New Carrollton–Silver Spring Line

The New Carrollton–Silver Spring Line, designated as Route F4, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between New Carrollton station of the Orange Line of the Washington Metro and Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 12 minutes between 7AM and 9PM, and 30-60 minutes after 9PM. F4 trips are roughly 62 minutes. The line mainly provides service on the East-West Highway corridor from the eastern portion of Prince George's County to Montgomery County.

Background
Route F4 operates daily between New Carrollton station and Silver Spring station connecting both Prince George's County to Montgomery County via the East-West Highway corridor. The route is one of the busiest Metro routes from Maryland as it mainly connects Riverdale, Hyattsville, Lewisdale which sees increased ridership.

Route F4 begins at New Carrollton and travels via Ellin Road, Harkins Road, and Annapolis Road. The route then turns along Riverdale Road travelling along it before westbound trips turn from Riverdale Road onto Lafayette Avenue, then turns onto Queensbury Road, while eastbound trips turns from Queensbury Road onto 48th Avenue, before turning onto Riverdale Road, buses remain along Queensbury Road, operating until reaching Belcrest Road. The route then turns into Hyattsville Crossing station serving the station before turning back along East-West Highway. The route then operates along East-West Highway, then enters Montgomery County by operating along Ethan Allen Avenue. The route then turns along Philadelphia Avenue until it turns along Fenton Street. The route then turns along Colesville Road, then on Georgia Avenue, and then onto Wayne Avenue to serve the second level of the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center. The route will operate the same pathway back vice versa.

Route F4 currently operates out of Landover division.

F4 stops


History
The "New Carrollton - Silver Spring" Line was derived from the former DC Transit "East - West Highway" Line Route J4.

J4 began operating as part of DC Transit's "East - West Highway" Line Between the University of Maryland College Park Campus and Friendship Heights, via Campus Drive, Baltimore Avenue, Queens Chapel Road, East - West Highway, the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, Belcrest Road, Queens Chapel Road, Hamilton Street, Ager Road, East - West Highway, Ethan - Allen Avenue, Philadelphia Avenue, Fenton Street, Sligo Avenue, Georgia Avenue, Wayne Avenue, Fenton Street, Colesville Road, East - West Highway, and Wisconsin Avenue around 1961. In 1962, J4 was rerouted between the University of Maryland College Park Campus and Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center via Campus Drive, Adelphi Road, and Belcrest Road, even though the rest of its routing between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and Friendship Heights remained the same. In October, 1963, J4 was extended from the University of Maryland College Park Campus to Beltway Plaza, via Baltimore Avenue and Greenbelt Road. J4 eventually became a WMATA Metrobus Route on February 4, 1973 when WMATA acquired DC Transit and formed its Metrobus System.

Around August/September, 1975, J2 was formed as a brand new Metrobus Route to operate as part of the "East - West Highway" Line alongside the J4 Metrobus Route, only with the exception that it would operate between Beltway Plaza and Montgomery Mall instead. While J2 would operate on the same exact routing as J4 between Beltway Plaza and the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, as well as between the intersections of East - West Highway & Ager Road in Green Meadows and East - West Highway and Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda, J2 would operate on East - West Highway between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and intersection of Ager Road in Green Meadows, unlike J4 which operated between both points via Belcrest Road, Queens Chapel Road, Hamilton Street, and Ager Road.

