“New Carrollton–Silver Spring Line”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The New Carrollton-Silver Spring Line, designated as Route F4, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between New Carrollton station of the Orange Line of the Washington Metro and Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 10-15 minutes during peak hours, 20-30 minutes during midday and evening service, 20-35 minutes on the weekends, and 60 minutes during late night service. F4 trips are roughly 62 minutes. The line mainly provides service on the East-West Highway corridor all the way from the eastern portion of Prince George's County all the way up to Montgomery County.

History

Beginnings

The F6 initially served as part of this particular Metrobus line along with the route F4, from November 21, 1978 all the way up until June 17, 2012, when the F6 went through a major rerouting change to operate between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway and Fort Totten station via R3's former routing, rather than operating parallel to its sister Metrobus Route F4 between the intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road & Silver Spring Metro Station.^[1]

The route was formerly known as the, "Prince George's - Silver Spring" Line, from November 21, 1978 when the route was initially created by WMATA, all the way up until early 2009 when WMATA renamed both routes, "New Carrollton - Silver Spring" Line. The reason why this particular line was initially named the "Prince George's - Silver Spring" Line instead of the "New Carrollton - Silver Spring" Line, was because of the fact that when both Metrobus Routes F4 & F6 began service on November 21, 1978, only F4 operated back and forth between New Carrollton station & Silver Spring station. At the same time, the F6 operated back and forth between the Silver Spring station & Greenbelt Center (Crescent Road & Gardenway), via University of Maryland, College Park. The F6 did operate towards New Carrollton station, along with the F4, until December 11, 1993 when the Green Line 1993 portion between Fort Totten station & Greenbelt station. It was only during that time when F6 was rerouted to operate to New Carrollton station, instead of operating to Greenbelt Center being replaced by the C2. Despite this change, the "Prince George's - Silver Spring" name stuck for the F4 & F6 Metrobus Lines, until the spring of 2009, when the name of the line was changed to the "New Carrollton - Silver Spring" Line to better reflect the lines routing.^[2]^[1]

Service Changes (1993)

On December 11, 1993, F6 was rerouted to operate between the Silver Spring & New Carrollton Metro Stations like its sister route, F4. Most of F6's routing between the Silver Spring Metro Station remained the same, only with the exception that F6 was rerouted to enter and serve the brand new West Hyattsville & Prince George's Plaza Metro Stations that had just opened. F4, on the other hand, kept almost all of its routing between the Silver Spring & New Carrollton Metro Stations the same, only with the exception that it was minorly rerouted to enter and serve the newly opened Prince George's Plaza Metro Station. The major portion of F6's routing, however, was between the University of Maryland College Park Campus & the New Carrollton Metro Station. Instead of making a left turn from Campus Drive onto Baltimore Avenue, F6 was rerouted to continue straight on Campus Drive past the intersection of Baltimore Avenue, which would automatically become Paint Branch Parkway, which F6 would follow all the way up to the intersection of River Road, then make a right turn onto River Road, and another right turn to enter and serve the newly opened College Park - U of MD Metro Station, then make another right turn to get back onto River Road, remain straight on River Road all the way up to the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue, make a left turn onto Kenilworth Avenue, then make a right turn onto the intersection of Good Luck Road, then make another right turn onto Auburn Avenue, then a left turn onto Riverdale Road where F6 would briefly meet its sister Metrobus Route F4 and travel straight on Riverdale Road along with it until reaching the intersection of Finns Lane, where it would make a right turn onto while F4 remained straight on Riverdale Road all the way up to Annapolis Road. F6 would continue straight on Finns Lane past the intersection of Annapolis Road, where the road would automatically become Harkins Road. F4 basically made a right turn from Riverdale Road onto Annapolis Road, which it used to get all the way up to the intersection of Harkins Road, and make a left turn onto Harkins Road, to rejoin its sister Metrobus Route F6 the rest of the way to the New Carrollton Metro Station. F6's former routing between the University of Maryland College Park Campus & Greenbelt Center was completely replaced by WMATA Metrobus Route C2, which was extended from the Beltway Plaza all the way east to F6's former terminus at the Greenbelt Center. On the other hand, F6 replaced the portion of C2's routing between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center & University of Maryland College Park Campus, via Adelphi Road and Belcrest Road, which C2 operated on up until December 11, 1993, when it was rerouted to operate straight on University Boulevard in Langley Park and follow it until Campus Drive where C2 would divert slightly right onto and use to continue straight to the University of Maryland College Park Campus. The portion of C2's former routing between University Boulevard in Langley Park and the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, via Riggs Road, East-West Highway, Toledo Terrace, and Belcrest Road, was completely replaced by C2's sister route C4, which was extended east from its previous terminus in Langley Park all the way up to the newly opened Prince George's Plaza Metro Station.^[3]

