By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 called out the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Aug. 12 for not moving to transition the DC Circulator into the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
Photo credit: Courtesy photo
“We’re disappointed that there is not a clear transition plan in place to take care of the workers and the bus operators, who could be facing layoffs, and the thousands of people who have come to rely on the Circulator bus service,” said Ben Lynn, a spokesperson for ATU Local 689.
The union urged WMATA to absorb the Circulator into the Metrobus instead of terminating the service altogether.
“There is already a process in place,” said Lynn. “When WMATA first put together their bus service in the 1970s, they absorbed four private bus entities into one. It worked back then, it works now and it will work in the future.”
The mayor’s office declined to comment on this matter.
DDOT announced on July 29 that the DC Circulator would begin phasing out on Oct. 1 and services would completely shut down on Dec. 31.
As of Aug. 12, the union had not received information from the mayor’s office or DDOT about a transition plan.
The phase-down includes terminating the Rosslyn-Dupont Circle route, ending late-night service on the Woodley Park-Adams Morgan and Georgetown- Union Station routes and changing bus arrival to every 20 minutes instead of 10 minutes.
The free bus line has served Washingtonians for nearly two decades through various cuts and enhancements.
In 2019, just before the pandemic began to impact ridership, the DC Circulator served about 5.5 million riders.
The D.C. Council approved Bowser’s (D) budget in June, which cut the funding for the DC Circulator and made way for the phase-down.
Lynn said the mayor’s office reached out to the union a couple of days before the budget was presented to the Council, to notify them of the phase-out.
“The union walked away from that conversation with the understanding that there would be a transition plan in place and that the union would be provided a copy of that transition plan,” said Lynn.
ATU is concerned about the reduction in service for riders and workers.
“DDOT is working with WMATA and circulator contractor RATP Dev USA to highlight employment opportunities for circulator staff,” a spokesperson from DDOT told the AFRO.
DDOT said on Aug. 15 they would host a WMATA information session for RATP Dev USA Circulator employees where workers could apply for available WMATA positions.
“RATP Dev USA employees who are part of a collective bargaining agreement may have received additional guidance regarding future employment opportunities from the contractor or their union representative,” said the DDOT spokesperson.
DDOT’s current guidance for circulator riders is to use the DC Circulator website and WMATA’s online trip planner to see what routes they can take.
“Additional information regarding these impacts will be shared in the coming months as the service transitions,” said the DDOT spokesperson.
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