WMATA announces bus adjustments for Huntington
The first week of Metro’s summer shutdown had some issues, particularly for commuters using the Pentagon Express shuttle buses at the Huntington Metro station.
There were long waits at peak travel periods, bus drivers getting lost or failing to find the Interstate 395 HOV lanes, and full buses getting stuck in traffic as they slogged from one side of the Huntington Metro station to the other.
That last issue, however, should no longer be a problem going forward. WMATA announced Sunday afternoon that separate shuttle buses to the Pentagon will now be leaving from both sides of Huntington station. The change was something many frustrated riders had been asking for.
During the first week of the shutdown, which lasts until September 8, the Pentagon Express shuttles started by picking up the south side of the station (North Kings Highway side). They would then drive down North Kings Highway to Telegraph Road and then to Huntington Avenue to pick up riders who were waiting on the north side (Huntington Avenue side) of Huntington station. This led to problems because the buses filled would often fill to capacity (or close to capacity) on the south side and then travel through traffic to the north side of the station to pick up just a handful or riders (or none at all). Then the bus would finally leave for the Pentagon, often with passengers who had been aboard for 10-plus minutes and gotten no farther than one side of the Metro station so far.
WMATA said Sunday that in addition to having the buses depart from both sides separately, there will be Metro employees at the Pentagon to help direct southbound commuters onto the proper buses back to Huntington. And should a customer get on a bus and end up on the wrong side of the Huntington Metro station, a shuttle will be there to bring them to the other side, according to WMATA.
Bus bay changes
WMATA also announced on Sunday that several bus stops on the Huntington Avenue side of the station will be adjusted “improve on-time performance and traffic flow.”
While most of the changes will take effect Monday and stay in place, Metro said the Pentagon Express and Fairfax Connector 171 stops will move again on Thursday:
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