Benning Road–H Street Limited Line

The Benning Road–H Street Limited Line, designated Route X9, is a limited stop MetroExtra bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Capitol Heights station, which is served by the Blue and Silver lines of the Washington Metro, and Metro Center station, which is served by the Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 15-16 minutes at all times on weekdays only. Trips are roughly 50 minutes long. During weekday midday, Route X9 is shortened to operate to Minnesota Avenue station. This line provides additional service along the H Street corridor supplementing routes X1, X2 and X3.

X9
Benning Road–H Street Limited Line
Overview
System	Metrobus
Operator	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Garage	Bladensburg (Full time) Shepherd Parkway (Select Peak Hour trips)
Livery	MetroExtra
Status	In Service
Began service	December 19, 2010
Route
Locale	Northwest, Northeast, Capitol Heights, Maryland
Communities served	Prince George's County, Northwest, Northeast
Landmarks served	Capitol Heights station, Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue N.E., Minnesota Avenue station, Benning Road, Hechinger Mall, H Street, Washington Union Station, Government Publishing Office, Gallery Place station, Metro Center station
Start	Capitol Heights station Minnesota Avenue station
Via	H Street, Benning Road
End	Metro Center station
Service
Level	Weekday service only
Frequency	15-16 minutes
Operates	6:15 AM–6:40 PM
Transfers	SmarTrip only
Timetable	Benning Road-H Street Limited Line
Route map ← X8  {{{system_nav}}}  Y2 →

Background

Route X9 operates on weekdays only between Capitol Heights station and Metro Center station with midday trips being shortened to Minnesota Avenue station. This route provides additional service to routes X1 and X2 along H Street and Benning Road while providing additional service to routes V2 and V4 along Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue. Route X9 operates out of Bladensburg division but has some trips operating out of Shepherd Parkway during peak hours. The route would only serve all local stops and would detour along Eastern Avenue if there are moderate snow conditions.

Current Stops

Bus stop	Direction	Connections
Washington, D.C.
Capitol Heights Station Bus Bay D	Eastbound terminal, Westbound station	Metrobus: 96, 97, A12, F14, V2, V4 TheBus: 24, 25 Washington Metro:
Dix Street NE / 62nd Street NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: V2, V4
58th Street NE / Foote Street NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: V2, V4
Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE / Division Avenue NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: V2, V4, W4
Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE / 49th Avenue NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: V2, V4
Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE / 44th Avenue NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: V2, V4
Minnesota Avenue Station	Bidirectional	Metrobus: U4, U5, U6, U7, V2, V4, V7, V8, X1, X2, X3 Washington Metro:
Minnesota Avenue NE / Benning Road NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: A31, U4, U7, V2, V4, X1, X2, X3
Benning Road NE / 19th Street NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: S41, X1, X2, X3
Benning Road NE / 16th Street NE	Westbound	Metrobus: B2, X1, X2, X3, X8
Benning Road NE / 15th Street NE	Eastbound	Metrobus: B2, X1, X2, X3, X8
H Street NE / 14th Street NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: B2, X1, X2, X3, X8
H Street NE / 8th Street NE	Bidirectional	Metrobus: 90, 92, X1, X2
H Street NE / Union Station Garage	Bidirectional	Amtrak, VRE, MARC at Union Station DC Streetcar at Union Station Metrobus: 80, 96, 97, D6, D8, X1, X2, X8 DC Circulator:   Georgetown–Union Station   Congress Heights – Union Station   National Mall MTA Maryland Bus: 903, 922 Loudoun County Transit PRTC OmniRide Washington Metro: at Union Station
H Street NW / North Capitol Street NW	Bidirectional	Metrobus: 80, 96, D8, X1, X2
H Street NW / 7th Street NW (Gallery Place station)	Bidirectional	Metrobus: 42, 43, 70, 74, 79, 80, P6, X2 Washington Metro:
H Street NW / 9th Street NW	Eastbound	Metrobus: 80, 42, 43, P6, G8, X2
H Street NW / 11th Street NW	Westbound	Metrobus: 80, 42, 43, 63, 64, G8, P6, S2, X2
H Street NW / 13th Street NW	Westbound	Metrobus: 7Y, 16Y, 80, 42, 43, D6, G8, X2
New York Avenue NW / 12th Street NW	Eastbound station, Westbound terminal	Metrobus: 16C, 42, 43, 54, 59, 63, 64, 80, A9, D6, G8, P6, S2, X2, X9 MTA Maryland Bus: 901, 902, 904, 905 Loudoun County Transit PRTC OmniRide Ride Smart Northern Shenandoah Valley Washington Metro: at Metro Center station

