March 9, 2026

William Pines, Administrator
Mail Stop C-400
MDOT State Highway Administration
P.O. Box 717
Baltimore MD 21203-0717

County Executive Marc Elrich
101 Monroe Street, 2nd Floor
Rockville, MD 20850

Dear Administrator Pines and County Executive Elrich:

During next summer’s two-month shutdown of three Montgomery County Metro stations, riders will take shuttle buses on MD 355 between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights. On March 2, the plan for the shuttle buses was presented to the Montgomery County Council Transportation and Environment Committee.

We appreciate the early attention to this issue by county and state transportation agencies and WMATA and recognize that they are wrestling with a complicated traffic environment. We are glad to see bus-only lanes planned at several major traffic bottlenecks, such as the Bradley Boulevard intersection and the northbound intersection with East-West Highway.

But the plan falls short of what Red Line riders need and deserve. There are three major gaps. Bus lanes are missing at some key bottlenecks; buses will not get priority at traffic signals; and there are no plans for enforcement of the bus lanes.

Bus lane gaps. The plan sends the shuttle buses into the regular traffic lanes in many bottleneck areas. These include the section of Rockville Pike that fronts on NIH and the southbound approach to Cedar Lane.

Enforcement. We learned at the T&E presentation that Montgomery County Police have not yet been contacted about enforcement of the bus lanes. Maryland law now authorizes camera enforcement of bus lanes. We recommend an intensive WMATA-led camera enforcement campaign, with WMATA’s expenses reimbursed out of the fine revenue received by Maryland governments.

Traffic signals. The plan presented to T&E does not prioritize shuttle bus movement at traffic signals. The common practice of timing signals to minimize the delay of the average vehicle equates a car with a lone driver to a bus full of passengers. This is unfair to transit riders.

At intersections where bus lanes are absent or obstructed by turning traffic, signals should be retimed to minimize congestion along the shuttle bus route and relocate traffic backups from MD 355 onto cross streets. Green phases should be lengthened for through traffic and shortened on cross streets and for turning movements.

What Red Line riders need and deserve is a comprehensive prioritization of transit over automobiles. This plan falls short of that goal. Unless the gaps in the plan are filled, transit riders will sit in traffic jams on MD 355 next summer while the drivers who cause the traffic jams move ahead of them.

Sincerely,

Shanika T. Whitehurst
President

Cc:
County Council President Kate Stewart
Evan Glass, T&E Committee Chair
Randy Clarke, WMATA General Manager
Marc Korman, Environment & Transportation Committee Chair
MCDOT Director Chris Conklin