By T. CARTER ROSS
On June 28, the 86 Metrobus will make its last stop along 40th Avenue. The following day
WMATA’s Better Bus Network routes go into operation, eliminating stops and routes as well as
harmonizing route names.
Over the past two years, WMATA and regional bus agencies, including Prince George’s County’s
TheBus, worked to remap bus routes across the Greater Washington Region. It is the first
comprehensive revision to the bus network in more than 50 years.
Instead of legacy route numbers like 86 or F8, route numbers will indicate the area they
primarily serve: P for Prince George’s County, M for Montgomery, D for downtown, C for
crosstown, F for Fairfax, and A for Arlington and Alexandria. Limited-stop routes, like TheBus’s
Route 1 Ride, will have an X at the end of the route name. The same route-naming system will
be used for all buses regardless of which transit company operates them.
Across the region, bus stops have new metal signs indicating the new route numbers or paper
signs indicating that the stop will be decommissioned.
The maps show the current and new bus networks as they pass through Hyattsville. Blue lines
are Metrobus lines operated by WMATA; yellow are TheBus lines. The red line is the University
of Maryland Shuttle UM, which operates during the school year, but requires a student or staff
ID to ride. The university’s bus network was not part of the Better Bus reorganization.
The new routings reduce the number of buses running through Hyattsville Hills, including
eliminating the Hamilton and Jefferson Street connections between Route 1 and Queens Chapel
Road. (Buses will continue to run along Queensbury though several stops will be eliminated.)
In addition to eliminating many buses though Hyattsville Hills, the Better Bus plan will mean riders
must take multiple buses to get from the Queens Chapel Town Center area to the western side of
the University of Maryland. Instead of a single route, the F6, running along Queens Chapel and
Adelphi Road, transit-goers will have to take the P43 (operated by TheBus) to the Hyattsville
Crossing Metrorail station and transfer to the P32 Metrobus to continue up Adelphi.
“The DMV region has evolved over time and so should our bus network,” said Metro Board
Chair Valerie Santos in a 2024 press release. “Better Bus will improve our operating efficiency,
enhance connectivity, and increase Metro’s environmental benefits.”
The 86, which was one of the original bus routes created when the WMATA network was
established in 1973, takes its route number from the old Capital Transit Company streetcar
system, which operated the 82 streetcar along what is now the Trolley Trail and the inspiration for Streetcar 82 Brewing’s moniker. When the CTC streetcars were converted to bus routes in
the late 1950s, the streetcar numbers were retained for the new buses. As new buses were
added to serve the area, that numbering scheme was retained.
The maps were updated to correct colors for two routes, as well as to add the F4. More details about the new network, including routing tools and route comparisons, can be found at wmata.com/betterbus.