Service Changes (2003)

On May 15, 2003, its former Metrobus stop inside the Prince George's Plaza, along with the former G.C. Murphy's Department Store site, were demolished to build a brand new Target store. Since that date, Metrobus Routes F4 & F6 have stopped entering and looping inside around the mall by turning left from Prince George's Plaza and onto Belcrest Road and left onto Toledo Road to enter the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and make a right onto East-West Highway to exit the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center when traveling in the direction of the Silver Spring Metro Station. F4 also stopped turning left from East-West Highway into the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and exiting the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center by making a right turn on Belcrest Road when traveling in the direction of the New Carrollton Metro Station. F4 simply entered and exited the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station in a much more straightforward way by turning left onto East-West Highway after serving the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, or turn right from East-West Highway into the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station. F4 only operated southbound on Belcrest Road by turning right onto Belcrest Road after serving the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, when traveling in the direction of New Carrollton station or by turning left from Belcrest Road into the Prince George's Plaza station when traveling in the direction of the Silver Spring station. F6 was also rerouted to no longer enter the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center by diverting from Belcrest Road onto Toledo Road.^[4]

The next major rerouting that took place was with F6's routing to exit the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station during the beginning of 2007. F6, like all of the other Metrobus routes exiting the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station northbound on Belcrest Road, originally turned left from the eastern entrance of the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station to get back onto Belcrest Road. With the new roundabout being constructed on the eastern entrance of the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, left turns from the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station northbound on Belcrest Road were prohibited. All vehicles that wanted to make this turn, including both buses and cars, had to exit the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station by making a right turn onto East-West Highway, and then make a left turn from East-West Highway onto Belcrest Road in the northbound direction. The roundabout, however, allowed all vehicles to enter the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station by making a right, or left turn from Belcrest Road into the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, and to make a right turn from the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station onto Belcrest Road in the southbound direction. As a result, only F6 buses exiting the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station when operating in the direction of the New Carrollton Metro Station were affected by this change. F6 buses exiting the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station when operating in the direction of the New Carrollton Metro Station, were permanently rerouted to no longer make a direct left turn from the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, northbound onto Belcrest Road, but to instead exit the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station at its western entrance, make a right turn onto East-West Highway, then make a left turn to get back onto Belcrest Road in the northbound direction. F6 buses operating in the direction of the Silver Spring Metro Station and F6 buses operating in the direction of the New Carrollton Metro Station and making a left turn from Belcrest Road into the eastern entrance of the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station were not affected by this change. F4 buses operating in the direction of either New Carrollton or Silver Spring were also not affected by this change.

Service Changes (2009)

The next major rerouting took place during March 27, 2009 when an accident in the evening between two F4 buses and a MARC train took place right by the Riverdale MARC Train Station at the intersection of Queensbury Road & Rhode Island Avenue in Riverdale, MD. One F4 bus traveling in the direction of the Silver Spring Metro Station, was making a left turn from Lafayette Avenue onto Queensbury Road, but could not make a left turn fast enough to clear the path for the other F4 bus heading in the direction of the New Carrollton Station straight on Queensbury Road, to get past the Riverdale MARC Station train tracks before the Riverdale MARC train gate closed on that bus. The bus got stuck in the gate and an oncoming MARC train hit both buses and caused them to crash into each other. All passengers and both of the bus drivers were transported to the nearest hospital to be treated for minor, non-life threatening injuries.^[5]^[6]

Both Metrobuses involved in the accident received damage in part of the accident. The Flxible Metro D (9731) had slight damage while the New Flyer D40LFR (6040) and was out of service for 3 years until being returned to service in 2012 receiving the Express and "MetroExtra" scheme. The bus was based out of Landover division before being moved to Montgomery division around 2012-2014.

As of March 27, 2009, WMATA permanently rerouted F4 to no longer operate straight up on Queensbury Road past Baltimore Avenue and serve the Riverdale MARC Train Station. Since March 27, 2009, F4 buses have been rerouted to turn left from Queensbury Road onto Baltimore Avenue, then turn right onto East-West Highway, then make a right turn onto 49th Avenue, and a left turn onto Riverdale Road, where F4 would follow its then original routing from the intersection of Riverdale Road & 49th Avenue and to New Carrollton station. On the other hand, the F4 in the direction of the Silver Spring station was permanently rerouted to no longer go west on Riverdale Road past the intersection of Riverdale Road & 49th Avenue and turn right from Riverdale Road onto Lafayette Avenue, then make an immediate left on Queensbury Road to cross the Riverdale station train tracks and head west past Baltimore Avenue and Queens Chapel Road, where Queensbury Road becomes Belcrest Road and heads to the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station. F4 was instead rerouted to make a right from Riverdale Road onto 49th Avenue, then make another right onto Queensbury Road, then make a left onto Taylor Road, make another left onto East-West Highway, make another left onto Baltimore Avenue, and reenter Queensbury Road by making a right turn from Baltimore Avenue onto Queensbury Road and following that road all the way past Queens Chapel Road, where it becomes Belcrest Road and leads straight to the Prince George's Plaza station.^[7] Since the accident, only TheBus Route 14 has taken over the former F4 routing.

