List of Metrobus routes (Washington, D.C.)

Last updated January 29, 2024

This is a list of bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), branded as Metrobus. Many are the descendants of streetcar lines operated by the Capital Transit Company or its predecessors.

Current routes

The list of Metrobus routes has been split by region:

Numbering

Most Metrobus routes follow the rules below:^[1]^[2]

Metrobus routes in Washington, D.C., have either a two digit number (31, 42, 64, etc.) or a letter followed by a number (A2, S2, X8, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Montgomery County, MD, have a letter followed by a number (C4, Q4, Z6, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Prince George's County, MD, have a letter followed by two numbers (F12, J12, P12, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Northern Virginia have one or two numbers followed by a letter (1A, 16C, 29N, etc.).

Odd-numbered routes are typically part-time variants of even-numbered routes. At one time, odd numbered routes were express routes, but that distinction has been abandoned. Most Maryland and Washington, D.C., routes are grouped by their first digit. When this system was laid out in 1936, the following clustering was used:^{[ citation needed ]}

Category	Route numbers
Streetcars	10 Columbia Line 20 Cabin John Line 30 Pennsylvania Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue Line 40 Mount Pleasant Line 50 Fourteenth Street Line 60 11th Street, Upshur Street and New Hampshire Avenue Line 70 Seventh Street and Georgia Avenue Line 80 College Park and North Capitol Street Line 90 U Street Line and East Capitol Street Line
Buses in D.C. & Maryland	A Anacostia, Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Martin Luther King Jr. Highway (Maryland) B Bladensburg Road, Annapolis Road, Bowie C Branch Avenue, Central Avenue, University Blvd, Maryland D Northwest, Suitland E Northwest, Northeast, Crosstown F East–West Highway, New Carrollton G Northwest, Brookland, Greenbelt H St. Barnabas Road, Branch Avenue, Brookland, Columbia Road, Irving Street J Silver Spring, Bethesda, Forestville, District Heights K Forestville, New Hampshire Avenue Maryland L Connecticut Avenue, Landover Road M Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest N Massachusetts Avenue, National Harbor P Anacostia, North Capitol Street, District Heights, Suitland, Oxon Hill Q Veirs Mill Road, Maryland R Riggs Road, Kenilworth Ave, Queens Chapel Road S 16th Street Lines T Annapolis Road, Rhode Island Ave NE, River Road, Falls Road U Minnesota Avenue, Sheriff Road V Minnesota Avenue, Capitol Heights, Suitland, District Heights, Oxon Hill W Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, Oxon Hill, Indian Head X Benning Road–H Street Line Y Georgia Avenue, Maryland Z US 29, Maryland
Buses in Virginia	1 Arlington Blvd, Wilson Blvd 2 Langston Blvd, Washington Blvd 3 Annandale, Langston Blvd 4 Arlington Blvd 7 Landmark, Shirlington, Alexandria 8 Fairlington, Foxchase, Seminary Valley 10 Alexandria, Ballston, Crystal City, Pentagon 11 Mount Vernon 15 Chain Bridge Road 16 Columbia Pike 17 King Park, Pentagon 18 Burke, Orange Hunt, Springfield 21 Crystal City, Shirlington, Landmark, Pentagon 22 Ballston, Fairlington, Pentagon, Shirlington 23 Crystal City, McLean, Shirlington 25 Ballston, Mark Center 26 Annandale, Culmore 28 Falls Church, Leesburg Pike, Skyline City, Alexandria, Pentagon 29 Annandale, Little River Turnpike, Alexandria, Pentagon 38 Ballston, Farragut Square, Georgetown MWY Alexandria, Pentagon City, Crystal City, Richmond Hwy, Potomac Yard REX Richmond Highway

