MetroExtra route map. Image by WMATA.

MetroExtra is Metro's brand for faster-than-usual buses. This map shows them all, plus related lines like the Metroway BRT and the Richmond Highway Express (REX).

With longer spacing between stops, traffic signal priority, and a signature blue paint scheme, MetroExtra buses are often more convenient than normal bus routes. Thus, this map is a guide to where WMATA's best bus corridors are. In a sense, it's WMATA's version of GGWash's map of ten bus lines everyone should know.

A MetroExtra bus, with its signature blue livery. Image by the author.

With a few exceptions, most MetroExtra lines only run at peak times, supplementing local buses on the busiest bus corridors in the region when demand is highest. But since WMATA only runs MetroExtra on its best lines, this map works as a proxy for where those best lines are. You may not always be able to catch a MetroExtra bus here, but something will come relatively frequently pretty much all the time.

If you can't remember the entire gargantuan list of Metrobus routes, just remember this smaller set and you'll have a good mental map of where the best lines are.

Here's the full list of lines on the map, including those that run all day instead of just at peak times:

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.