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Welcome to the Better Bus Dispatch—your up-to-date news source for Metro's Better Bus initiative! |
Springing into Action |
It is officially spring! With spring comes new life, new growth, and new opportunities. And that’s exactly what’s happening with Better Bus!
During our first round of engagement in October and November, Metro heard that reliable service and shorter wait times were your highest priorities for improving service. In just a few weeks, we will share our draft Visionary Network with you, and we want your feedback. This network will include changes to routes, how often the bus arrives, and times of service.
To celebrate 50 years of Metrobus and to gather your valuable input on the Visionary Network’s proposed routes, we’re conducting 50 events in 50 days. We hope that you’ll be able to attend one of our in-person or virtual events! |
Follow our social media pages and your
Better Bus Dispatch for details on our free events! |
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Save the Date: Better Bus Experience LIVE! Launch Party |
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Visit the Better Bus Experience LIVE! Launch Party, discover the draft new bus network, and share your feedback with us. Join us for this free event with food, fun, and a first-hand look at everything the new bus network has to offer. |
| When: Friday, April 21, 2023 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: THEARC - Black Box 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE Washington, DC 20020 Map this location |
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District youth rely more heavily on Metrobus than youth in any other jurisdiction, and they represent the next generation of customers. More importantly, K-12 students in DC depend on Metro services as their primary transportation mode to get to school, so we were excited to talk with them. We knew we needed to hear from them about how they currently use and will use Metrobus in the future.
We held four focus groups with high school students in DC Public Schools to ask them what they thought about bus service. Students told us that they rely heavily on the bus for school. Late and unreliable buses can affect their schoolwork. We were surprised to hear that they want to see cleaner buses and higher-frequency buses to help reduce crowding. |
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| We also engaged local youth during one of our 50th anniversary celebrations through the Rosa Parks Bus Experience. Metrobus staff connected with students at Rosa Parks Elementary School to share what they do and how Metro connects to the community. Students also shared, through art, where Metro could take them. We look forward to featuring their art on future buses and bus shelters! |
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Behind the Scenes:
Preparations and Previews |
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to prepare materials and maps for you to review this April when you weigh in on the draft Visionary Network. We held focus groups in February and March to provide us insight on the types of web tools, maps, and language that worked best.
We also have been hosting parties for our bus operations teams so they can preview the new draft network before the public does. We have already received valuable feedback that we are starting to incorporate into the network we plan to share with you. |
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Professional jugglers could learn something from transit planners. They juggle different moving parts when developing a bus network—all while trying to make the system work for the entire region. Trade-offs are an important part of this "juggling act," and Metro’s Allison Davis, Vice President of Planning, explains how we consider them to provide the right balance of benefits for everyone. Click below to watch. |
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Better Together: New Fareboxes |
Starting this spring, Metrobus will be getting new fareboxes! This technology means a modernized experience, improved reliability, and faster processing of transactions. The new fareboxes will also improve accessibility; we partnered with our Accessibility Advisory Committee and vendors Cubic and GenFare to customize the original farebox design to include: Larger raised characters under action buttons Raised characters and arrow indicators for bills and coins Larger font sizes on display
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The new fareboxes will operate similarly to the current ones, but will be slimmer with larger, brighter, and full-color displays. There also will be a separate SmarTrip card reader for faster repair and maintenance. To limit impacts to customers, new fareboxes will be installed during scheduled maintenance over the next 12 months. |
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Tell a Friend about Better Bus! |
We’re glad to keep you informed through our Better Bus Dispatch, and we invite you to help others get involved, too, with our Forward to a Friend campaign.
This month, spring into action by forwarding the newsletter to three friends! The more people who receive this newsletter, the more people who can stay informed, share their feedback, and make the bus better for everyone. |
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How well do you know the region’s bus network? For bragging rights only… 😉 |
Where will Metro’s first all-electric bus garage be located? |
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How did you do on our last quiz?Metro made history in 1973 when it launched Metrobus. What other history-making events happened that year? The correct answer was the passage of the DC Home Rule Act, which allowed Washington, DC, to exist as a self-governing City.
Kudos to all of you who guessed correctly, and good luck on this next quiz! Check back in the April edition to see how you did. |
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