Veirs Mill Road Line
The Veirs Mill Road Line, designated Route Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Silver Spring station and Shady Grove station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 16-30 minutes at all times at a combined frequency of 10 minutes during the weekday peak-hours, 15 minutes during the weekday midday and weekends, and 30 minutes during the late nights. All trips roughly take 55-60 minutes. The line operates along the Veirs Mill Road corridor connecting passengers to various Metro stations and communities.
Background
The Veirs Mill Road Line consists of routes Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, and Q6. Routes Q1 and Q2 operate between Silver Spring station and Shady Grove station. Route Q4 operates between Silver Spring station and Rockville station. Routes Q5 and Q6 operate between Shady Grove station and Wheaton station. Routes Q1 and Q2 plus Q5 and Q6 operate under the same routing except routes Q2 and Q6 serve Montgomery College while routes Q1 and Q5 skip the college. The scheduling of the routes goes as the following:- Route Q1 operates during early mornings and late nights only daily.
- Route Q2 operates between the AM Peak Hours and after 7:00 PM on weekdays, and before 8:00 AM and after 5:45 PM on Saturday. Service does not operate on Sundays.
- Route Q4 operates daily until 7:00 PM between Monday and Saturday and until 5:00 PM on Sunday.
- Route Q5 operates on Sundays only.
- Route Q6 operates from Monday through Saturday until 7:00 PM. Service does not operate on Sundays.
History
Route Q2 originally operated under the Washington Suburban Lines bus company when it was introduced in the 1940s. The line provided service along Veirs Mill Road between Wheaton and Rockville Maryland and later Silver Spring. The Washington Suburban Lines was later acquired by DC Transit, and then became a WMATA route on February 4, 1973 when WMATA acquired DC Transit.The Veirs Mill Road Line consists of routes Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, and Q8 at points. Route operated between Rockville and Silver Spring, route Q2 operated between Silver Spring and Montgomery College, route Q4 operated between Rock Creek Village, route Q6 operated between Wheaton and Montgomery College, and route Q8 operated between Montgomery Mall and Silver Spring.
1978 Changes
On February 6, 1978, routes Q1, Q2, Q4, and Q8 were rerouted to Silver Spring station when it was opened.1984 Changes
On December 15, 1984 when both Shady Grove station and Rockville station opened, routes Q1, Q2, and Q6 were extended to terminate at Shady Grove station and route Q4 was extended to Rockville station. Route Q4 was also rerouted to operate between Westfield Wheaton and Rockville station.1990 Changes
On September 22, 1990, routes Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, and Q8 were slightly rerouted to serve the Wheaton station bus bays when the station opened. Routes Q6 and Q8 would terminate at Wheaton while Q1, Q2, and Q4 would be extended to Silver Spring.Simplification of the Line
During the 1990s, Ride On took over most Metrobus routes in Montgomery County, Maryland. Routes Q1, Q4, Q6, and Q8 were discontinued and replaced by various Ride On routes. Route Q4 was replaced by Ride On route 48, and Q6 and Q8 were replaced by other Ride On routes.Routes Q1 and Q2 would operate the Veirs Mill Road Line on its own between Silver Spring station and Shady Grove station via Montgomery College along Georgia Avenue and Veirs Mill Road.
2001 Service Changes
On January 13, 2001, route Q1 was discontinued and replaced by route Q2.2009 Proposed Changes
In 2009, WMATA proposed to restructure the Veirs Mill Road Line. In coordination with Montgomery County and the Maryland Department of Transportation, WMATA proposed to restructure the Q2 in order to address continuing performance-related issues, including schedule adherence, bus bunching, traffic congestion, delays, passenger crowding, and long trip duration.WMATA proposed to split the Q2 into two routes into a Q2A and Q2B. Route Q2A would operate between Shady Grove station and Wheaton station while route Q2B will operate between Rockville station and Silver Spring station. The proposal will provide overlapping service along Veirs Mill Road between Wheaton and Rockville operating daily with a 7.5-minute peak service and 15-minute off-peak service, while providing wider headways along the Maryland Route 355 segment, where parallel Ride On service is available and the well-served Georgia Avenue segment with 15-minute peak service and 30-minute off-peak service. A new limited-stop route along Viers Mill Road will be implemented in the future.
The proposal was brought up as early as 2003 and discussed in 2005. The Q2 is one of the most popular routes in the entire system with an average weekday ridership of 10,200 riders.
