Image by BeyondDC licensed under Creative Commons.

Update: Mayor Bowser indeed announced she's funding the 59 bus, and improvements to the W4 bus east of the Anacostia as well!

Since November, Greater Greater Washington has been working alongside ANC commissioners, riders, neighbors, and allies to push for the 59, a bus that would operate similar to an express bus along 14th Street NW. This just in: it looks like the mayor is with us.

Riders have faced overcrowded and insufficient service on 14th Street for years, even as the area has experienced tremendous residential and commercial growth. Reviving a previously shelved WMATA proposal from four years ago, advocates have been asking officials to fund a 59 limited stop service line to supplement the existing service available. The new service would dramatically cut transit times for many workers and neighbors, as well as help reduce congestion overall along the route.

On Friday Jasmin Benab, a Ward 4 liaison for Muriel Bowser’s office, invited members of a Petworth neighborhood listserv to join the mayor for a 14th Street bus line announcement this coming Wednesday.

Good morning Ward 4 residents,

Please join Mayor Bowser for the 14th St bus line announcement, which will take place on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 10:30am on the corner of 14th St. and Spring Rd NW.

We are very excited to have everyone join us as Mayor Bowser makes this important announcement.

All signs point to the mayor announcing that she's including funding the 59 in her initial budget at this event on Wednesday. If that's the case it's great news and bodes well for the funding actually happening.

But it’s not over yet. Over the next few months, DC councilmembers will amend and vote on a final budget, and there is always a chance that the funding for the 59 will be removed in the process. Six councilmembers have pledged support for the 59 already, which is great but not a majority.

Want to help us see this through? Sign the petition if you haven’t already, or share with friends neighbors. Then go out and celebrate, and come to the press conference Wednesday to thank the Mayor for her support!

David Whitehead was the Housing Program Organizer at Greater Greater Washington from 2016 to 2019.  A former high school math teacher and a community organizer, David worked to broaden and deepen Greater Greater Washington’s efforts to make the region more livable and inclusive through education, advocacy, and organizing. He lives in Eckington.