WMATA moved fast on the bus decals!

“We’re saying goodbye to the single-family home,” Persaud said. “We had a funeral service to say our goodbyes and to look around, because a lot of these people here won’t be here when all this development starts.” bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...

We can take many paths to improve Transit to Trails access from DC. Here are a few, from most to least feasible:

By the width of a spoke, Capital Bikeshare's 44 month YoY streak of ridership gains continues! 639k rides in August vs 614k last year, an increase of just 4% (in spite of the very dry weather!). The price increase is likely to blame - below I discuss how ridership patterns are changing 1/

I’ll post a full deep dive, probably on Monday, but CaBi data for August is out and for once, the vibes are not good! The 43 month YoY streak survived, but barely (just 4% growth!). It appears cost increases and fascism have a negative effect on bikeshare

Really proud to share this article I wrote for ggwash! Prior to falling down the transit rabbit hole, hiking (& ultralight gear design) was my main passion so Transit to Trails sits at the intersection of both

whoa new CaBi station just south of 16th and Park! Already almost empty of course!

Happy Labor Day! In honor of not working, let’s check in on some of the Bowser administration’s bus priority projects (because DDOT are saints, I’m not blaming them for this):

More typical bunching shenanigans on 16th st but this pic also made me realize that this bus lane isn’t actually useful - the D60 and D6X both turn left onto K st so by the time they pass the M st stop they’re moving to the left lane

From this past weekend…Bladensburg Waterfront Park is such a hidden gem as a transit accessible spot for cheap kayak rentals and equally good birdwatching and Acelawatching

I’m generally a light rail (in the US) and BRT (everywhere) skeptic but when it’s common to see 4 buses (2 articulated) bunched together on a line with dedicated bus lanes and all are packed, we’ve gotta start looking at increasing capacity

705k riders in July made it Capital Bikeshare’s second-highest month ever and represented a 20% YoY increase! Compared to past years when it broke records, July 4 ridership was high (>25k) but not really high - the following Friday on July 11 was actually the peak for the month

The juxtaposition of a bunch of posters warning about catastrophic SEPTA cuts right next to a million billboards encouraging you to go for a drive on a scenic byway is deeply depressing

JLG and Allen ultimately being pro stadium deal while the WashPo editorial board is anti??? this a moment where I realize I don’t really understand DC politics. Everyone who dislikes Bowser and had a whole lot of leverage to drag out this deal for more concessions was like “nah it’s good enough”

Catching up a little behind, but live-reactions to the DC Council's hearing with the Mayor and Commanders officials

1. STOP COVERING THE WINDOWS 2. booo to the military industrial complex 3. hilarious that the Anduril bus is on a D72 going through Dupont, Admo, and Mt pleasant…like best case scenario this is being seen by a 22 year old DoD intern unless Pete Hegseth starts showing up at Elle for a sweet treat

The Georgia Ave Bus Priority project lives on! I was lowkey so scared it was getting the Bowser treatment (not that there’s not still time for that) If it goes through I think this could be the most important transit project in the region until the Purple Line opens

preach

DC, Boston, and Chicago present three different models of how to handle undocked e-bikes in bikeshare systems. As DC’s ridership continues to surge, I think it could learn some lessons from Chicago’s model 1/

Rain and heat waves didn’t stop 691,620 people from riding Capital Bikeshare in June, an 18% YoY increase. That’s a 107 ride drop-off from May but still an increase on a per day basis. Propelled by Pride, June 7 saw almost 28k rides!

This is what they want to keep from us

In the fare free bus discourse, an important point to consider is how an agency gets to the point where ~75% of riders don’t pay. Covid fare free policies certainly played a part but from my personal experience, fare box functionality and ease of payment is a huge factor!

this is the best article I’ve seen about Better Bus but two points on this map: 1. There’s no D73 route. This is the D6X 2. This map implies that the green stops serve the D6X. In reality it only has 11 stops within this map frame. The rest are for the D60 and C87 @rachelweiner.bsky.social

It’s hard to say how much of Randy’s vocal support for increased policing on wmata is a genuine belief vs posturing to preempt any criticism from Duffy (e.g. 🇺🇸 decals on trains)

It’s starting to feel like the Columbia Rd bus priority/PBL project snuck through right before the door closed

Evergreen

So we get 1 or 2 Open Streets events per year as a special treat if we ask nicely but throw a little birthday party and suddenly every road in the vicinity of the mall is pedestrianized at the snap of a finger? Who knew it was so simple?

