I had low expectations for the 74, a new bus route that is a hybrid of the old DC Circulator route of the same name and the old 70/71 route configuration. For a number of reasons I figured that people would be disgruntled with the rearrangement of their daily commute, resulting in low ridership. The impact on the 70 route certainly hasn’t been great: since the elimination of the 71 and the shortening of the route (all 70 buses now terminate at Archives-Navy Memorial), bunching is at its all time worst. The other day, the next few buses were scheduled to arrive at 8, 8, 9, and 37 minutes respectively. Awesome!
Soon, all Metrobus signs will look like this.
I walked from my house to the first/last stop of the 74, located at the corner of 6th and K Streets, NW. The Convention Center is easily within site, but the bus doesn’t actually stop there, which might prevent some people from riding it, just because they don’t know it’s so close by. This particular corner, however, is much quieter and more peaceful than the raucous goings on of 7th Street and New York Avenue, though, so I’m not complaining. I think it would be a good idea for WMATA to place a bus shelter there, not just for my personal comfort (natch), but to help potential riders realize theres a bus stop there.
Regardless, I crossed the intersection just as the 7:56 bus was pulling away…at exactly 7:56. So good on that bus driver. I chilled out, waiting for the 8:14, which arrived at 8:11. The bus driver did something I haven’t seen a bus driver do in years: he walked through the bus cleaning up papers and other trash. I’m pretty sure that drivers are supposed to do that in between runs, but most of the G2 drivers I see pull up early for their route end up snoozing on the long row of seats up front. Just sayin’.
I was the only person on my now-tidy bus (it was one of the newer buses, but not the ones with the skylights and back window) and we pulled away from the curb at precisely 8:14am. Okay, question: in the morning why not start this route on the quarter hour, or every twenty minutes, or some combination thereof? In the afternoon, starting at 2:50pm, it runs every twenty minutes, which is far easier to remember than 7:38, 7:56, 8:14, etc. in the morning. I think it makes it easier on riders to remember when they need to get to their stop. Just sayin’.
Okay, so there I am, only person on the bus, figuring my expectations for the route were correct and that I’d end up on a long, lonely ride to the waterfront. Wrong! At the second stop the riders pile on board. Most probably exited the 70 bus here, at the intersection of 7th and H Streets NW. Doing so totally makes sense, but the volume of people at this corner is overwhelming the corner and probably annoying the heck out of the Starbucks behind the bus shelter. Where you used to have maybe 8-10 people waiting, you now have at least double that. I’m not sure there’s anything to be done about it, but if you’re able to hop on this bus at the first stop instead of the second, I highly recommend it.
Having never ridden the 70/71 route all the way to Half and O Streets (dunno why I never did; just didn’t make it that far), I was a bit surprised at the complicated choreography required of the bus driver to maneuver narrow neighborhood streets traversed by this route. I actually recognized this driver as a former 70/71 driver, as his hair is unmistakeable, plus he was one of the few nice drivers to run that route. (Why so crabby, 70 drivers?) He probably could make these turns in his sleep, and we stopped at just about every stop there was once we got south of M Street SW. The very tip of the loop – when the bus turns from V Street on to Half Street – is just surreal. There are concrete barriers on the left side and lots of cameras on the electricity poles, probably having to do with something vaguely military.
I hopped off when we made a second pass by the Waterfront-SEU station, satisfied that I’d gotten a complete-enough 74 experience. From what I can tell, riders had no problem adapting to the route changes, and the shortening of the old 70/71 routes has probably benefitted the riders in SW most of all. The 74 stopped within a minute or two of the scheduled time at nearly every stop, clearly doing far better than the 70 bus in the on-time arrival area.
The “loop” route is not new to WMATA – the N8 is another example of one – but it’s encouraging to see that WMATA seems to have paid attention to the needs of riders and both modified an existing route and created a new – while DDOT eliminated one – to create a better riding experience. Now if they can just figure out the bunching problems with the 70 route, we’ll have something pretty useful on our hands.
What's that you say? In the picture above the sun was rising and now in this one it's setting? You would be right; these photos were taken on two different days.
Line: 74 – Convention Center-Southwest Waterfront Line Rating (1-10): 8
Ridership: I recognized a lot of people on this bus from previous commutes down Georgia Ave/7th Street, which is no surprise. Southbound, most of the adults are older and exit in the residential part of SW. Northbound, the median age drops and young professionals start to file onboard. The biggest group on the bus, however, is kids in school uniforms, of both the elementary (some of whom are traveling alone – yikes!) and middle school variety, and most of them are Asian, speaking to each other in their own language (I’m guessing Mandarin, but I can’t be sure).