Silver Spring Transit Center Opening

During the spring of 2009, the Silver Spring Bus Bay where all Metrobus Routes including F4 and F6 used to stop, was closed so that the new Silver Spring Transit Center could be built. Between the spring of 2009 and summer of 2012, both Metrobus routes F4 and F6 terminated at the intersection of Wayne Avenue & Colesville Road. Between June 17, 2012 and 2015, F4 still terminated at the intersection of Colesville Road (MD 384) & Wayne Avenue, even as its former sister route F6 was rerouted to no longer operate to/ serve the Silver Spring Metro Station. Then, finally in 2015, F4 was rerouted instead to serve the Silver Spring Transit Center and its temporary bus stop terminal at the intersection of Wayne Avenue & Colesville Road was removed. ^[8]

With the Silver Spring Transit Center’s opening in 2015, the F4 was given Bus Bay 223 on Level 2 sharing the Bus Bay with the J4.^[9]

Splitting the F4 & F6 into two routes

During 2011, WMATA proposed to split the F4 and F6 routing. While the F4 remained the same, the F6 was proposed be rerouted to serve Fort Totten, keeping its routing between the New Carrollton Metro Station & intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road the same, except for the fact that F6 would be rerouted to operate on the Route R3's former routing between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway & Fort Totten via East-West Highway, Riggs Road, Sargent Road instead of operating along with/ following its sister route F4 between the intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road & the Silver Spring.^[10]

In May 2012, it was officially announced that the F6 would be rerouted to operate between the New Carrollton & Fort Totten Metro Stations, keeping its routing between the New Carrollton Metro Station & intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road the same, but being rerouted to operate the rest of the way to the Fort Totten Metro Station via R3's former routing between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway & the Fort Totten Metro Station, via East-West Highway, Riggs Road, Sargent Road, Sargent Road N.E., Gallatin Street N.E., South Dakota Avenue N.E., and Galloway Street N.E. on June 17, 2012. The portion of WMATA Metrobus Route R3 on 23rd Avenue in Lewisdale between East-West Highway & Lewisdale Drive has been completely replaced by rerouted R2 service which discontinued service to Prince George's Plaza station, while R3's former service on Toledo Terrace & Belcrest Road has been discontinued and completely replaced with C4 service, which R3 used to run parallel to on Toledo Terrace & Belcrest Road. As of June 17, 2012, F4 and F6 were no longer sister routes and were split apart into two completely separate routes with the F6 being renamed the New Carrollton-Fort Totten Line while the F4 kept the name and routing as it had. ^[11]

References

1. ^¹{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/11/30/bus-routes-change-sunday-to-link-with-orange-line/74b7bfbd-4100-411b-b9eb-d51f9e4a0031/?utm_term=.5b68feeae0f1|title=Bus Routes Change Sunday to Link With Orange Line|website=Washingtonpost.com|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
2. ^https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1993/12/09/metro-shuffling-its-bus-schedule/29c11358-4cae-44aa-91f7-d1b863257131/
3. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1993/12/09/metro-shuffling-its-bus-schedule/29c11358-4cae-44aa-91f7-d1b863257131/?utm_term=.fdfd77519dd1|title=Metro Shuffling Its Bus Schedule|website=Washingtonpost.com|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
4. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2003/200320/hyattsville/news/158762-1.html|title=Metrobus service suspended at Prince Georges Plaza|website=Gazette.net|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
5. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.gazette.net/stories/03272009/prinnew125024_32471.shtml|title=MARC train crashes into Metrobus at Riverdale station Thursday afternoon|website=Gazette.net|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
6. ^https://www.wmata.com/about/news/pressreleasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=2515
7. ^https://www.wmata.com/about/news/pressreleasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=2522
8. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.wmata.com/service/status/details/Paul-Sarbanes-Transit-Center.cfm|title=Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center in Silver Spring |website=Wmata.com|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
9. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.wmata.com/service/bus/images/PSTC-Directory-Map.jpg|format=JPG|title=Directory Map|website=Wmata.com|accessdate=27 January 2019}}
10. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.wmata.com/about/public-hearings/upload/bus_md.pdf|format=PDF|title=MARYLAND PROPOSED BUS SERVICE CHANGES : FISCAL YEAR 2011|website=Wmata.com\\accessdate=27 January 2019}}
11. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.wmata.com/about/news/pressreleasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5233|title=Metro News Release|website=Wmata.com|accessdate=27 January 2019}}