History

Route X9 originally operated as part of the East Capitol Street Express Line which operated alongside the Benning Road Line with routes X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7.[1] Route X9 originally operated between Capitol Heights station and Federal Triangle but was discontinued in the late 1980s and replaced by the Benning Road Line.

In 2010, WMATA released a study along the H Street and Benning Road corridor. As ridership increases along the corridor and consistent delays on the DC Streetcar, WMATA proposed a brand new route X9 to operate between Capitol Heights station and Metro Center station. This was to reduce crowding during the weekday peak-hours and to replace route X3.[2][3][4]

On December 19, 2010, route X9 was introduce as a new express bus route to primarily operate along H Street, Benning Road and Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue. This new route will operate during the weekday peak-hours between Capitol Heights station and Metro Center station. The new X9 will supplement route U2 between Capitol Heights and Minnesota Avenue station and route X2 between Minnesota Avenue and Metro Center.[5][6]

In June 2012, WMATA announced that the "express" brand for Metro will be renamed into the MetroExtra brand. Route X9 was slowly converted into the MetroExtra brand in the fall of 2012. There were no major changes to the routing.[7]

On September 26, 2017, as part of WMATA's FY2018 budget, WMATA proposed to add midday service to route X9. This proposed was in part to customer demand and requests and jurisdictional coordination and responds to requests by the District Department of Transportation. Route X9 will provides additional limited-stop capacity to accommodate new riders in the Benning Road-H Street corridor during the weekday midday to help route X2 and provide a weekday midday transfer-free ride throughout the entire corridor on proposed Route X9 between downtown DC and Capitol Heights station. This proposal was also recommended in the 2010 Benning Road-H Street Lines Service Evaluation Study.[8][9]

On June 24, 2018, route X9 was given new weekday midday service which will operate every 15 minutes between Minnesota Avenue station and Metro Center station. Differences in the routing was route X9 will enter the Minnesota Avenue bus bays during the midday hours while during weekday peak-hours, the route would serve the on-street bus stop at Minnesota Avenue.[10][11]

Route X9 was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020.[12] However the route returned to service on August 24, 2020.[13]

References

1. "New Subway Stops Bring Metrobus Service Changes". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
2. Alpert, David. "WMATA plans new X9, Virginia and Greenbelt bus changes". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
3. "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROPOSED BUS SERVICE CHANGES FISCAL YEAR 2011" (PDF). Retrieved May 12, 2020.
4. "X1-X2-X3 Metrobus Benning Road/H Street Line Study" (PDF). Retrieved May 12, 2020.
5. Tetu, Michelle. "X9 Express Metrobus Launches". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
6. "District of Columbia to get new, limited-stop Metrobus route". www.wmata.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
7. "Metro News Release". wmata.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
8. "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA" (PDF). Retrieved May 12, 2020.
9. "Planned Transit Improvements for Wards 7 and 8" (PDF). DC Circulator. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
10. "Metrobus Service Changes, June 24 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
11. "Big Bus Changes: X2, X9, Circulator". Big Bus Changes. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
12. "Metro announces additional COVID-19 changes, including reduced service beginning Monday | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
13. "Metrobus Service Changes beginning August 23 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.