Advocates raise concerns for elderly, disabled veterans in WMATA Metro bus overhaul

Concerns for elderly, disabled veterans in WMATA Metro bus overhaul

Monday marks the first full weekday of service for Metro’s overhauled bus system, dubbed the "Better Bus" Network, following its official launch on Sunday.

WASHINGTON - Monday marks the first full weekday of service for Metro’s overhauled bus system, dubbed the "Better Bus" Network, following its official launch on Sunday.

It's the first major system overhaul since the 1970s and involves hundreds of lines changed along with around 500 stops dissolved. There's also an important renaming of the bus rounds. For example, "C" now stands for "Crosstown" and "D" will stand for "Downtown," meaning the route mostly moves North and South.

Names have also been changed for the names impacting the region. "M" stands for Montgomery County, "P" is for Prince George's County and A stands for Arlington/Alexandria.

Hospital access concerns

What we know:

While many city leaders are applauding the efforts to make the system more reliable, frequent and user-friendly, at least two community leaders are petitioning for a change.

Longtime business owner and Georgia Avenue Business Association President, Romeo Morgan, tells FOX 5 he's furious the revamped routes mean the H2/H4 bus routes will no longer take patients up to the front doors of Washington Hospital or the VA Hospital — the bus now stops at the campus entrance. And if the VA Hospital-goer is using a bus that stops them on Michigan Ave., they have a long walk ahead that doesn't include a sidewalk on part of the VA Hospital's campus.

"People don't understand, it's - like on a 100-degree day, how do you expect a senior to walk? How do you expect an amputee to walk or wheelchair that long mile? I mean, it's ridiculous that they take money over their budget — over the health of the citizens of the District of Columbia," said Romeo Morgan, "Seventy-five hundred senior citizens, over 1,500 Veterans, are you ridiculously crazy, or what?"

FOX 5 did ask the head of the transit system about these concerns after he hosted D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on a Friday ride-along on one of the system's updated routes.

"We've said from the start, there's going to be a lot of trade-offs in public service, right? And we are very empathetic with anyone that has a change that might not work for them. I think the last thing I saw, was about 95% of people who use the bus today are going to have better service," said WMATA General Manager, Randy Clarke.

Calls for route changes

"And so these are challenging decisions that are made," he continued, "This network is going to provide — and it was really done though an equity lens, part of the entire analysis was: where do people really need service, where they live and where they're trying to go, how do we get people/busses closer to the curb to help people with mobility needs, so things like wheelchairs, walkers, things of that nature as you mentioned, how do we get people to, you know, hospitals and medical at even, midday and weekends plus times that we don't serve today. So, overall aggravative, more people are going to get better service, including a lot of people that desperately need it: lower-income people, people that have no other option. We are providing more and better service for them."

Darren Jones, President of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association, tells FOX 5 some 40 or more ANC leaders in Ward 1 were not told of the hospital route changes in Ward 5 and that some of the ANCs are petitioning to get them back.

Morgan tells FOX 5 he's lobbying members of the D.C. Council.