Langley Park–Cheverly Line


The Langley Park–Cheverly Line, designated Route F8, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the Cheverly Metro station of the Orange Line and Takoma – Langley Crossroads Transit Center in Langley Park, Maryland. The line operates every 30–35 minutes during peak hours and every 60–65 minutes at all other times. F8 trips are roughly 54–60 minutes.

Current route

Route F8 operates on weekdays between 5:35 AM and 8:41 PM, every Saturday between 5:47 AM and 9:22 PM, and every Sundays between 9:55 AM and 7:00 PM.
F8 operates between Cheverly station and Takoma – Langley Crossroads Transit Center seven days a week, with a frequency of every 30 minutes on weekdays and a frequency of 60 minutes on weekends. F8 was originally named the "Prince George's – Langley Park" Line from 1978, until December 2012 when the line was renamed the "Langley Park – Cheverly" Line. F8 operates out of Landover Division at all times. It originally operated out of Bladensburg until 1989.

History

The F8 Prince George's – Langley Park Line was created as a brand new route by WMATA on December 3, 1978, shortly after the Cheverly Metro Station opened on November 20, 1978. F8 replaced the segment of the former 88 streetcar line/Metrobus route's routing on Columbia Park Road, Cheverly Avenue, Landover Road, and Annapolis Road in Cheverly and Bladensburg, as well as the segment of the former G4 streetcar line on Jefferson Street, 38th Avenue, and Hamilton Street in Hyattsville, and the former G8 streetcar line route's routing in Langley Park, with all three of the routes were discontinued and replaced by Route F8 December 19, 1978.
F8 was designed to operate between the Cheverly Metro Station & University Landing Apartment Complex at the intersection of University Boulevard East and Merrimac Drive in Langley Park.

1993 service changes

On December 11, 1993, when the West Hyattsville and Prince George's Plaza stations opened, F8 was rerouted to serve both of the new stations. F8 was rerouted to remain straight on Hamilton Street past the intersection of Queens Chapel Road and make a right turn onto Ager Road, and a left turn after that, to serve West Hyattsville station, and then turn back right onto Ager Road and left onto Hamilton Street, before ultimately turning back left to get back onto Queens Chapel Road, when operating in the direction of Langley Park, instead of making the direct right turn from Hamilton Street onto Queens Chapel Road. On the other hand, when operating in the direction of the Cheverly station, F8 was rerouted to no longer make a direct left turn from the intersection of Queens Chapel Road, instead make a right turn onto Hamilton Street, then another right turn onto the intersection of Ager Road, and then a left turn to enter West Hyattsville station, before turning back right onto Ager Road and ultimately making a left back onto Hamilton Street and remaining on Hamilton Street past the intersection of Queens Chapel Road. During this time, F8 was also minorly rerouted to divert from Belcrest Road to serve Prince George's Plaza station.

2003 changes

F8 continued to serve the Metrobus stop inside Prince Georges Plaza, and loop inside the mall, until May 15, 2003, when the terminal inside the mall was demolished to make room for the construction of a brand new Target store., F8 along with the was rerouted to no longer directly enter/loop inside the Prince Georges Plaza, but simply make a direct right turn from Belcrest Road onto Toledo Road when operating in the direction of Langley Park and simply make a direct left turn from Toledo Road onto Belcrest Road when operating in the direction of the Cheverly station. Customers wishing to board or alight at the mall, were to board and get off at the Metrobus stops located on Belcrest Road or inside Prince Georges Plaza station.

2007 changes

Due to the fact that a new roundabout was constructed on the eastern entrance of the Prince George's Plaza Metro station in the middle of 2007, which strictly allowed vehicles to only exit from the station southbound on Belcrest Road; while still being able to enter the station from both the northbound and southbound sides of Belcrest Road, only F8's routing at the Prince George's Plaza Metro station, when operating in the direction of Langley Park, was affected. As a result, F8 was only able to use the eastern entrance of the Prince George's Plaza to enter from the southbound side of Belcrest Road, when operating in the direction of Langley Park, but was then forced to exit by making a right turn onto the intersection of East-West Highway, and then making a left turn to get back onto Belcrest Road in the northbound direction, since it could no longer make a direct left turn from the eastern entrance of Prince George's Plaza as it originally did. The routing at the Prince George's Plaza, when operating in the direction of Cheverly station, was not affected by this change.

Name change of line in 2012

F8 was renamed the "Langley Park–Cheverly" line in 2012 to reflect on the route.

2016 changes

On December 22, 2016, when Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center opened at the intersection of University Boulevard East and New Hampshire Avenue in Langley Park, F8's original Langley Park terminus at the University Landing apartment complex, was removed and relocated to the Takoma Langley Transit Center. The line was given Bus Bay C inside the transit center.