DC Circulator

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DC Circulator

The DC Circulator is a downtown circulator

Downtown circulator

A downtown circulator is a general term in the United States for a road or bus system to distribute traffic or people through a downtown area. Specific examples include:...
bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus can generally seat a maximum of anywhere from 8 to 200 passengers; many more passengers than a minivan....
system in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, U.S.A.. It is owned by a public-private partnership

Public-private partnership

Public-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies....
among the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is a tri-jurisdictional government agency authorized by United States Congress, that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C....
(which also operates the Metrobus system in the capital and its suburbs), and DC Surface Transit, Inc., and operated by First Transit

First Transit

First Transit is a United States based subsidiary of the United Kingdom based FirstGroup. It provides contract Public transport and paratransit services, transit management services and transit consulting throughout North America....
.

The concept came out of a 1997 report by the National Capital Planning Commission

National Capital Planning Commission

The National Capital Planning Commission is a United States government agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding communities....
, which was initially championed by the Downtown Business Improvement District, and now has support from Georgetown Business Improvement District, Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, Capitol Hill Business Improvement District, Washington Convention Center Authority and Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation.

The DC Circulator has three lines operating at 10 minute intervals.

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Encyclopedia

The DC Circulator is a downtown circulator

Downtown circulator

A downtown circulator is a general term in the United States for a road or bus system to distribute traffic or people through a downtown area. Specific examples include:...
bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus can generally seat a maximum of anywhere from 8 to 200 passengers; many more passengers than a minivan....
system in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Public-private partnership

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

First Transit

National Capital Planning Commission

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
with Union Station

Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, D.C., when it opened in 1908.It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington, D.C., visited by 32 million people each year....
and operates primarily along K Street and Massachusetts Avenue. The north-south line connects the Washington Convention Center

Washington Convention Center

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a 2.3 million square foot building located in Washington, D.C. The center was designed by Atlanta, Georgia-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates....
with the Maine Avenue waterfront and operates primarily along 7th

7th Street (Washington, D.C.)

There are four north-south arteries in Washington, D.C. named Seventh Street that are differentiated by the Address #Quadrants of the city in which they are located....
and 9th streets, which have bus lane

Bus lane

A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport otherwise held up by traffic congestion....
s. These two lines meet at Mount Vernon Square

Mount Vernon Square

Mount Vernon Square is a town square in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C. It is located where the following streets would otherwise intersect: Massachusetts Avenue , New York Avenue , K Street , and 8th Street NW....
. The third line, which runs only on weekends, serves the National Mall

National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the Capital of the United States. Officially termed by the National Park Service the National Mall & Memorial Parks, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to...
in a loop along Constitution Avenue

Constitution Avenue

In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the city's Northwest, Washington, D.C....
, 4th Street, Independence Avenue

Independence Avenue

In Washington, D.C., Independence Avenue is a major east-west street running just south of the United States Capitol in the city's Washington, D.C....
, and 17th Street.

The fare may be paid in a variety of ways, including cash, SmarTrip

SmarTrip

The SmarTrip card is a plastic contact-less stored-value card smartcard used for payment within the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system in Washington, D.C....
, and a transfer from a Metrobus

Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Its fleet consists of 1,460 buses covering an area of 1,500 square miles in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia....
.

The Van Hool

Van Hool

Van Hool NV is a Belgium coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, Coach es, trolleybuses, and Trailer s.The company was founded in 1947 by Bernard Van Hool in Koningshooikt, nearby Lier, Belgium....
A330 buses that the Circulator runs were part of an order by AC Transit

AC Transit

AC Transit is a regional bus agency serving parts of Alameda County, California and Contra Costa County, California in the western coastal area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, headquartered in Oakland, California....
of Oakland. These buses are built to their specifications, but had air conditioning added for use during DC's hot summers.

Accidents

On April 18, 2007, a driver of a bus was off-duty and had left the bus to attend to other business. While he was out of the bus, the bus rolled back and crashed into a building of Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a Society of Jesus private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634....
. One woman was injured.

DC Circulator

Accidents

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