Riggs Road Line

The Riggs Road Line, designated Route R1 or Route R2, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Fort Totten station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro and Calverton, Maryland. The line operates every 30 minutes during peak hours and 35 minutes other times, and 60 minutes on the weekends, weekdays only. R1 trips are roughly 32 minutes and R2 trips are roughly 55 minutes.
History
WMATA initially created Route R2 on February 6, 1978 to serve as part of the Queens Chapel Road Line between the newly opened Brookland-CUA station and Centerpark Office Park in Calverton. Between February 6, 1978 and December 11, 1993, R2 operated between the Brookland-CUA Metro Station and Centerpark Office Park in Calverton, via Bunker Hill Road N.E., 10th Street N.E., Perry Street N.E., Michigan Avenue N.E., Queens Chapel Road, Hamilton Street, Queens Chapel Road, Belcrest Road, , Belcrest Road, East-West Highway, Baltimore Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, and Powder Mill Road.
Fort Totten station opened on December 11, 1993
R2 was then rerouted to operate between the Fort Totten station and Calverton, Maryland instead, replacing the original Riggs Road Line Routes R8 & R9 in their entirety. Since December 11, 1993, R2 has been part of the Riggs Road Line. R2's Calverton terminus has been changed from its former Centerpark Office Park stop located on the Prince George's County side of Calverton, to terminate instead at R8 & R9's former Calverton terminus at the Orchard Shopping Center which located at the intersection of Plum Orchard Drive & Broadbirch Drive located on the Montgomery County side of Calverton.
Also the R2 used to run parallel to its sister routes R4, R6, and R7, which were also part of the Queens Chapel Road Line route R2 operated on, between the Brookland-CUA Metro Station and intersection of Hamilton Street & Queens Chapel Road until Routes R6 and R7 were completely discontinued by WMATA on December 11, 1993 when the West Hyattsville station and Prince George's Plaza station opened. Since then, the R4 was the only Metrobus Route that has operated which still operates today on WMATA's Queens Chapel Road Line. On December 11, 1993, R2's former route between the Brookland-CUA station and was completely replace by WMATA's R4 Metrobus service, which was rerouted to operated between the Brookland-CUA Metro Station and Highview Apartment Complex in Hyattsville, MD, via R2 and R7's former routing between the Brookland-CUA station and and via R7's routing between the and Highview Apartment Complex in Hyattsville, MD.
The R2 also used to run parallel to WMATA Metrobus Route 86 between the and intersection of Baltimore Avenue & College Avenue in College Park, Maryland via Belcrest Road, East-West Highway , and Baltimore Avenue. On December 11, 1993, R2's routing between the Prince George's Plaza station and Centerpark Office Park in Calverton, via Belcrest Road, East-West Highway, Baltimore Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, and Powder Mill Road, was replaced entirely by WMATA Route 86, which has been extended from its previous College Park terminal at the intersection of Darmouth Avenue & Calvert Road, to operate further northbound to the Centerpark Office Park in Beltsville, MD via R2's former routing.
Also, R2 was rerouted to operate between the Fort Totten station and intersection of Plum Orchard Drive & Broadbirch Drive in Calverton, Maryland via 1rst Place N.E., Riggs Road N.E., Riggs Road, East-West Highway, the Prince George's Plaza station, the , East-West Highway, Riggs Road, Powder Mill Road, Beltsville Drive, Calverton Boulevard, Broadbirch Drive, Plum Orchard Drive, and Cherry Hill Road. Unlike the former R8 and R9 Metrobus Routes, R2 was rerouted to divert from Riggs Road onto East-West Highway and travel eastwards on East-West Highway to serve both the Prince George's Plaza station and , before returning westwards on East-West Highway, to rejoin Riggs Road and taken over the former R8 routing.
