List of Metrobus routes (Washington, D.C.) explained

This is a list of bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), branded as Metrobus. Many are the descendants of streetcar lines operated by the Capital Transit Company or its predecessors.

Current routes

The list of Metrobus routes has been split by region:

Numbering

Most Metrobus routes follow the rules below:^[1] ^[2]

Metrobus routes in Washington, D.C., have either a two digit number (31, 42, 64, etc.) or a letter followed by a number (A2, S2, X8, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Montgomery County, MD, have a letter followed by a number (C4, Q4, Z6, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Prince George's County, MD, have a letter followed by two numbers (F12, J12, P12, etc.).
Metrobus routes in Northern Virginia have one or two numbers followed by a letter (1A, 16C, 29N, etc.).

Odd-numbered routes are typically part-time variants of even-numbered routes. At one time, odd numbered routes were express routes, but that distinction has been abandoned. Most Maryland and Washington, D.C., routes are grouped by their first digit. When this system was laid out in 1936, the following clustering was used:

Category	Route numbers
Streetcars	10 Columbia Line 20 Cabin John Line 30 Pennsylvania Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue Line 40 Mount Pleasant Line 50 Fourteenth Street Line 60 11th Street, Upshur Street and New Hampshire Avenue Line 70 Seventh Street and Georgia Avenue Line 80 College Park and North Capitol Street Line 90 U Street Line and East Capitol Street Line
Buses in D.C. & Maryland	A Anacostia, Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Martin Luther King Jr. Highway (Maryland) B Bladensburg Road, Annapolis Road, Bowie C Branch Avenue, Central Avenue, University Blvd, Maryland D Northwest, Suitland E Northwest, Northeast, Crosstown F East–West Highway, New Carrollton G Northwest, Brookland, Greenbelt H St. Barnabas Road, Branch Avenue, Brookland, Columbia Road, Irving Street J Silver Spring, Bethesda, Forestville, District Heights K Forestville, New Hampshire Avenue Maryland L Connecticut Avenue, Landover Road M Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest N Massachusetts Avenue, National Harbor P Anacostia, North Capitol Street, District Heights, Suitland, Oxon Hill Q Veirs Mill Road, Maryland R Riggs Road, Kenilworth Ave, Queens Chapel Road S 16th Street Lines T Annapolis Road, Rhode Island Ave NE, River Road, Falls Road U Minnesota Avenue, Sheriff Road V Minnesota Avenue, Capitol Heights, Suitland, District Heights, Oxon Hill W Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, Oxon Hill, Indian Head X Benning Road–H Street Line Y Georgia Avenue, Maryland Z US 29, Maryland
Buses in Virginia	1 Arlington Blvd, Wilson Blvd 2 Langston Blvd, Washington Blvd 3 Annandale, Langston Blvd 4 Arlington Blvd 7 Landmark, Shirlington, Alexandria 8 Fairlington, Foxchase, Seminary Valley 10 Alexandria, Ballston, Crystal City, Pentagon 11 Mount Vernon 15 Chain Bridge Road 16 Columbia Pike 17 King Park, Pentagon 18 Burke, Orange Hunt, Springfield 21 Crystal City, Shirlington, Landmark, Pentagon 22 Ballston, Fairlington, Pentagon, Shirlington 23 Crystal City, McLean, Shirlington 25 Ballston, Mark Center 26 Annandale, Culmore 28 Falls Church, Leesburg Pike, Skyline City, Alexandria, Pentagon 29 Annandale, Little River Turnpike, Alexandria, Pentagon 38 Ballston, Farragut Square, Georgetown MWY Alexandria, Pentagon City, Crystal City, Richmond Hwy, Potomac Yard REX Richmond Highway

Divisions

Division Name	Location	Routes Served^[3]	City Section
Andrews Federal Center (A)	7541 Andrews Federal Campus Drive, Suitland, MD 20746	32, 36, 96, C11, C12, C13, C14, D12, D14, H12, J12, K12, NH1	Southeast D.C., Southern Prince George's County, Maryland
Bladensburg (B)	2251 26th Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20018-1405	59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 80, B2, D4, D8, D31, D32, D33, D34, E2, G8, H2, H4, H6, H8, H9, K2, K6, R1, R2, R4, S41, U4, W45, W47, X2, X8 Select Trips: 52, 54, 79, S9 Weekends: 74, D6, U5, U6, U7, V8	Northeast and Southeast Washington D.C.
Cinder Bed Road (C)	7901 Cinder Bed Rd, Lorton, VA 22135	11Y, 17B, 17G, 17K, 17M, 18G, 18J, 18P, 26A, 29G, 29K, 29N, REX	Fairfax County, Virginia
Four Mile Run (F)	3501 South Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22202	1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 3F, 3Y, 4B, 7A, 7M, 8W, 10A, 10B, 16A, 16C, 16E, 16M, 16Y, 21C, 22A, 22F, 23A, 23B, 23T, 25B, 28A, 28F, 38B, Metroway	Northern Virginia
Landover (L)	3433 Pennsy Drive, Landover, MD 20785	83, 86, 89M, A12, B21, B22, B24, B27, C21, C22, C26, C27, C29, F1, F4, F6, F8, F12, F13, F14, G12, G14, L12, P12, R12, T14, T18, V12, V14	Northern, Central, and Southern portions of Prince George's County, Maryland
Montgomery (M)	5400 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852	70, 79, C2, C4, C8, J1, J2, K9, Q2, Q4, Q6, S2, S9, Y2, Y7, Y8, Z2, Z6, Z7, Z8 Weekdays: L8, T2	Montgomery County, Maryland
Southern Avenue Annex (P)	1301 Boones Hill Road, Capitol Heights, MD 20743	Weekdays: D6, U5, U6, U7, V2, V4, V8, W4, X3, X9	Southeast D.C. & the southern portion of Prince George's County, Maryland
Shepherd Parkway (S)	2 DC Village Lane SW, Washington, D.C. 20032	90, 92, A2, A4, A6, A7, A8, A31, A32, A33, D51, M6, NH2, P6, P18, S35, V7, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W8, W14 Select Trips: B2, D12 Weekdays: 74 Select trips and Weekends: V2, V4	Southeast & Southwest D.C. & the southern portion of Prince George's County, Maryland
Western (W)	5230 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Friendship Heights, Washington, D.C. 20015	31, 33, 42, 43, 52, 54, D2, D32, D34, E4, G2, L2, M4, N2, N4, N6, W45, W47 Select trips: D6, H2, H4	Northwest D.C.

References

Metrobus timetables, accessed October 2017.

Notes and References

Web site: 8W? 30N? U7? How Metrobus numbers came to be . Rowlands . DW . Alpert . David . September 20, 2018 . Greater Greater Washington . January 27, 2019.
Web site: Malouff . Dan . Here's what that bus route number means . 22 November 2019.
Web site: WMATA Routes by Division (March 14, 2021) . public.tableau.com . 14 March 2021.