On Monday, March 24, the Greenbelt City Council voted not to approve the installation of two new bus stops along Crescent Road, which means Metrobuses P20 and P21 (the new designations for the G14 and G12 buses) will follow the same routes within the city as they do today rather than the altered routes planned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The lively and long discussion began with a review of the Better Bus process by City Planner Jaime Fearer and the input provided by the city and its residents.
The main objection to the Better Bus plan was routing of the P20/P21 buses along Westway rather than Gardenway (which is the current bus route). However, residents were concerned about safety, accessibility, noise and the loss of on-street parking. These and other comments were taken into consideration by the WMATA Board who made its decision on the routes in November 2024. The Better Bus Plan is to take effect on June 30 and WMATA needs to update maps and other information regarding the changes. At the council meeting WMATA asked the city to install two accessible and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant bus stops along Crescent Road to accommodate the new routes.
William Jones in WMATA’s Office of Planning described the process WMATA used to come to their decisions. He reiterated that the goal is to provide the best service possible and streamline the process by examining in a comprehensive manner bus service within Prince George’s County (including TheBus) in order to provide efficient service. Jones also stated that if the city does not fund the new bus stops then “… the service [routes] would remain the same.”
Council Questions
Mayor Emmett Jordan was appreciative of the overview but wanted to know when the public would learn more about the county bus plans. Jones clarified that they anticipate the service changes for Metrobus and TheBus would happen together and is hoping more information regarding TheBus service will come out this month.
Councilmember Amy Knesel asked if Metrobus would allow students in the public schools to ride for free because they are able to do that on TheBus #11. Jones replied, “… that is an effort that still needs to be worked through.”
Councilmember Kristen Weaver wanted to know if someone comes out and physically looks at the situation on the ground because she can see that Westway is a steep hill and understands the visibility concerns of residents. Jones said that in this case there were visits and buses were driven along the route but that the WMATA Bus Transportation Safety staff did not raise any similar concerns.
APB View
Ben Friedman, chair of the city’s Advisory Planning Board (APB), said the board did support building two new bus stops but also said the charge given to APB concerned whether or not to put in the bus stops and not on the route change. However, they did hear concerns from the community regarding routing buses along Westway.
GHI Concerns
Stefan Brodd, president of Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI), strongly opposed the new routes and felt they decrease pedestrian safety along Westway. There are parked cars along either side of Westway with dense shrubs that obstruct drivers’ views. Furthermore, there are no sidewalks along Westway so residents use the road to walk between Ridge and Crescent. GHI “… is very concerned that we are setting up ourselves for a tragic accident.” There is a mid-block pedestrian crossing not easily seen by vehicles on Westway. The crossing connects the main sidewalk in the west end to the center of town.
Resident Concerns
Several Greenbelt residents provided their thoughts on the route changes. Richard Shumaker, a resident on Westway, spoke to the human element of the situation. He stated that there are four disabled residents and a blind person who live along that street. They have mobility issues and the addition of
Metrobuses going up and down the street endangers their safety, said Shumaker. Jim Drake suggested that one solution would be to put in a sidewalk along the length of Westway so residents would not have to walk in the street.
After much discussion on the feasibility of sidewalks along Westway and the use of the walking paths in Greenbelt, Weaver moved to not approve construction of the two new bus stops. The motion passed unanimously, which means the bus routes within Greenbelt will not change.
