Mount Pleasant Line

Mount Pleasant Line (Routes 42 and 43)
Overview
Operator	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Began service	January 28, 1962
Predecessors	Mt. Pleasant Streetcar
Route
Locale	Washington, D.C.
Communities served	Adams Morgan
Landmarks served	Dupont Circle
Start	Mt. Pleasant
Via	Connecticut Avenue
End	Gallery Place Metro Station or Farragut Square
Service
Frequency	10-15 min.

The Mount Pleasant Line, served by Routes 42 and 43, is a Metrobus bus route in Washington, D.C., United States. Until the 1960s, it was a streetcar line.

Route 42 currently runs at all times, beginning at Mount Pleasant Street and 17th Street West in Mount Pleasant, and heads south on Mount Pleasant Street, Columbia Road, and Connecticut Avenue to Farragut Square, where some trips used to end (They are now the Route 43). The remaining trips turn east on H Street North (eastbound) and I Street North (westbound) to Ninth Street West at Gallery Place station.^[1]

Route 43 follows the same route as the 42, but it only runs in the morning rush from Mt. Pleasant to Farragut Square and in the evening rush from McPherson Square to Mt. Pleasant. Route 43 also passes underneath Dupont Circle, cutting the trip time.^{[citation needed]}

History

In the final days of streetcars operated by the D.C. Transit Company, Routes 40 and 42 served the Mount Pleasant Line. Both began at Mount Pleasant and ran to H Street, turning east there, south on 14th Street West, and east on F Street North along the F Street Line. At Fifth Street West, Route 40 turned south, continuing east around the north side of the Capitol and along East Capitol Street to 15th Street East, while Route 42 turned north and east past Union Station on the East Washington Line, ending at D Street North and 13th Street East. Streetcars were replaced by buses on December 3, 1961 (Route 42) and January 28, 1962 (Route 40).

After Metro was built, the line was split at Stadium-Armory station. Route 40, which had been extended east to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, was eliminated west of Stadium-Armory, while Route 42 remained the same, running between Mount Pleasant and Stadium-Armory. The portion of Route 40 on East Capitol Street west of Stadium Armory was replaced by an extension of Route 96. Route 96 has since absorbed Route 40, and Route 42 has been truncated to Gallery Place, with the removed portion replaced by a rerouted Route D6.

References

1. ^ Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.42 timetable, effective February 13, 2006