It doesn't make any sense that at 3 in the afternoon there is a normal size X2 bus.
I think the members of this blog are the only ones that pay...And we are in the minority. There is an easy solution to the transfer problem. IN columbus, the buses actually take the transfers like they do money. This way there isn't any asking for transfers or people finding day old transfers on the streets.
I also agree that they should only take smartstrips.
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