College Park–Bethesda Line

The College Park–Bethesda Line, designated Route J4, is a rush hour-only MetroExtra bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the College Park–University of Maryland station of the Washington Metro Green Line and Bethesda station of the Red Line. The J4 operates throughout the neighborhoods in Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Maryland. This line currently runs along construction of the upcoming Purple Line between College Park and Bethesda.

J4
College Park–Bethesda Line
A New Flyer DE40LFA (6457) running on the J4
Overview
SystemMetrobus
OperatorWashington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
GarageMontgomery
LiveryMetroExtra
StatusIn Service
Began serviceApril 15, 2002
Route
LocalePrince George's County, Montgomery County
Communities servedCollege Park, Maryland, University Of Maryland, Langley Park, Maryland, Takoma Park, Maryland, Silver Spring, Maryland, Chevy Chase, Maryland, Bethesda, Maryland
Landmarks servedCollege Park–University of Maryland station, University Of Maryland, Langley Park, Maryland, Takoma Park, Maryland, Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center, Silver Spring station, Rock Creek Forest, Chevy Chase, Maryland, Bethesda station
StartCollege Park–University of Maryland station
ViaRiver Road, Paint Branch Parkway, Campus Drive, University Boulevard, New Hampshire Avenue, Piney Branch Road, Flower Avenue, Wayne Avenue, Colesville Road, East-West Highway
EndBethesda station
Service
LevelWeekday Peak Hour Service Only
Frequency20 minutes
Operates5:20 AM – 9:30 AM, 3:25 PM – 7:45 PM
TransfersSmarTrip only
TimetableCollege Park–Bethesda Line
← J2  {{{system_nav}}}  J12 →

Route description and service

The J4 operates from Montgomery Division every 20 minutes from 5:20 AM – 9:30 AM and 3:25 PM – 7:45 PM on weekdays rush hours, operating from both directions. Service operates limited stops along Woodmont Avenue, Montgomery Lane, Montgomery Avenue, East West Highway, Colesville Road, Wayne Avenue, Flower Avenue, Branch Road, and University Boulevard, Campus Drive, Stadium Drive, Regents Drive, and River Road. The first two westbound trips operate along Valley Drive and Union Drive inside University of Maryland. The J4 serves all stops in College Park, Maryland between University of Maryland, College Park and College Park–University of Maryland station, while it has limited stops north of College Park to Bethesda, Maryland.

History

Original Route

Route J4 operated between Bethesda and Beltway Plaza Mall until 1978 when it was shorten to operate between Silver Spring station and Bethesda being replaced by route F6.[1] Around the 1980s, route J4 was extended to Montgomery Mall to serve alongside the Bethesda-Silver Spring Line with routes the J1, J2, and J6.[2] However the route was discontinued in the 1990s.

Planning

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the Maryland Department of Transportation had a goal of providing service between College Park and Bethesda. Maryland already implement the C8 between Glenmont and College Park and later extended to White Flint in 2000.[3] The Purple Line was mentioned during the 1990s but with high construction costs and delays led the project to be in the talks until construction began in 2017.[4] Originally, the plan between College Park and Bethesda was to have an Bus rapid transit opposed to a light rail.

New Route J4

While the purple line was still in talks, WMATA and the MTA created route J4 to operate between College Park station and Bethesda station on April 15, 2002. Route J4 was created in order to meet the Maryland Department of Transportation's goal of providing better transportation between the University of Maryland and various places throughout Montgomery County, Maryland.[5]

Route J4 was also created by WMATA to provide limited stop service between the College Park–University of Maryland station and Bethesda station via the University of Maryland, Langley Park, and the Silver Spring station, which the Maryland Department of Transportation originally had as a goal for its Purple Line light rail trains to operate on. However, since the Purple Line was yet to be built and had a long way to go in terms of getting the necessary funding and approval from Prince George's County, and Montgomery County. The J4 provides extra service for the J1 and J2 along East West Highway and C2, C4 along University Boulevard. The J4 becomes a local route between University Of Maryland and College Park station serving all stops.

The J4 became a MetroExtra route since 2007, as part to increase more service from Routes J1 and J3.[6] This brings faster service on the J4, as the MetroExtra conversion is part of a collaboration between the MTA and WMATA.

2015 changes

With the Silver Spring Transit Center's opening in 2015, J4 going Eastbound was given Bus Bay 223 on Level 2 along with the F4, while J4 going Westbound was given Bus Bay 102 on Level 1 along with routes J1 & J2 .[7]

2016 changes

When the Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center opened on December 22, 2016, the J4 was rerouted, along with several other Metrobus, Ride On buses, Shuttle UM and TheBus routes, to serve the newly opened Transit Center. Route J4 would serve Bus Bay A.[8][9][10]

2019 changes

Beginning on September 1, 2019 for nine months, the College Park Metrobus loop was temporarily closed for construction of the Purple line at College Park station having all stops located along River Road. As of a result, route J4 was temporarily rerouted along River Road having to turn around on the roundabout along Haig Drive to return to its regular route going to Bethesda.[11]

2020 changes

Beginning on April 20, 2020, parts of Calvert Road was closed due to the ongoing construction of the Purple line, route J4 was temporarily rerouted along US Route 1 and to turn on Calvert Road to serve the west side of College Park–University of Maryland station since vehicles cannot travel along parts of Calvert Road.[12] However the reroute has not operated due to the 2019-20 COVID-19 outbreak and Metro's reduced service since March 13.[13]

gollark: I'll counterrotate it.
gollark: Just harvest the icon and rotate it backward.
gollark: @​everyone Go Fast Fourier Transform yourself.
gollark: They seemed mostly fine with them. Not a huge amount of them actually *changed* anyway.
gollark: I think it's in `infocontext.txt`: they believed people were misled into thinking the other staff were not happy with rule changes.

References
  1. Likowaki, Barbara (January 19, 1978). "Bus Route Changes to Affect Greenbelt" (PDF). Greenbelt News Review. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  2. Guillermoprieto, Alma. "Changes Announced On Metro Bus Routes". Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. Kwan, Quon (September 1, 1998). "ACT Succeeds in Getting New Metrobus Route C8" (PDF). Action for Transit Committee Transit Times. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  4. Shaver, Katherine. "What you need to know about the Purple Line's construction". Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  5. "METRO". The Washington Post. April 16, 2002. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  6. "Bethesda–College Park Corridor Enhanced Bus Improvements" (PDF). WMATA. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  7. "Directory Map" (JPG). WMATA. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  8. "Metrobus service changes effective December 18 include more late-night service | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. "Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center, December 22 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. Rowl, DW. "Langley Park's new transit center opened on Thursday!". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  11. "Temporary Stop Relocation: MDOT MTA Purple Line Construction at College Park Station Bus Loop, September 1". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  12. "MDOT MTA Purple Line Construction Project | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  13. "Metro Covid-19 Service | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
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