Also during the same time, WMATA also created the new R1 and R5 Metrobus route, which would also serve as part of WMATA's Riggs Road Line along with WMATA Metrobus Route R2. R5 would follow most of R2's route to Calverton, with the only difference being that R5 would not divert from Riggs Road onto East-West Highway to serve the Prince George's Plaza station and and instead remain straight up on Riggs Road past East-West Highway. Another difference would be that the R5 would only operate during weekday rush hour/ peak period times, like the former R9, while R2 would operate seven days a week and provide more frequent service like R8. The R1 would only operate during weekday peak period/ rush hour times along with the R5. Also like its sister route R5, the R1 would also remain straight on Riggs Road past the intersection of East-West Highway, and skip R2's diversion. However the R1 would only operate between the Fort Totten Metro Station and Adelphi, Maryland (Presidential Park). R1's routing also significantly differed from R2 and R5's routing in Adelphi as it would make a left turn from Riggs Road onto Metzerott Road, then make a right turn onto New Hampshire Avenue, make another right turn onto Adelphi Road, another right turn onto Edwards Way, and another right turn onto Riggs Road, where R1 would reach its Adelphi terminus at the intersection of Riggs Road & Edwards Way to serve Presidential Park, instead of remaining straight on Riggs Road past Metzerott Road like R2 and R5 did. New Metrobus service was added on Metzerott Road and the small portion of Adelphi Road between New Hampshire Avenue and Edwards Way that had not previously been available, though the Shuttle-UM Adelphi North bus route did previously operate on these route corridors before Metrobus service existed on them.
While routes R1 and R5 remained the same, R2 was permanently rerouted to no longer enter and loop inside as of May 15, 2003. The stop inside the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, along with the former G.C. Murphy Department Store site WMATA Metrobus Stop was located in front of, have been both demolished to make room for a new Target Store to be constructed. R2 was rerouted to divert eastbound onto East-West Highway from Riggs Road, enter and serve Prince George's Plaza station, and return westbound on East-West Highway to rejoin and turn back onto Riggs Road.
Service changes (2012)
On June 17, 2012 changes were made to the Riggs Road Line.
The R5 Metrobus route between the Fort Totten station and , except for diverting on East-West Highway to serve the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, was completely discontinued by WMATA while the R2 discontinued service to Prince George's Plaza station on June 17, 2012. Though R2 would continue to make the right turn from Riggs Road onto East-West Highway, the R2 would only operate on East-West Highway up to the intersection of 23rd Avenue and then make a left on 23rd Avenue, to replace the R3's discontinued service (which was shorten to operate between Prince George's Plaza station and Greenbelt station on 23rd Avenue between the intersection of East-West Highway and Lewisdale Drive. The only, difference was that instead of turning left onto Lewisdale Drive, making another left turn onto Fordham Street, and making a right turn onto 23rd Avenue towards East-West Highway like the R3 did when operating back and forth between the Fort Totten station & Prince George's Plaza station and Greenbelt station, R2 would travel all the way on 23rd Avenue between the intersection of East-West Highway and University Boulevard, make a left turn onto University Boulevard, and rejoin Riggs Road by making a right turn onto Riggs Road, when operating northbound in the direction of Calverton. On the other hand, when operating southbound in the direction of the Fort Totten station, the R2 would make a left turn from Riggs Road onto University Boulevard, then make a right turn onto 23rd Avenue, which it would travel on all the way between the intersection of University Boulevard and East-West Highway. R2 would then make a right turn onto East-West Highway, and then a left turn back onto Riggs Road.
The discontinued service on Riggs Road between East-West Highway and University Boulevard was completely taken over by Metrobus Routes C4 and R1, which R2 used to operate parallel to, along with its former sister route R5. The R2's former routing between the intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road and the Prince George's Plaza station, was completely replaced by route F4, which R2 used to operate parallel to on East-West Highway.The rest of R2's routing between the Fort Totten Metro Station and intersection of Riggs Road (MD 212) & East-West Highway (MD 410), as well as between intersection of Riggs Road & University Boulevard and Calverton, remained the same however along with the R1 since then.
Proposed changes (2019)
On December 30, 2018, WMATA announced a proposal to make changes to the R2 routing.
One proposal was to extend the R2 beyond Calverton to Muirkirk station on the MARC Camden Line or to Greenbelt station which would be similar to the former R3 routing except not serving Prince George's Plaza station.
The second proposal was to eliminate the segment of Route R2 service 23rd Avenue in Lewisdale and discontinue the R1 completely to create a more direct route. The discontinued segments in Lewisdale would be replaced by the F8 that is proposed to make all stops on the proposed discontinued R2 service in Lewisdale and discontinue service along Adelphi road.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu