The 43!!

So, I'm sure you're all familiar with Tim's scoop about the new 43 bus some weeks ago that was carried on a few other area blogs. Well both yesterday and this morning I had the pleasure of riding the new 'express' route on the 43 and... it was a good experience! I don't really have a usual time that I begin or end my commute. Some mornings I head in early, some I barely make it by 9:30 (I'm supposed to be at work by 9...), and my evening schedule is even less predictable. The one benefit this has is that I get a nice sampling of the bus at different hours.

Yesterday morning I was feeling ambitious and refreshed from my 2 week hiatus from the working world. I decided to go in early and I caught the bus at about 7:50 am. To my surprise, the first bus to come was the new 43! My usual commute time is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20+ minutes, down to Connecticut south of Dupont Circle. I'm pleased to report that my commute was cut in half!

Still, maybe that could be attributed to the early hour and limited traffic. Today I didn't leave until a bit later. When I got on the bus (43!) this morning I decided to time it. I got on at 8:34am and stepped off the bus at 8:50! This is during what I would consider peak rush hour traffic time.

All in all: good job Metro! Though this is a simple and seemingly obvious solution to the Dupont Circle traffic issue, I'm pleasantly surprised that WMATA took the initiative and resolved this issue.