Divisions

Division Name	Location	Routes Served^[3]	City Section
Andrews Federal Center (A)	7541 Andrews Federal Campus Drive, Suitland, MD 20746	32, 36, 96, C11, C12, C13, C14, D12, D14, H12, J12, K12, NH1	Southeast D.C., Southern Prince George's County, Maryland
Bladensburg (B)	2251 26th Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20018-1405	59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 80, B2, D4, D8, D31, D32, D33, D34, E2, G8, H2, H4, H6, H8, H9, K2, K6, R1, R2, R4, S41, U4, W45, W47, X2, X8 Select Trips: 52, 54, 79, S9 Weekends: 74, D6, U5, U6, U7, V8	Northeast and Southeast Washington D.C.
Cinder Bed Road (C)	7901 Cinder Bed Rd, Lorton, VA 22135	11Y, 17B, 17G, 17K, 17M, 18G, 18J, 18P, 26A, 29G, 29K, 29N, REX	Fairfax County, Virginia
Four Mile Run (F)	3501 South Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22202	1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 3F, 3Y, 4B, 7A, 7M, 8W, 10A, 10B, 16A, 16C, 16E, 16M, 16Y, 21C, 22A, 22F, 23A, 23B, 23T, 25B, 28A, 28F, 38B, Metroway	Northern Virginia
Landover (L)	3433 Pennsy Drive, Landover, MD 20785	83, 86, 89M, A12, B21, B22, B24, B27, C21, C22, C26, C27, C29, F1, F4, F6, F8, F12, F13, F14, G12, G14, L12, P12, R12, T14, T18, V12, V14	Northern, Central, and Southern portions of Prince George's County, Maryland
Montgomery (M)	5400 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852	70, 79, C2, C4, C8, J1, J2, K9, Q2, Q4, Q6, S2, S9, Y2, Y7, Y8, Z2, Z6, Z7, Z8 Weekdays: L8, T2	Montgomery County, Maryland
Southern Avenue Annex (P)	1301 Boones Hill Road, Capitol Heights, MD 20743	Weekdays: D6, U5, U6, U7, V2, V4, V8, W4, X3, X9	Southeast D.C. & the southern portion of Prince George's County, Maryland
Shepherd Parkway (S)	2 DC Village Lane SW, Washington, D.C. 20032	90, 92, A2, A4, A6, A7, A8, A31, A32, A33, D51, M6, NH2, P6, P18, S35, V7, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W8, W14 Select Trips: B2, D12 Weekdays: 74 Select trips and Weekends: V2, V4	Southeast & Southwest D.C. & the southern portion of Prince George's County, Maryland
Western (W)	5230 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Friendship Heights, Washington, D.C. 20015	31, 33, 42, 43, 52, 54, D2, D32, D34, E4, G2, L2, M4, N2, N4, N6, W45, W47 Select trips: D6, H2, H4	Northwest D.C.

Related Research Articles

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional non-government organization that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Congress as an interstate compact between Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Its fleet consists of 1,595 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles (3,900 km²) in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are 269 bus routes serving 11,129 stops, including 2,554 bus shelters. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 90,123,200, or about 355,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

Ride on is the primary public transportation system in Montgomery County, Maryland. Managed by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Ride On serves Montgomery County as well as the community of Langley Park in Prince George's County and Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. In fiscal 2018, it operated on a US$112.3 million budget. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 13,848,200, or about 56,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

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The College Park Line, designated Routes 83 & 86, are daily bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the Rhode Island Avenue Station, which is served by Red Line of the Washington Metro, and the Cherry Hill Park Campground in College Park, Maryland (83), or Calverton (86). 83 is shortened to only operate on short trips between Rhode Island Avenue station and Mount Rainier during early mornings on the weekends. 83 & 86 mainly operate on the U.S. Route 1 corridor between Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast Washington, D.C. & College Park, Maryland. Route 83 trips are roughly 50 minutes long and route 86 trips are roughly 70 minutes long.

The New Carrollton–Fort Totten Line, designated Route F6, is a weekday-only bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the New Carrollton station of the Orange Line station of the Washington Metro and the Fort Totten station of the Red and Green Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 30 minutes during peak hours and 60 minutes all other times, weekdays only. F6 trips are roughly 60 minutes. This route provides weekday service between Fort Totten and New Carrollton stations without having to take the train into Downtown DC.

The National Harbor–Alexandria Line, designated as Route NH2, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between King Street–Old Town station of the Blue and Yellow Lines of the Washington Metro and National Harbor via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The line operates every 30 minutes at all times. NH2 trips are roughly 30 minutes. This line provides service to National Harbor and MGM National Harbor from Alexandria, Virginia via the Woodrow Wilson Bridge at Capital Beltway (I-495). It is the only Metrobus route that operates via the bridge and the only current Metrobus route that connects Maryland and Virginia by bus.

