The Arlington–Union Station Line, designated Route 13Y, was a 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 government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Co ...

between

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

and

Washington Union Station Washington 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 headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North Ame ...

Northwest DC The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. The line operated during the weekend early AM hours only between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM providing riders to National Airport prior to Metro's opening at 7:00 AM. The line was discontinued due to low ridership and replaced by route 10N.

Background

At one point during the 1970s and 1980s,

would be served by multiple Metrobus lines primarily the 11 lines. Most of the lines would travel to various points into

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

or to

Downtown Washington D.C. Downtown is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., as well as a colloquial name for the central business district in the northwest quadrant of the city. It is the fourth largest central business district in the United States. Historically, the Downto ...

However those routes were later phased out throughout the 1980s to 1990s being simplified or replaced.

History

The line was created as the Pentagon–Washington Line on June 26, 1983 as routes 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, and 13E in order to provide service between Pentagon and Downtown DC. Routes 13A and 13B would operate daily except during weekday peak hours between

Pentagon station Pentagon Transit Center is a split platform station on the Washington Metro located adjacent to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. ...

and

Federal Triangle The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which ar ...

via

Arlington Memorial Bridge The Arlington Memorial Bridge is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bri ...

and

Arlington Cemetery station Arlington Cemetery is a side platformed Washington Metro station in Arlington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The station provides ...

. Route 13A would operate in a clockwise direction loop while route 13B would operate in the counter clockwise direction loop. Both routes would operate every 30 minutes. Routes 13C and 13D would operate during the weekday peak-hours between Pentagon station and

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

following much of the same path of routes 13A and 13B but would loop along Arlington Memorial Bridge and the 14th Street Bridge. Both routes would operate every 12–15 minutes. Route 13E would only operate between 7:15 AM to 8:15 AM every 12 minutes between Pentagon and Federal Triangle via the Memorial Bridge. The new 13 lines replaced most of routes operating between Pentagon station and Downtown Washington DC on the same day.

1990s

Throughout the 1990s, more changes were made to the line.''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', Changes Announced in Virginia Metrobus Routes, Schedules, January 15, 1987, page 11 Routes 13C, 13D, and 13E were all discontinued and replaced by routes 13A and 13B. Routes 13A would operate in the clockwise direction via Army Navy Drive,

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened be ...

, Independence Avenue, and the 14th Street Bridge while 13B would operate the same routing in the counter clockwise direction (opposite direction). These routes are a combined 13C, 13D, and 13E. Also a new 13F and 13G were introduced to operate between

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station is a Washington Metro station in Arlington, Virginia on the Blue and Yellow Lines. The station platform is elevated and covered and is the last above-ground station on the Yellow Line in Virgini ...

and

via Crystal City station and

which operates along the 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, and 13E routing between Pentagon and Downtown DC. The 13G would operate in the clockwise direction (same as 13A) and 13F would operate in the counter clockwise direction (same as 13B) during the weekend early AM hours only between 5:00 AM and 7:00 PM prior to Metro's opening. The line was later renamed the National Airport–Pentagon–Washington Line

2006 Proposed Changes

In 2006, WMATA proposed to eliminate all off-peak service for routes 13A and 13B. This was because service was redundant with Metrorail service and low ridership during the off-peak hours. According to WMATA, weekday peak ridership averages 21 passengers per trip versus 5 passengers per trip (65 passengers) during the off-peak. Weekend pre-Metro opening ridership averages 28 passengers on Saturday and 38 on Sundays. After 8:00 AM ridership averages four passengers per trip ( 108 passengers) on Saturday and seven passengers per trip (133 passengers) on Sunday.

2006 Changes

On September 24, 2006, off-peak service for routes 13A and 13B were discontinued due low ridership and a redundancy towards Metrorail service. Service would now operate between 5:10 AM to 9:10 AM and 3:00 PM to 6:50 PM weekdays. Routes 13F and 13G would operate between 5:20 AM to 7:15 AM Saturdays, and 5:30 AM to 7:10 AM on Sundays.

2010 Proposed Changes

In 2010 during WMATA's FY2011 budget, WMATA proposed to eliminate routes 13A and 13B and replace it with an extended route 16F to

via the 14th Street Bridge and a new route 7Y to

Farragut Square Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW, and interrupts Connecticut Avenue NW. It is the sister pa ...

via the

in later proposals. Routes 13F and 13G would be retained and still provide early morning weekend service between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM but could be extended to 8:00 AM if Metro were to change its hours.

2010 Changes

On December 19, 2010, routes 13A and 13B were discontinued by WMATA and replaced by a new route 7Y and an extended 16F. Route 7Y would operate via the

while route 16F would operate via the 14th Street Bridge replacing the 13A and 13B entirely. Routes 13F and 13G remained unchanged.

2013 Proposed Changes

In 2013, WMATA proposed two options to the 13F and 13G. One option was to discontinue all service and replace it with an extended route 54 (designated 54A) from

L'Enfant Plaza station L'Enfant Plaza is an intermodal transit station complex located at L'Enfant Plaza in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It consists of an underground Washington Metro rapid transit station and an elevated Virginia ...

via

replacing routes 13F and 13G. The second option was to extend routes 13F and 13G to

via

Pentagon City Pentagon City is an unincorporated neighborhood (also called an "urban village") located in the southeast portion of Arlington County, Virginia, near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. Location Pentagon City is located less than a mil ...

and Crystal City stations. The line would be extended along 7th street (Northbound), 9th street (Southbound), and E street to serve Union station. Service along

would be discontinued as the line would be simplified to only operate along the 14th Street Bridge. Service along Independence Avenue and the terminal point along 12th street would also be discontinued. WMATA reasons the changes in order to provide connections to additional activity areas and transfers to other lines and minimal ridership was reported at

and on

west of 14th Street.

2014 Changes

On March 30, 2014, routes 13F and 13G were discontinued and replaced by a new route 13Y which was also extended to

. The new 13Y would operate along WMATA's Option 2 proposal from 2013 and would only operate during weekend early AM hours similar to routes 13F and 13G. The line was also renamed for the third and final time as the Arlington–Union Station Line as of a result.

Proposed Elimination

In 2016 during WMATA's FY2018 budget, it was proposed to eliminate route 13Y due to low ridership, to reduce costs, and has a high subsidy per rider. According to performance measure it goes as the following for WMATA:

Discontinuation of Route

On June 25, 2017, route 13Y was eliminated due to low ridership. A new route 10N of the Alexandria–Pentagon Line was introduced on the same day to operate along the same 13 routing between

and

. Service to Washington DC was fully discontinued. The main difference between the 10N and 13Y was the 10N would operate during Friday and Saturday late nights (after midnight) and early morning Sunday service between 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM only.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlington-Union Station Line 1983 establishments in Virginia 2010 disestablishments in Virginia 2014 disestablishments in Virginia 2017 disestablishments in Virginia 13Y