Monday morning was the first time Metro riders could get a feel for changes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has made to its Huntington-Pentagon express shuttles after a rough start for the Blue and Yellow Line shutdown between the Huntington and Pentagon stations.
Riders of the metro had expressed mixed feelings towards the changes. For some of the riders, the sting of last week's mess are still fresh in their minds.
Dennis Lewis, a metro rider, expressed his frustration on the current situation. He is hoping that metro riders are better informed when it comes to their assigned routes during the shutdown of the Blue and Yellow Line between Huntington and Pentagon stations.
“Otherwise, you have extra buses that could just get lost,” Lewis said.
During last week’s commute, there was at least one instance of a shuttle bound for Pentagon Station that ended up at Anacostia Station after the
driver asked riders for directions and took a series of wrong turns.
As of Monday, the Huntington-Pentagon express shuttle will run directly between Pentagon and Huntington.
“With separate routes established from each side of Huntington station, customers on the north (lower) side will benefit from reduced crowding on buses and customers on the south (upper) side will experience shorter travel times,”
a Metro news release said.
During the first week of the metro shutdown, the shuttle drove from one side of the station to the other side of the station just to pick up passengers. Bus stops that are along the route have also been adjusted with the aim of improving traffic flow and on-time performance.
Waiting for the Huntington-Pentagon Express shuttle along the north side of the Huntington station, commuter Greg Haugan kept an open mind to the changes, despite a rough start to last week. “The folks here assisting are doing a great job,” Haugan said. “I think it’s great — it will help since there’s more people that need more shuttles.”
Others commuters are glad on how many changes have been made. The changes are intended to make for an overall smoother commute as platform upgrades continue through Sept. 8 in Alexandria.
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