Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line

The Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line, designated Route P18, P19, is a weekday only bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot and Southern Avenue station of the Green Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 20–30 minutes during the weekday peak hours and 60 minutes during the weekday midday. Route P18 and P19 trips are roughly 45 minutes.

P18, P19
Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line
Overview
System	Metrobus
Operator	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Garage	Shepherd Parkway
Livery	Local
Status	In Service
Route
Locale	Prince George's County, Maryland
Communities served	Tantallon, Oxon Hill, Fort Washington, Forest Heights, Temple Hills
Landmarks served	Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot, Tantallon (P18), Fort Foote (P18), Oxon Hill Park & Ride Lot, Southern Avenue station
Start	Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot
Via	Oxon Hill Road, Southern Avenue
End	Southern Avenue station
Length	45 minutes
Service
Level	No weekend service
Frequency	20-30 minutes (Weekday Peak Hours) 60 minutes (Weekday midday)
Operates	4:32 AM - 7:30 PM
Transfers	SmarTrip only
Timetable	Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line
Route map ← P12  {{{system_nav}}}  Q1 →

Background

Routes P18 and P19 operate weekdays only between Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot and Southern Avenue station, mostly operating along Oxon Hill Road, Indian Head Highway, and Southern Avenue. Route P18 operates all day on weekdays while route P19 operates weekday peak-hours only in the peak-direction only. A limited stop segment is run between Southern Avenue station and Indian Head Highway at all times.

Routes P18 and P19 currently operate out of Shepherd Parkway division.

History

The line was created during the 1970s in order to provide service to Downtown DC to Fort Washington. Routes P17, P18, and P19 were created to run the new Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line. Routes P17 and P19 operated during the weekday peak-hours between Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot and Farragut Square via Oxon Hill Road, Indian Head Highway, and South Capitol Street. Route P18 operated between Fort Washington Park & Ride Lot and Bolling Air Force Base. Routes P17 and P19 operated during weekday peak-hours in the peak direction while route P18 operated during the weekday midday.

Routes P17 and P18 operates along Tantallon Drive, Creek Road, Gable Lane and Fort Foote Road while route P19 remains straight along Oxon Hill Road. Route P17 and P19 operates a limited stop segment between the Oxon Hill Park & Ride and Washington DC and had several boarding and alighting restrictions to passengers.[1]

1991 Service Changes

On December 28, 1991, route P18 was diverted along Firth Sterling Avenue to serve Anacostia station when it opened.[2]

2001 Service Changes

On January 13, 2001, route P19 was rerouted between Fort Washington and Oxon Hill Park & Ride lots to operate via East Swann Creek, Fort Washington, Livingston and Oxon Hill Roads. Routes P17 and P18 were not affected.[3]

2014 Proposed Changes

In 2014 during WMATA's FY2015 budget, WMATA proposed to reroute P18 to Southern Avenue station via Southern Avenue in order to improve connectivity in southern Prince George's County and to Shifting to Southern Avenue Station will help alleviate crowding at Anacostia station. Another option was to transfer the P18 to TheBus and being rerouted to Southern Avenue station.[4]

Also WMATA proposed to eliminate existing boarding and alighting restrictions and instead create a limited stop segment between the Oxon Hill Park & Ride and South Capitol & O Streets for routes P17 and P19 because the existing boarding and alighting restrictions are confusing for passengers and operators and creating a limited stop segment would preserve the “express” nature of the route in an more easy to understand way.[4]

2015 Service Changes

On June 21, 2015, route P18 was diverted along Southern Avenue to serve Southern Avenue station discontinuing service to Anacostia station. Routes P17 and P19 also discontinue the boarding and alighting restrictions and instead had a limited stop segment created between the Oxon Hill Park & Ride and South Capitol & O Streets.[5][6]

2016 Proposed Changes

During WMATA's FY2018 budget, WMATA proposed to either eliminate the Oxon Hill–Fort Washington Line or discontinue service to Downtown DC being rerouted to Southern Avenue station. WMATA would also charge the local fare for routes P17 and P19 as express service would be discontinued if it was rerouted to Southern Avenue. This was in order to reduce costs and it has a high subsidy per rider. Performance measures for WMATA goes as the following:[7]

Performance Measure	Routes P17, P18, P19	WMATA Guideline	Pass/Fail
Average Weekday Riders	1,167	432	Pass
Cost Recovery	32.33%	16.6%	Pass
Subsidy per Rider	$6.68	$4.81	Fail
Riders per Trip	21.3	10.7	Pass
Riders per Revenue Mile	1.3	1.3	Pass

The line would later be saved in 2017.[8]

2017 Service Changes

Beginning on June 25, 2017, service to Downtown DC was discontinued. Route P19 was rerouted along Southern Avenue to serve Southern Avenue station alongside route P18 keeping its same routing between Oxon Hill Pike & Ride and Fort Washington Park & Ride. Route P17 was discontinued and replaced by route P18 which added weekday peak hour service in both directions. P19 would still operate in the weekday peak-hour direction during the changes.[9]

Express fares for route P19 was also discontinued and the limited stop segment was also discontinued with all trips becoming local.[10]

New Limited Stop Segment

Beginning on August 7, 2017, in response to customer feedback, routes P18, P19, and W14 implemented a new limited stop segment along Southern Avenue between Southern Avenue station and Indian Head Highway serving only three stops in each direction. Local service is provided by routes A6, A7, D12, D13, D14, NH1, and P12.[11]

Incidents

• On November 27, 2015, at around 1:55 PM, a man was hit by a P18 bus at the intersection of Southern Avenue SE, and Indian Head Highway suffering serious injuries.[12]
• On September 28, 2017, a P18 bus stalled and lost all power to the bus causing it to crash. The accident lead to WMATA pulling its 105 NABI 42-BRT buses from revenue service for two months.[13]

References

1. "P17,18,19 - WMATA.com" (in Spanish).
2. Fehr, Stephen C. (1991-12-22). "AS METRORAIL MOVES TO ANACOSTIA, QUESTIONS REMAIN". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
3. "Metrobus service changes effective January 13, 2001 Maryland". February 10, 2001. Archived from the original on March 30, 2001. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
4. "MARYLAND PROPOSED BUS SERVICE CHANGES FISCAL YEAR 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
5. "Metrobus Service Changes Beginning June 21". June 21, 2015. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
6. Levine, Ethan (19 June 2015). "Metrobus Service, Schedule Changes to Take Effect Sunday". College Park, MD Patch. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
7. "MARYLAND Proposed Metrobus Service Changes" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
8. Smith, Max (6 March 2017). "Metro budget agreement raises fares, cuts rush hour service, saves some bus lines". WTOP. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
9. "Be ready for Metro changes June 25, 2017 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
10. "Metrobus Service Changes, June 25 | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
11. "Bus Stop Changes: Routes P18, P19 and W14 along Southern Ave | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
12. Sturdivant, Christina. "A Man Was Hit By A Metro Bus On Southern Avenue". DCist. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
13. Di Caro, Martin. "Metro Kept Hybrid Buses In Service Despite Possible Risk Of Stalling Engines. The Second Crash Prompted Action". WAMU. Retrieved 21 May 2020.