The Glover Park–Dupont Circle Line, designated Route D2, was a daily bus route operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

between

Glover Park Glover Park is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., about a half mile north of Georgetown and just west of the United States Naval Observatory and Number One Observatory Circle (the Vice President's mansion). Every morning and evening, ...

and

Dupont Circle station Dupont Circle station is an underground rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro in Washington, D.C. Located below the traffic circle, it is one of the busiest stations in the Metro system, with an average of 16,948 entr ...

of the Red Line of the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

. The line operated every 20–24 minutes during the day and every 40 minutes during the evening. Route D2 trips were roughly 20 minutes long.

Background

Route D2 operated daily between

and

connecting

Burleith Burleith is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bordered by 35th Street NW to the east, Reservoir Road NW and the historic Georgetown district to the south, Whitehaven Park to the north, and Glover Archbold Park to the west ...

, and Georgetown residents to Metrorail as there are no stations in Georgetown. Route D2 operated out of Western division. The line primarily uses 30 ft Orion VII BRTs since the line primarily uses small buses due to ridership and DC's Small Bus Program, but sometimes utilizes regular 40 ft buses from Western. During its times, the line would use Orion IIs and 30 ft Orion Vs prior to the 30 ft Orion VIIs.

History

The Glover Park Line was originally operated under the Washington Railway & Electric Company prior to it merging with the

Capital Traction Company The Capital Traction Company was the smaller of the two major street railway companies in Washington, D.C., in the early 20th century. It was formed in 1895 when the Rock Creek Railway acquired the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. The ...

in 1933. Route D1 originally began operating between

and

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

under the Capital Street Company. The line at first were operated by

streetcars A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

, but then formed into buses on March 1, 1925. The line was later operated until DC Transit in 1956 and then acquired by WMATA on February 4, 1973. On July 1, 1977, route D2 was extended to

Stadium–Armory station Stadium–Armory station is a Washington Metro station in Southeast, Washington, D.C. It is located in the Hill East neighborhood near the border of Barney Circle and Kingman Park. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by ...

when Blue Line service began operation. Route D2 would primarily operate along Q, E, K, and C Streets between

and Stadium–Armory. The line would operate as the Glover Park-Trinidad Line. In 1995, route D2 was shorten to

. Service to

was replaced by a rerouted route D6 which would operate along the former route D2 to Stadium–Armory. Additionally, a new route D1 was created to supplement route D2 during the weekday peak-hours to

Washington Union Station Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's second-busiest station and North ...

. The line was then renamed to the Glover Park–Dupont Circle Line. On December 19, 2010, route D2 was changed from a loop operation to two directional routes with terminals at Dupont Circle station and at Glover Park. In 2019, WMATA proposed to combine routes D2 and G2 into one route. The new route would be named route G2 and would operate on the D2 and G2 routing between

and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

along Q and P streets. Service to Georgetown on route G2 would be discontinued. This was in order to consolidate all services operating between Dupont Circle and Wisconsin Avenue into one alignment on Q Street NW, which would allow customers to wait at Q Street bus stops for multiple services and to eliminate inefficiencies of operating services one block from each other on P and Q Streets NW. The proposal was met with controversy with residents due to service being lacking in Georgetown if the proposal goes through. Resident didn't want the change to happen as they would have to walk to further bus stops or transfer to other buses instead of having a one seat ride to their destinations. WMATA later backed out of the proposal due to major customer opposition. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, route D2 was reduced to operate on its Sunday schedule beginning on March 16, 2020. However on March 18, 2020, the route was further reduced to operate on its Sunday service. All weekend service was also suspended beginning on March 21, 2020. On June 28, 2020, route D2 service was reduced even further operating every 40 minutes only between 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. during the weekdays only. On August 23, 2020, additional service was added to the D2 but weekend service remained suspended. In September 2020, WMATA proposed to eliminate all route D2 weekend service due to low federal funding. Route D2 has not operated during weekends since March 21, 2020 due to Metro's response to the

. However on March 14, 2021, route D2 weekend service was restored. In February 2021, WMATA proposed to eliminate the D2 and combine it with the M4 and N6 if WMATA does not get any federal funding. The new N6 will operate along the D2 routing between

and

, then operate along the N6 routing inside

Cathedral Heights Cathedral Heights is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. Primarily residential, the neighborhood has a commercial corridor of shops and restaurants along Wisconsin Avenue. Cathedral Heights is named for Washington Nation ...

, then operate on the M4 routing along Nebraska Avenue to

Sibley Memorial Hospital Sibley Memorial Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in The Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and is licensed by the District of Columbia D ...

. However, the D2 loop inside Glover Park would be eliminated. As part of WMATA's Better Bus Redesign beginning on June 29, 2025, Route D2 was merged with the N4 and N6 and renamed into the D96. The new D96 operates between

Bethesda station Bethesda station is a rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro system in Bethesda, Maryland. It is one of the busiest suburban Metro stations, serving on average 9,142 passengers each weekday in 2017. The Purple Line, a l ...

, Wisconsin Avenue,

Friendship Heights station Friendship Heights station is a Washington Metro station on the Red Line straddling the border of Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The station was opened on August 25, 1984, and is operated by the Washington ...

and Wesley Heights, then operates along New Mexico Avenue and on the former D2 route between Glover Park and Dupont Circle. Weekday service was then extended to Potomac Park.

References

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