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Commuter bus schedules changing in the Fredericksburg area Date published: 6/29/2009
By KELLY HANNON Mary Ann Emely, 61, has perfected her commute. Emely boards the 6:50 a.m. Martz Virginia commuter bus at the Staffordborough Boulevard commuter lot. She disembarks at 8 a.m. at the intersection of 15th and K streets in Washington. In the evening, she rides buses home that depart between 5 and 7 p.m. Flexibility is important to her, since she is a supervisor at a nonprofit association. The bus is direct. There is no transferring to Metro once she's in the city, and no long drives. "The bus was the most convenient solution because the commuter lot is closer to my home than the train station," Emely said. Then Martz Virginia announced it was eliminating two morning bus runs, including Emely's preferred 6:50 a.m. one. This week will be the last time Martz's DC 9 and DC 12 buses run in the morning. The buses made the later morning pick-ups, collecting passengers in North Stafford at 6:50 and 7:10, and slightly earlier at lots on Courthouse Road and State Route 3 in Spotsylvania County and U.S. 17 in Stafford. The change stunned several dozen commuters who had built their lives around the later pickups. "I'm a contractor for the government and I cannot be to work until 8 o'clock in the morning. My building does not open until then," said Vicki Dotson, 49, of Stafford, who works in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington. She drove by herself for 21 years until she switched employers and lost a parking space. She has been riding Martz for two years. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Last resort is to take the earlier bus and stand outside my building for 40 minutes," she said Earlier buses are more popular, and consequently more crowded, said Tony Bell, 47, of Stafford. "It's not enough space to hold all these people," Bell said, gesturing to people waiting in line for the DC 9 bus on a Tuesday morning. Martz Virginia/National Coach Trailways regional general manager David Snyder could not be reached for comment. But a message to riders posted on the company Web site, martzgroupva .com, said the routes were dropped for economic and ridership reasons.
Date published: 6/29/2009
You're kind of grumpy. You need to trun that frown upside down! Think of Care Bears and rainbows....
I'm just sick and tired of constantly reading this and that about the whole commuting thing ... if ya dont like the service find one you do like ... if ya dont like the schedules find one ya do like ... if ya cant find what ya like than do what most others do and deal with it ... also why dont ya go after the employers to help pay for transit or would ya rather not have your employer tell ya why your wages are being decreased because they must now pay for transit services for commuters!
I live over here by there base off of Masaponax road and whe nthey turn onto JeffDavis watch out or else they'll run you off the road. Yesterday they were even cutting through Church Pond rd to cut a few min from the over pass cons on Masa CH Rd Dangerous Drivers Thank God
I understand your frustration since you arent' affected by this issue. I guess the short bus works around your schedule.
EXCUSE ME ... why is this an important issue? So a few buses aint gonna run no more. Lets see now, 55 people per bus x 3 buses = 165 people now have a problem? Poor people ... you will survive just find another way to get your buttocks to work like the rest of us do. For those who think localities should help pay for your ride to work ... no problem as long as they are also going to help pay everyone else to get to work, don't they already not give you a free lot to park in? What more do you want from us?
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