The DC Circulator is a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

system in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The

District of Columbia Department of Transportation The District Department of Transportation (DDOT, stylized as d.) is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States, which manages and maintains publicly owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Columbi ...

operates the service in a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

with

RATP Dev RATP may refer to: Transportation: * RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France * RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania * RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...

. The DC Circulator buses are similar to

shuttle bus A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travellin ...

es since they operate on a predictable fixed route and schedule, and run between the city's main attractions and some of the more popular neighborhoods for visitors. The service began in 2005, and passengers increased as the routes grew from two to five. Ridership peaked in 2011, and has decreased since then. In , the system had a ridership of . The fare per ride is $1.00. The subsidy per rider is unusually high; in 2016, it averaged $3.32.

History

The concept of a separate downtown bus was included in a 1997 report by the

National Capital Planning Commission The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...

(NCPC). The report called for "a simple, inexpensive, and easily navigable surface transit system that complements Metrobus and

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

." The next year, representatives of the Commission, the

, the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

, and the Downtown D.C. business improvement district met to plan what would become the Circulator. After selecting

First Transit First Transit is an American transportation company. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Transit operates over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Panam ...

as the system operator, the DC Circulator started service in July 2005 with two routes: one along K Street from

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

to Georgetown, and a second from the

Walter E. Washington Convention Center The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C., owned and operated by the city's convention arm, Events DC. Designed in a joint venture by the Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, ...

to the

Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a mostly residential neighborhood in Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the ...

. Additional routes were later added to serve the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

(2006), the 14th Street Corridor (2009), the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrativ ...

(2009), Rosslyn to

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW ...

(2010), and the Skyland Town Center development in Southeast Washington (2011). The two lines that served the National Mall and the Southwest Waterfront were discontinued in 2011 due to low ridership and redundant service. The National Mall route was reinstated on June 15, 2015. The route is operated in collaboration with the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. A report released in March 2011 calls for developing better routes to replace those that had served the National Mall and Southwest Waterfront, and adding new service to the

U Street Corridor The U Street Corridor, sometimes called Cardozo/Shaw or Cardozo, is a commercial and residential district in Northwest Washington, D.C., most of which also constitutes the Greater U Street Historic District. It is centered along a nine-block s ...

, portions of Upper Northwest, and neighborhoods east of the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. ...

. In 2018,

replaced First Transit as the operator of the Circulator. From February 2019 until October 2019, DC Circulator rides were free under Mayor Bowser Fair Shot initiative. However the $1 fare was reinstated due to increased ridership. However some city officials are looking into reinstating the free rides. Rides were free again due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic until the $1 fare was reinstated again on October 1, 2021.

Accidents

On April 18, 2007, a driver of a bus was off-duty and had left the bus to attend to other business. While he was out of the bus, the bus rolled back and crashed into a

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

building. One woman was injured.

Routes

The DC Circulator has six lines operating at 10-minute intervals.

Georgetown – Union Station

This east-west line connects Georgetown with

and operates primarily along

Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. The se ...

, K Street, and

Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to: * Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...

. Eastbound, the bus starts on Wisconsin Avenue at Whitehaven Street in Georgetown. Westbound, the route starts in the bus level of the Union Station parking garage.

Woodley Park – Adams Morgan – McPherson Square Metro

This line operates between

Woodley Park Woodley Park is a neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC. It is bounded on the north by Woodley Road and Klingle Road, on the east by the National Zoo and Rock Creek Park, on the south by Calvert Street, on the southwest by Cleveland Avenue, a ...

Adams Morgan Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include the ...

, and

McPherson Square McPherson Square is a square in downtown Washington, D.C. It is bound by K Street Northwest to the north, Vermont Avenue NW on the East, I Street NW on the south, and 15th Street NW on the West; it is one block northeast of Lafayette Park. I ...

via the 14th Street Corridor. Part of this route replaced the discontinued Metrobus 98 route.

Rosslyn – Georgetown – Dupont

This line operates from

primarily via M Street through Georgetown and travels over the Key Bridge to Rosslyn. This route replaced the former Georgetown Metro Connection "blue bus."

Eastern Market – L’Enfant Plaza

This line connects Eastern Market and

L'Enfant Plaza L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C., United States. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is the "La Promenade" shopping mall."The L'Enfant c ...

through Navy Yard & the DC Wharf District.

Congress Heights – Union Station via Barracks Row

This line operates from the

Congress Heights Congress Heights is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. The irregularly shaped neighborhood is bounded by the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus, Lebaum Street SE, 4th Street SE, and Newcomb Street SE on ...

and

east of the

via

Barracks Row Barracks Row is a commercial strip along 8th Street SE that connects the Navy Yard and Capitol Hill neighborhoods in the Southeast Quadrant of Washington, D.C. south of Eastern Market between M St. SE and Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The area takes ...

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

. This route replaced the discontinued Metrobus 94 line.

National Mall Route

This 15-stop loop line operates from Union Station to most of the major attractions on or near the Mall, including ones that are at some distance from Metro stations, such as the

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, and Martin Luther King. Jr. memorials.

Seasonal Routes

Zoo Express Line

This line operates from

Woodley Park station Woodley Park station (also known as Woodley Park–Zoo / Adams Morgan) is an underground station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Located at 24th Street and Connecticut Avenue Northwest, it serves the neighborhoods of Woodley Pa ...

Smithsonian National Zoo The National Zoological Park, commonly known as the National Zoo, is one of the oldest zoos in the United States. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution and does not charge admission. Founded in 1889, its mission is to "provide engaging exp ...

during the summer season. The service first run operated between May 4, 2019 and September 30, 2019. DC Circulator plans on operating the line again during summer seasons.

Former routes

Smithsonian – National Gallery of Art

Until 2011 this line ran only on summer weekends, serving the

in a loop along

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened bet ...

, 1st Street NE/SE, Independence Avenue, and 17th Street NW/SW. The line was replaced by the more extensive National Mall route in June 2015.

Convention Center – SW Waterfront

A north-south line connected the

Washington Convention Center The Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. was a convention center located one block southwest at 909 H Street NW, occupying the city block bounded by New York Avenue, 9th Street, H Street, and 11th Street.Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a mostly residential neighborhood in Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the ...

and operated primarily along

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and 9th streets, which have

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

s. The service was eliminated on September 25, 2011 due to low ridership. A new Metrobus route, 74, was opened on September 23, 2011 along the 7th Street corridor between the Washington Convention Center and the Waterfront neighborhood, replacing the Circulator line and the eliminated portion of Metrobus Routes 70 and 71 from Pennsylvania Avenue to the South. The 74 bus costs more to ride and offers less frequent service, but the District officials said the ridership on the Circulator was too low to continue it.

Potomac Ave Metro – Skyland via Barracks Row

This line operated from the Potomac Avenue Metro station and Skyland Town Center east of the

via

. It was replaced by the Congress Heights – Union Station route on June 24, 2018 replacing Metrobus Route 94.

Union Station – Navy Yard Metro

This line connected

and Navy Yard through

, with extended service on

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

game days. This route was replaced by the Eastern Market – L’Enfant Plaza route on June 24, 2018. Also this route replaced the discontinued Metrobus N22 line.

Fleet

Retired Fleet

References

External links

*
Circulator Map
{{RATP Group Bus transportation in Washington, D.C. Public–private partnership Public–private partnership projects in the United States RATP Group