Weekend Roundup: What’s in a name?
Welcome to another week, temperatures are dropping in the capital, and the Leaders have won their first two matches for the first time since 2011, so the drop is expected to be decent.
Here’s the news you might have missed while planning your fall foliage tour of the eastern United States.
Step back, change names
Let’s be honest: The alphanumeric names of many of D.C.’s bus routes are confusing whether you’ve lived in the area your whole life, just moved here, or are visiting for the weekend. Sure, there are some well-known exceptions that prove the rule (looking at you, X2 and S9), but trying to understand the system can confuse you, or in some cases, even get you lost.
But changes to bus route names may be on the way, along with the potential to introduce more order or more confusion, depending on how you look at it. Metro has launched a survey that allows riders to comment on potential changes, such as renaming routes based on the route they travel on, marking routes D, M or V depending on the jurisdiction they serve, and different displays for freeways. The survey will be live until September 28th. In a press release announcing the survey, Metro says it will use the results early next year to “select a route naming convention to apply to the draft Year 1 network — a bus network that could be implemented with the same staffing and resources as it is today.” If you’ve ever ridden an H8 bus and wondered… On why you don’t travel on H Street, consider taking the survey.
In other Metro news, automatic door operations will return to the Red Line next month. Automatic doors allow passengers to exit and enter the train much more quickly than with manual operation, and Metro officials believe automatic doors could shave minutes off the journey. Train operators will continue to conduct visual checks to ensure nothing is obstructing the doors before trains leave the station, according to a Metro spokesperson. Tiffany Jenkins.
Not great at school
Several weeks into the new school year, D.C. public school facilities are still dealing with maintenance issues. HVAC systems were tested when the summer heat lasted later than expected, but school staff and families reported additional problems with everything from rodents to elevators. The General Services Administration handles school building repairs and says it is doing better on repairs than it did last year, when an audit found it failed to respond to requests in a timely manner. This isn’t exactly encouraging news for people who have to spend hours of their days in buildings that reek of mold.
The shooting continues
Last week brought more alarming shootings to the capital. On Sunday, a man was shot on Brentwood Road NE and later died at a local hospital. A few hours earlier, a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg on Ivory Walters Lane SE; He is in stable condition and is expected to recover. So far, the capital has recorded 191 homicides in 2023, an increase of 29 percent from 2022.
—Carolyn Jones (Tips? cjones@washingtoncitypaper.com)
