Bethesda Circulator

The moment I found out about the Circulator’s new route on Bradley, I immediately ditched Bus 34. Commuting is like a breeze now, and I can use the saved dollar for my morning coffee everyday. Thanks Bethesda, it’s the best town!

I wish Metrobuses and WMATA were running as well and as regularly as the Bethesda Circulator.
Convenient stops, regular stops, clean buses, polite drivers !
Don’t forget to download the app for real time buses localization!

I just moved to Bethesda last week, and I got to take advantage of the free Bethesda Circulator for the first time yesterday. What a great service! I am not typically too lazy to walk, but I did need to get down to the Metro within a few minutes vs. the 10+ it would probably take me to walk there. There are lots of convenient stops, and they really do come every ten minutes. There’s a stop right at the Metro as well. Love it!

The Circulator bus runs in Bethesda Monday through Saturday. Monday through Thursday, it runs 7am to midnight. Friday, it runs 7am to 2am, and Saturday, it runs 10am to 2am. The drivers are usually friendly– there is one who is slightly cranky– and I’ve never had an issue getting a seat on the bus. Also, the bus is always clean. According to their website, a bus comes around 10 minutes on average, although I’ve definitely waited longer, especially late at night.
I do wish the hours were a bit longer, and that it ran on Sunday. I also wish that you could track it’s location online– a few times, I’ve slowly meandered around my apartment getting ready, only to leave my apartment and have the Circulator just leaving my stop. Being able to anticipate when it will arrive would save a lot of time. I also wish they would expand the route, including to the Medical Center Metro. But overall, it’s a great service and very convenient!

It was rainy and windy, and I was slowly making my way to the bookstore when, as I neared a Circulator bus stop, a bus pulled up and the door opened. I had not intended to wait for the bus, but here it was, stopping for me even though I was still feet from the stop, a pleasant surprise. So thank you, Circulator bus driver, for getting me out of the cold and the wet for a few blocks.

The Bethesda Circulator is a FREE trolley that you can ride around Bethesda. You can pick it up in the Metro station and along the Circulator routes (you can see their signs around town). The drivers are always friendly and sometimes if it is late at night they have dropped me off right in front of my apartment!