Reply to S/O What should MoCo do about parking in downtown Bethesda

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

That is pretty low ridership for a route with that frequency - if the schedule is right they are running about 96 buses a day so that means about 12 people per run.  One of the lower frequency buses I ride in DC carries about 7,000 people a day.[/quote]

Good grief. Frequency is certainly a major factor in ridership, but it's not the only factor. [/quote]

Agreed.  But DC buses are 2$ a ride and the circulator is free so even accounting for some lower population density the Circulator doesn’t have greater ride on numbers.  I’ve taken it once or twice with my kids as a “whee-we’re riding on a bus around Bethesda” thing, but as a daily commuter it doesn’t take me anywhere I need to go.  I would happily dump the Circulator for much more frequent Ride On buses (every 23 minutes during Rush hour is way too slow.)[/quote]

The circulator model is a good model.  And Ride-on buses generally are not designed for efficiency or convenience - they are designed for coverage.

But the Bethesda circulator route is just stupid - it is basically what you allude to - a gee whiz bus route that is a solution seeking a problem.  In this case the solution is short range feed to the Bethesda Metro.  But the route is so close to the Metro that most healthy people are going to spend the 5-10 minutes walking rather than waiting for a bus that doesn't get them where they are going any quicker.  But a circulator route that ran in understandable straight lines from the Metro to neighborhoods within 2-3 miles ought to work - you have to make the bus more appealing than driving.[/quote]

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