In later proposals, WMATA proposed to introduce a Q4 and Q6 to operate alongside route Q2. The Q4 will operate between Silver Spring and Rockville stations and the Q6 will operate between Shady Grove and Wheaton stations. Performance measures goes as the following:
| Bus Productivity Measure | June 2009 Productivity | June 2011 Productivity |
| Daily passengers | 10,200 | 10,400 |
| Passengers per trip | 53 | 54 |
| Cost recovery | 36.5% | 36.5% |
| Operating speed | 14.4 MPH | +5% savings |
Financial impacts to the proposed changes goes as follow:
| Item | FY 2010 Jan 2010 – Jun 2010 | FY 2011 July 2010 – Jun 2011 |
| Cost to Convert Q2 to Q4 and Q6 | ||
| Revenue from Ridership Increase | ||
| Net Cost | ||
| Cost for one Service Operations Manager | $40,000 | $80,000 |
| Total Net Cost |
2009 Changes
On December 27, 2009, changes were made to the Veirs Mill Road.Route Q2 kept its same routing, but would only operate during early morning and post PM peak service and discontinue Sunday service. A new route Q1 would operate during early morning and late nights as well but would skip Montgomery College. A new Q4, Q5, and Q6 were also introduced to operate alongside the Q1 and Q2. Route Q4 would operate between Rockville station and Silver Spring station and routes Q5 and Q6 will operate between Shady Grove station and Wheaton station. Route Q4 would operate daily, route Q5 would skip Montgomery College and only operating on Sunday, and route Q6 will operate Monday through Saturdays serving Montgomery College. Additionally, a new limited-stop route along Viers Mill Road would be implemented in the new future.
The new line will have a combine frequency of 7-8 minutes during the weekday peak hours and 15 minutes during off-peak hours.
2015 Changes
When the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center at Silver Spring station opened, routes Q1, Q2, and Q4 were rerouted from its bus stop along Wayne Avenue to Bus Bay 218 at the transit center on the second level sharing the bay with route J5.2015 Proposed Changes
In 2015, WMATA proposed to simplify the Viers Mill Road Line. WMATA proposed terminate the line at Wheaton station when Metrorail is open and coordinate all routes into two routes. The line will still operate to Silver Spring station only during the early mornings and late nights when Metrorail isn't operating. This will help buses to arrive on time by having them avoid the heavy traffic near the Capital Beltway and simplify the bus service by reducing the number of routes from five to two according to WMATA. Alternative service would be provided by routes Y2, Y7, and Y8.WMATA also proposed to implement a new limited stop MetroExtra route Q9 between Wheaton station and Rockville station during the weekdays to help relieve crowding.
2016 Changes
On June 26, 2016, as part of a plot program, customers traveling southbound on Q Line buses will be able to transfer to Red Line trains at Wheaton station or Forest Glen station and continue southbound to Silver Spring station free of charge using their SmarTrip card. The same thing applies to Northbound service. However, customers choosing the northbound will be charged the regular fare, but will receive a credit for the free Red Line trip applied to their card within three days. The free Red Line trip only applies to customers boarding the Red Line at Silver Spring or Forest Glen stations who then transfer to the Q Line buses at Wheaton northbound and Forest Glen and Silver Spring stations Southbound. Customers traveling outside this area on the Red Line will be charged the regular rail fare.2019 Proposed Changes
During WMATA's FY2021 budget year, WMATA proposed to eliminate service between Rockville station and Shady Grove station with all routes terminating at Rockville station and consolidated into route Q4. This was because service is duplicate to both Red Line and Ride On and would cut costs terminating the line at Rockville. According to performance measures, 1,539 weekday riders would be required to transfer, 861 Saturday riders would be required to transfer, and 626 Sunday riders would be required to transfer.Controversy
Montgomery County residents expressed concerns over the proposed changes. Many residents voiced their concerns of the proposed changes on economic impacts and proposed loss of service. Members of the Montgomery County Council and state delegation sent a letter to WMATA Chairman Paul Smedberg quoting;The Metrobus routes currently recommended for service reductions, including the Q, J, L and Z bus lines, provide transportation for many of our most transit-dependent residents," the lawmakers wrote. "Service reductions will disproportionately affect students commuting to Montgomery College, seniors running daily errands and service workers accessing jobs. Roughly 65,000 Montgomery riders use Metrobus on a daily basis, and for many these bus routes are their only source of transportation.
Tom Hucker stated:
The WMATA General Manager's proposed bus cuts would have a severe negative impact on riders, and we want to make sure residents have their voice heard before the board makes their decision on the proposal
At least 30 Montgomery County leaders called on WMATA not to cut Metrobus routes in the region, saying it will "disproportionately affect" students, seniors, and service workers with no other source of transportation. The letter's signatories include state senators Craig Zucker, Susan Lee, and Cheryl Kagan, Maryland State Delegates Marc Korman, Sara Love, and Julie Palakovich Carr and all nine members of the county council. In the letter to Metro Chairman Paul Smedberg, members of the Montgomery County Council and state delegation said they opposed the cuts, which are part of WMATA's proposed FY 2021 operating budget, and urged the agency to prioritize "maintaining frequent and reliable service."
According to 343 voters to the line, 21% of voters were in favor of the changes, 60% were against the changes, and 19% were undecided. Most of the responses were concerns of passengers trips becoming longer and not wanting to transfer to other buses.
On April 2, 2020, WMATA would back out of the proposal due to the major customer and political pushback.