Pros: This bus serves 4 1/2 Metrorail stations (I’ll count Convention Center as a half) and major hubs of activity, including Chinatown, the Federal buildings around L’Enfant, the shops at Waterfront Station, and Buzzard Point Park (but only during rush hour). It also seems to run on time most of the time. Also, the Saturday and Sunday loops are almost identical to the weekday version, which means you won’t get stranded on the weekends.
Cons: The bus never runs more often than every 18 minutes, which is not as frequent as the DC Circulator bus it replaced. It also doesn’t go as far north as the Circulator did, which makes sense given that the Giant is closed and the whole block is undergoing renovation. But…I used to be able to transfer to the G2 there and I do miss that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Obvi the most noteworthy thing nearby is secrets/ziegfelds! Just kidding. (Not gonna post a link, so just Google it.) Hmm…what else… I guess I’ll go with the Earth Conservation Corps, an organization located across from the above-mentioned concrete barriers. I don’t know much about the organization, but their building looks really cool, and any group working to clean up the Anacostia is okay in my book.
Latest Metro News: Is there anything more exciting than track repair work B-roll? Probably a lot of stuff, but for those who have always wondered what they’re doing down there when the stations are closed, now you know.
Metro-Venture 
“There are concrete barriers on the left side and lots of cameras on the electricity poles, probably having to do with something vaguely military.”
Yup–that’s Fort McNair, which runs south from P St. SW all the way to the river. I used to live across the street. The gates are a pretty impressive sight if you find yourself at the corner of 4th and P.
Wow – I didn’t realize it was that big! Thanks for the info.
I actually find this route extremely disappointing. I was pleased when DDOT decided to cancel the N/S Circulator (next one on the chopping block: Union Station/Navy Yard!), but this 74 shouldn’t exist – or at least shouldn’t exist in its current configuration. I know WMATA often doesn’t understand this (and I’m cringing thinking about their future streetcar lines), but the bus lines should complement the rail lines and vice versa, not exist as separate entities. We already have the Green Line that goes from (you guessed it) Navy Yard to Waterfront, to L’Enfant, to Achives, to Chinatown and to Convention Center. Why are we spending resources to duplicate this line? – esp. at a clip of one bus every 18 minutes?
Some people like buses more than rail (me included). That’s fine and all, but the buses could still be used to connect areas that are underserved, and still achieve the goals of this new line. First, it should decide on one endpoint – not two; I would actually scrap both the current options and choose Buzzard Point. Every bus should terminate there. Then, there should be a set starting point – I recommend Rhode Island Ave and 7th in Shaw – this point will help bring everyone to the new development up 7th (especially the soon to be new Giant) and as you’ll see from the next paragraph, the emerging Mt. Vernon Square neighborhood.
So anyway, from Buzzard Point it should go up 1st, left on O, right on canal, left on Delaware, left on M and then M to 7th and a right on 7th. Take 7th north until Constitution, when like the 30’s or the 54 it turns right on Constitution. But unlike the other buses, after that right on Constitution, it should make a left onto 6th (not on Penn). Then it should go up 6th to R Street, make a left on Rhode Island and then another quick left onto 7th. It should then go down 7th to Mt. Vernon Place, make a right onto Mt. Vernon Place (towards the new Convention Center Hotel) and then a left onto 9th. And then take 9th back down to Pennsylvania where it will make a right back onto 7th and continue the same route from above. Ideally, 7th street from Mass to Penn (or at least from H to G) could be converted into a pedestrian-only street. Obviously, that probably won’t happen, but at least it will end that worthless bus-only lane that no one pays attention to and which the police don’t enforce.
I agree with a lot of what you say, especially the part about avoiding 7th altogether. I also think it’s important to have bus alternatives for people (like you and me) who might prefer buses or – as you state – for folks who perhaps can’t afford Metrorail or simply aren’t close enough to a station.
I’ll bet anything that when the new Giant shopping center is completed, this bus’s route will change. For now, however, it’s way better than having both DDOT and WMATA cover the same area, plus it seems that the transition from 71/71 to 74 was sufficiently smooth enough not to have elicited complaints or confusion from riders.
ewww…. I really dislike the new bus stop signs
within sight. Sites are places.