Sunday, March 19, 2006
D.C.: Circulator Bus Service Heading Toward the Mall
Circulator Bus Service Heading Toward the Mall
By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 19, 2006; C11
The D.C. Circulator, a public bus system that has been providing inexpensive, frequent service in downtown Washington since July, will start a new route around the Mall this week, just in time for the spring tourist season.
The Circulator buses will operate a continuous loop on the streets bordering the Mall, stopping at each of the Smithsonian museums as well as the two National Gallery buildings. Like the two current Circulator routes -- one runs east-west and the other north-south -- the new loop's buses will run every five to 10 minutes and cost $1 a ride, making the fare the cheapest public transportation available downtown. Metrobus is $1.25; Metrorail is $1.35.
The expanded bus service is not welcome news to Tom Mack, owner and board chairman of Tourmobile Sightseeing Inc., which has held exclusive rights to provide the sightseeing transportation on the Mall under agreements with the National Park Service dating to 1969. The average adult fare is $20 for the day.
The new route, he said, has the potential to damage -- and possibly destroy -- his business. Last year, Tourmobile served more than 1 million people at all of its sites, including Arlington National Cemetery and the major memorials.
"I believe this is an intentional infringement upon my contract," he said.
The Circulator in downtown Washington, D.C. is revolutionary in one important way - it's the first privately-operated transit service in D.C. since the early 1970's.
As for Mr. Mack, owner of the government-sanctioned monopoly Tourmobile service, well, I think he "doth protest too much," as Bill Shakespeare put it.
By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 19, 2006; C11
The D.C. Circulator, a public bus system that has been providing inexpensive, frequent service in downtown Washington since July, will start a new route around the Mall this week, just in time for the spring tourist season.
The Circulator buses will operate a continuous loop on the streets bordering the Mall, stopping at each of the Smithsonian museums as well as the two National Gallery buildings. Like the two current Circulator routes -- one runs east-west and the other north-south -- the new loop's buses will run every five to 10 minutes and cost $1 a ride, making the fare the cheapest public transportation available downtown. Metrobus is $1.25; Metrorail is $1.35.
The expanded bus service is not welcome news to Tom Mack, owner and board chairman of Tourmobile Sightseeing Inc., which has held exclusive rights to provide the sightseeing transportation on the Mall under agreements with the National Park Service dating to 1969. The average adult fare is $20 for the day.
The new route, he said, has the potential to damage -- and possibly destroy -- his business. Last year, Tourmobile served more than 1 million people at all of its sites, including Arlington National Cemetery and the major memorials.
"I believe this is an intentional infringement upon my contract," he said.
The Circulator in downtown Washington, D.C. is revolutionary in one important way - it's the first privately-operated transit service in D.C. since the early 1970's.
As for Mr. Mack, owner of the government-sanctioned monopoly Tourmobile service, well, I think he "doth protest too much," as Bill Shakespeare put it.
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