Love to see this for wmata! Curious to see if CaBi broke its all-time record on Saturday!

snip snap snip snap

It’s far from the biggest issue with this decision but I can’t imagine how demoralizing it must be for DDOT planners to spend years working on a project to positively transform the city in which they live, only for it to be canceled for nakedly political reasons

@wmata.com’s new app MetroPulse has exceeded my expectations but it’s posts like this that make me wish that they had partnered with Transit app instead of/in addition to developing a standalone app

Another month of steady growth has propelled Capital Bikeshare to its 2nd highest month ever with 691k rides in May (+34% YoY)! This growth is in spite of May being extremely rainy (11 days with recorded precip/7.59" total...Oct. 2024 (CaBi's highest month ever) only saw 2 rainy days/1.56" total)

DC gov owns Rivians now? Gonna throw out a guess that this isn’t the type of wasteful electrification that Bowser’s talking about in her budget plan

I’m funemployed (between jobs) for ONE day and I run into a DDOT/ @nacto.bsky.social walking tour on streateries (+ in-fill housing construction in the background) This is why Mt Pleasant is the best neighborhood

I have zero faith that the Mayor Muriel Bowser Presents: Next Gen Streetcar won’t just be an articulated trolley bus without dedicated lanes that does nothing to improve transit along H st

Ending sanctuary city status, rolling back green energy, bankrupting child care, and stripping tenants rights but at the same time weakening the NIMBYs favorite weapon for impeding up-zoning…why is Muriel Bowser turning into Doug Burgum?

Nothing better than forgetting that ATO is on on the Green line and then being reminded because your train is noticeably smoother than normal

RTO has provided a boost to WMATA ridership, but what about bikeshare? CaBi usage is on the rise (31% year to date growth over 2024) but how much is attributable to commuting demand? In short, not much. Peak commuting usage is likely too constrained by vehicle supply to meet growing demand

According to the May 2025 stop consolidation list, these stops on Porter St nw are supposed to be removed yet they have updated signage indicating they are staying. This probably goes without saying for anything Better Bus related but take all published info with a grain of salt!

Great news for Green and Yellow Line customers! We are returning to Automatic Train Operations (ATO) on May 23 to make your trip safer, more reliable, and faster. Learn more: wmata.com/about/news/M...

An under appreciated aspect of the Randy Clarke era of wmata is the lack of drama. It’s apples to oranges in many ways but it’s insane comparing the confidence I have in wmata completing a project smoothly versus the dc gov doing so

I couple weeks ago I made a web map showing the location of bus stops slated for removal as part of the @wmata.com Better Bus Network. WMATA just released a finalized list of removed stops so I've made a new web map: spainsworth.github.io#13/38.9322/-... (works best on desktop!)

One time I was meeting with an ops manager of a small transit agency and he showed off their new buses with custom livery. I pointed out that the livery covered the windows and he was baffled - he had never considered that that might hurt the rider experience

DC Metro's ridership boom continues—trips on WMATA trains & buses are up 13% compared to this time last year, by far the fastest growth of any major US transit system In fact, WMATA briefly surpassed LA Metro & Chicago's CTA to become the 2nd-busiest US transit agency in March!

Capital Bikeshare keeps climbing with 664,199 rides in April, a 35% YoY increase! It might seem like only a small bump over March but it's a 10% rides/day increase due to the 30-day month. The last two weeks of April averaged 24,406 daily rides which is over 1,000 higher than Oct 2024

Incredible month @wmata.com Thx you for riding America’s Metro System and thx you to the hard working Team Metro who are delivering safe, frequent & reliable service driving ridership higher! Let’s go!

I work in MLK library pretty often and sometimes I chose to sit in the corner by 9th and G to conduct a bike lane survey while I work. Here's today's results: 5:08-5:38 PM Personal bike: 59 CaBi: 30 Non-CaBi dockless e-bike: 9 Dockless scooter: 12 Personal scooter: 6 1 vehicle every 15.5 seconds!

Gentrification is a vacant laundromat becoming a 15-unit (2 affordable) condo building

Random Google Maps quest while sitting in a boring meeting this week: what is the least transit-accessible (farthest from a bus or metro stop) house in DC? By my informal calculations, it's gotta be 2800 Chesterfield Pl or 4650 Broad Branch - both are 0.8 miles away from a bus stop

This car has been parked here for at least 1.5 years and is slowly being reclaimed by nature but the registration doesn’t expire until October…is it junk? An art installation? $50/yr storage space? I just want to know its story