Maryland and Virginia transportation officials are once again negotiating a new Metrobus line to connect the National Harbor community in southern Prince George’s to Old Town Alexandria.
The push for the additional service comes after growing demand from workers in an area that has become an employment hub and a regional destination with entertainment, retail shops, restaurants and hotel and convention accommodations. There also are projections of greater demand with the opening of MGM National Harbor later this year, which will add an estimated 3,600 jobs to the area.
Metro and transportation officials have acknowledged the need for the transit link, but the conversations have been stuck on how to pay for the service. Jurisdictions on both sides of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge have yet to agree on a route or commit funding.
A new bus line could cost between $1.5 million and $2.5 million in operating costs annually, depending on the level of service that the jurisdictions settle on, according to preliminary estimates circulated by Metro. But even years after the idea was first brought up, funding hasn’t been reserved for the line in the fiscal 2017 budget, which makes it unclear whether the service would be in place in time for MGM National Harbor’s opening.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Luz Lazo over at the Washington Post