About 20 Circulator bus drivers represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, along with activists and other supporters, rallied in front of the Wilson Building in DC today, demanding a smooth transition into other jobs as their positions are being cut.
Starting October 1, the District’s Circulator buses will be slowly phased out—with the big red buses eliminated entirely by the end of the year. While the chipping away of the service begins soon, mass layoff notices have already begun hitting the mailboxes of Circulator drivers.
The District Department of Transportation announced in July the end of the six Circulator routes. As the Circulator ends its 19-year service, some of the routes will be handed over to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which may hire some Circulator drivers. “The program downsize and shutdown are part of the District Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and Financial Plan,” DDOT said in a release dated July 29.
The Circulator system has about 270 employees, 178 of whom are drivers. Many are now worried about finding new jobs and providing for their families.
“I’m being laid off in the first round of layoffs so I’m going to have to apply for unemployment until I find another job,” Natasha Guest, a bus operator who has been with DC Circulator for four years, told Washingtonian.
In a tearful address to rally-goers, Guest emphasized how her daughter, who is a senior in college, had to start taking her classes at home because Guest couldn’t afford off-campus housing owing to the layoff notice.
“None of the jobs I’m applying to are paying near what I’m making now so I also have to adjust to the pay cut,” she said. Guest said she will cease getting a paycheck after September 30.
In October 2023, RATPdev, the company that operates the Circulator, shared a memo with Circulator drivers detailing a five-year contract extension with DDOT. Drivers we spoke with were under the assumption that their jobs were guaranteed until 2028.
Phillie Watson, an operator who has been with the company for nine years, said that the announcement came as a “disappointment” to him and he is now going to start “downsizing” on the plans he had for his family. Watson said that the union was made aware of the service closure two hours before the announcement went public.
“We live in an apartment and we were trying to get our own house,” Watson told Washingtonian. “Now I’m thinking maybe we should downsize and move into a trailer.”
The office of the union confirmed that the drivers would have to apply for jobs at WMATA and would not directly be absorbed. That would put them as new-hires and Circulator drivers would see an approximate $10 drop in their hourly pay, according to a Local 689 spokesperson.
“I have applied to WMATA but I have to start all over again,” said Christopher J. Miller, an operator of 11 years with Circulator. “There’s no joy in this. We move the city. We move the region, and now there’s no joy.”
Metrobuses drivers honked in solidarity as they drove by the rally.
To minimize impact to the public, the Metro board on September 12 approved absorbing some of the Circulator routes.
Phase one will begin on October 1 with:
- Termination of the Rosslyn-Dupont Circle route;
- Elimination of late-night service on Woodley Park-Adams Morgan and Georgetown-Union Station routes, where service will end at 9 PM;
- Increasing the time between all buses from 10 minutes to 20 minutes.
The news of the fate of the Circulator came as a surprise to riders and workers alike. In 2019, Mayor Muriel Bowser actively campaigned to keep the Circulator free to improve ridership “as the District’s economy continues to open,” as stated in a press release. In 2021, the Bowser administration announced that Circulator service would remain free for the remainder of that year, which required an investment of $6.5 million.
Circulator ridership struggled to reach its pre-pandemic numbers. In 2019, before Covid, Circulator buses saw an annual ridership of about five million. In 2020, ridership plummeted to two million, according to DDOT data. Current annual ridership stands at 1.4 million.
A DDOT spokesperson in a statement told Washingtonian that the agency is committed to “supporting all RATP DEV Contracted employees that operated the DC Circulator program through this transition.” The statement said that DDOT organized “an informational session with WMATA specifically for DC Circulator employees” on August 15. Additionally, DDOT also held a job fair later in August “connecting our drivers with other key local transit agencies, such as Keolis, Transdev, and OSSE Bus, to provide a wide range of employment options.
“While we cannot guarantee placement for all drivers at WMATA, we have been working closely with them and other transit operators to ensure drivers have every opportunity to transition into new roles.”
Charles Allen, a DC Councilmember, told Washingtonian: “We have a whole bunch of workers that have put in decades of work who are all about to lose their jobs. Part of what the council is going to do is demand a better plan from the mayor, from the Department of Transportation, from the contractor, to do right by the workers.”
A hearing called for by Allen, to discuss transition plans of Circulators workers to WMATA, will be held Thursday. DDOT, WMATA, RATPdev, and the union were invited to the hearing; as of press time, only DDOT and the union have confirmed attendance.