The Greenbelt–Twinbrook Line, designated Route C2 or C4, are daily bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Greenbelt station (C2) or Hyattsville Crossing station (C4) of the Green Line and Wheaton station (C2) or Twinbrook station (C4) of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Both lines operate every 15 – 20 minutes during peak hours, 12 – 24 minutes weekdays and Saturdays, while the C2 runs every 45 – 55 minutes on Sundays and the C4 runs every 12 minutes on Sundays and 30 minutes late nights daily. Trips would take roughly 60 – 70 minutes for both routes. On Sundays however, the C2 is shortened to operate between Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center and Greenbelt Station, which takes 30 minutes. Both lines connect northern Prince George's County to Montgomery County via the University Boulevard East/West corridor.

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The New Hampshire Avenue–Maryland Limited Line, designated Route K9, is a limited-stop Metrobus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the Fort Totten station of the Red and Green Lines of the Washington Metro and the Food and Drug Administration in White Oak, Maryland. The line operates every 16-20 minutes during weekday peak-hours only. Route K9 trips are roughly 30 - 35 minutes.

The Veirs Mill Road Line, designated Route Q2, Q4, Q6, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Silver Spring station and Shady Grove station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 16–30 minutes at all times at a combined frequency of 10 minutes during weekday peak-hours, 15 minutes during the weekday midday and weekends, and 30 minutes during the late nights. All trips roughly take 55–60 minutes. The line operates along the Veirs Mill Road corridor connecting passengers to various Metro stations and communities.

The Colesville–Ashton Line, designated Route Z2, is a weekday peak-hour bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Olney and Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 30–35 minutes during the weekday peak hours only. Route Z2 trips are roughly 60–70 minutes long.

The 16th Street Line, designated Route S2, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Silver Spring station, which is served by the Red Line of the Washington Metro, and Federal Triangle in Downtown Washington, D.C. with late night and early morning trips extending to L'Enfant Plaza station which is served by the Blue, Orange, Silver, Green and Yellow Lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 10 minutes during the weekday peak hours, 15 minutes during the weekday midday and Saturday, 20 minutes on Sunday, and 30 minutes late nights. Trips are roughly 55-60 minutes long.

The Silver Spring–Fairland Line designated Route Z6 or Z8 are daily bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride lot (Z6) and Greencastle Park & Ride Lot (Z8), and Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 20–30 minutes at all times. Both trips are roughly 60 minutes long.

References

Metrobus timetables, accessed October 2017.

↑ Rowlands, DW; Alpert, David (September 20, 2018). "8W? 30N? U7? How Metrobus numbers came to be". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
↑ Malouff, Dan. "Here's what that bus route number means" . Retrieved November 22, 2019.
↑ "WMATA Routes by Division (March 14, 2021)". public.tableau.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.

Notes

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Rowlands, DW; Alpert, David (September 20, 2018). "8W? 30N? U7? How Metrobus numbers came to be". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved January 27, 2019.

[2] Malouff, Dan. "Here's what that bus route number means" . Retrieved November 22, 2019.

[3] "WMATA Routes by Division (March 14, 2021)". public.tableau.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.

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v t e Transit in Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
Agencies	WMATA MTA DDOT NVTC PRTC
Washington Metro	Red Line Orange Line Yellow Line Green Line Blue Line Silver Line List of stations
Commuter rail	MARC Train Brunswick Line Camden Line Penn Line Virginia Railway Express Fredericksburg Line Manassas Line
Inter-city rail	Amtrak Acela Capitol Limited Cardinal Carolinian Crescent Northeast Regional Palmetto Silver Meteor Silver Star Vermonter
Bus	Annapolis Transit Arlington Transit CUE Bus DASH DC Circulator Fairfax Connector Loudoun County Transit Frederick TransIT Fredericksburg Regional Transit Metrobus (list of routes) MTA Maryland Commuter Bus PRTC OmniRide Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland Ride On Shuttle–UM TheBus MetroAccess (paratransit)
Bus rapid transit	Flash BRT Metroway
DC Streetcar	H Street/Benning Road Line
Aviation	Dulles International Airport (AeroTrain) Washington National Airport Heliports
Future projects	Purple Line Corridor Cities Transitway Pike Transit Initiative West End Transitway Route 7 BRT