The Ivy City–Franklin Square Line, designated Route D4, 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

Ivy City Ivy City is a small neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. About half the neighborhood is industrial or formerly industrial, dominated by warehouses. The Ivy City Yard, a railroad coach yard and maintenance facility f ...

and Franklin Square. The line operated every 17–20 minutes during the weekday peak-hours, and 30–35 minutes at all other times. Route D4 trips were roughly 32 minutes.

Background

Route D4 operated daily between

and Franklin Square via K Street connecting riders from

and

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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 ( ...

. Route D4 operated out of Bladensburg division.

History

Route D4 began operation under the Washington Railway & Electric Company operating under

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

lines operating between

and Downtown DC. The line was converted to bus in the 1920s and later acquired by 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. DC Transit would acquire CTC in 1956 and later run by WMATA in 1973. The D4 would mainly operate along K Street and MacArthur Boulevard between

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 ...

and

connecting Downtown. The line was named the Glover Park-Trinidad Line. In the mid 1990s, route D4 was shortened 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 ...

with service to

replaced by route D3, and D6. The line was also renamed to the Ivy City-Union Station Line. These changes were in order to simplify the line after a series of proposals. On December 27, 2009, route D4 was rerouted to serve Franklin Square/

McPherson Square station McPherson Square station is a Washington Metro station in Downtown, Washington, D.C., United States. The side-platformed station is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Providing service for the Blue, Or ...

instead of

terminating along 13th and I streets NW. Service to Union Station was replaced by route D6. Buses will operate along I Street to 14th street, then continue via 14th, K and 10th streets, New York and Massachusetts Avenues, 6th Street and K Street to North Capitol Street where it will resume its regular route. Originally, WMATA proposed to extend the D4 into Georgetown to serve

instead of ending at Franklin Square. In 2012, WMATA proposed to extend route D4 to

Fort Totten station Fort Totten station is a Washington Metro station in northeastern Washington, D.C. It is one of the four major transfer points on the Metrorail system. It acts as a transfer point between the Green and Red Lines. It is the last station on th ...

and

Riggs Park Riggs Park is a residential neighborhood in Ward 4 of Northeast Washington, D.C. It is part of the greater Lamond-Riggs community (comprising the Lamond neighborood to the north, and Riggs Park to the south). Riggs Park is bounded by South Dakota ...

via 18th Street NE, South Dakota Avenue NE, Sargent Road, Eastern Avenue, Kennedy Street, Nicholson Street and Riggs Road. This was in order to replace the E2 which is proposed to be shorten to Fort Totten and fully replace routes E3 and E4, Provide a direct route from Riggs Park, South Dakota Avenue, and 18th Street to

, serve the proposed future

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

stores on Riggs Road and at Bladensburg Road & New York Avenue, and ridership on the Fenwick/New York/16th loop is minimal since the

Hecht's Hecht's was an American department store chain founded in 1857 by Samuel Hecht, Jr. It was headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operated in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. The family business was acqui ...

Warehouse closed. The

loop along Fenwick Street, New York Avenue, and 16th Street NE would be eliminated. In 2015, WMATA proposed to extend route D4 to

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in order to replace route 80 which was proposed to be shorten to Franklin Square. This would give D4 service to

Farragut Square Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2 of the District of Columbia, Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street (Washington, D.C.), K Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and wes ...

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...

, and the

Watergate complex The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The complex includes a development of Housing cooperative, cooperative apartment residences. It also includes a hotel and an o ...

. On June 26, 2016, every other route D4 trip was extended to

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 ...

(20th & P Streets NW) serving both

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...

and

in order to partially replace route D3. The extension would only operate during the weekday peak-hours in the peak direction. This gives passengers weekday peak service to Farragut Square and Dupont Circle without having to transfer buses at Franklin Square. In 2019, WMATA proposed to eliminate route D4 service after 10:00 PM daily due to low ridership. There would be no alternative service however. The proposal was met with controversy with

residents due to service being lacking with service if the proposal goes through since the E2 was also proposed to end at 10:00 PM too. 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 ...

, all route D2 service was reduced to operate on its Saturday supplemental schedule beginning on March 16, 2020. However beginning on March 18, 2020, route D4 was further reduced to operate on its Sunday schedule on March 18, 2020. All weekend service was also suspended on March 21, 2020. On August 23, 2020, service was restored on the D4 but service to Dupont Circle remained suspended. In February 2021, WMATA proposed to eliminate all D4 service if they did not get any federal funding. On September 5, 2021, service to Dupont Circle was eliminated. As part of WMATA's Better Bus Redesign beginning on June 29, 2025, the D4 was merged with both the D8 and E2. The D4 and D8 combination was renamed into the D36 and incorporated the former D8 routing between

MedStar Washington Hospital Center MedStar Washington Hospital Center is the largest private hospital in Washington, D.C. A member of MedStar Health, the not-for-profit Hospital Center is licensed for 926 beds. Health services in primary, secondary and tertiary care are offered ...

and K Street NE, but was rerouted to serve Franklin Square along the D4 routing. The D4 and E2 combination was renamed into the C71 and mostly follows the E2 routing via

and Ivy City via Riggs Park, then follows the D4 routing to K Street NE, then turns onto North Capitol Street and serves

References

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