Then, on February 19, 1978 shortly after the Silver Spring Metro Station opened, Routes J2 and J4 were truncated to only operate between Friendship Heights (J4)/Montgomery Mall (J2) and the Silver Spring Metro Station. During this time, J3 was created as a brand new Metrobus Route to operate alongside J2 between Montgomery Mall and the Silver Spring Metro Station. As a result of these route changes, the "East - West Highway" Line was split into two separate lines. J2, J3, and J4 would operate as part of WMATA's new "Bethesda - Silver Spring" Line, while the F4 and brand new F6 Metrobus Routes would operate as part of WMATA's brand new "Prince George's - Silver Spring" Line between the Silver Spring Metro Station and New Carrollton (F4)/Greenbelt (F6). F4 and F6 would operate parallel to each other between the Silver Spring Metro Station and intersection of East - West Highway & Ager Road in Green Meadows, via Colesville Road, Fenton Street, Philadelphia Avenue, Carroll Avenue, Ethan - Allen Avenue, and East - West Highway. While F6 would operate from the intersection of East - West Highway & Ager Road in Green Meadows and the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, via J4's former routing via Ager Road, Hamilton Street, Queens Chapel Road, and Belcrest Road, F4 would operate on J2's former routing by simply remaining on East - West Highway between both points. F6 would then operate on J2 & J4's former routing between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and Beltway Plaza, via Belcrest Road, Adelphi Road, Campus Drive/ the University of Maryland College Park Campus, Baltimore Avenue, and Greenbelt Road. Then after serving Beltway Plaza, F6 would operate further east to the Greenbelt Center, via Greenbelt Road, Lakecrest Drive, Lakeside Drive, Westway, Ridge Road, Gardenway, Crescent Road, and Southway. During rush hour times, F6 would operate even further east to Nasa via Southway and Greenbelt Road. On the other hand, F4 would operate to New Carrollton via Belcrest Road, Queensbury Road, 48th Avenue (towards New Carrollton)/Lafayette Avenue (towards the Silver Spring Metro Station), and Riverdale Road.

Prior to February 19, 1978, F4 originally operated as part of the Michigan Avenue Line between Avondale (Eastern Avenue & Michigan Avenue NE) and Archives (9th Street NW & Constitution Avenue NW). F6 had a prior incarnation as the "Sargent Road" Line, when it operated as a Capital Transit Company bus route between Green Meadows and 12th & Quincy Street NE in Brookland, D.C. during the 1940s. However; F6 was eventually truncated to operate between Gallatin Street NE & South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park, D.C. 12th & Quincy Street NE in Brookland, D.C. in 1949, before ultimately being discontinued in 1958.

On December 3, 1978 shortly after the New Carrollton Metro Station opened, F4 was extended from its original terminus at New Carrollton Mall (New Carrollton) to the New Carrollton Metro Station.

On December 11, 1993, F6 was rerouted to operate between the New Carrollton and Prince George's Plaza Metro Stations, via Ellin Road, Harkins Road, Finns Lane, Riverdale Road, Auburn Avenue, Good Luck Road, Kenilworth Avenue, River Road, the College Park - U of MD Metro Station, River Road, Kenilworth Avenue, East - West Highway, the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, Belcrest Road, Queens Chapel Road, Ager Road, the West Hyattsville Metro Station, Ager Road, and East - West Highway. Service to Beltway Plaza and Greenbelt Center was replaced by extended route C2. During this time, F4 was minorly rerouted to serve the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station.

Around 1996, nearly a year after Paint Branch Parkway was finished being completed between the intersection of Campus Drive & Baltimore Avenue at the University of Maryland College Park Campus and Kenilworth Avenue, F6 was rerouted to operate between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and College Park - U of MD Metro Station, via its original routing between the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center and University of Maryland College Park Campus, via Belcrest Road, Adelphi Road, and Campus Drive, then via Paint Branch Parkway and River Road. Once this change took place, F6's routing on Kenilworth Avenue between the intersections of River Road and East - West Highway in Riverdale Park and via East - West Highway between the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue in Riverdale Park and the Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center was discontinued.

On September 12, 1999, route F6 was extended to Silver Spring station via West Hyattsville station. The route operated along Queens Chapel Road, Hamilton Street and Ager Road to serve West Hyattsville, then follow route F4's routing to Silver Spring along East-West Highway, Ethan Allen Avenue, and Philadelphia Avenue.

On May 15, 2003, the original bus bays inside Prince Georges Plaza mall, were demolished in order to build a new Target store. Routes F4 and F6, along with routes 86, C4, F8, R2, R3, and R4 have stopped entering and looping inside around the mall.

On February 20, 2006, the F4, F6 "Prince George's - Silver Spring" Line was renamed as the "New Carrollton - Silver Spring" Line.

On September 28, 2008, the former Silver Spring Bus Bay was closed and ultimately demolished so that the new Silver Spring Transit Center could be built. Both routes F4 and F6 terminated at the temporary stop that WMATA placed at a curb, located on the northbound side of the intersection of Wayne Avenue & Colesville Road.

As the result of an accident between a MARC commuter train and two F4 buses on the railroad crossing by Riverdale station on March 26, 2009, route F4 was rerouted to operate along the East West Highway bridge between Queensbury Road and Baltimore Avenue via 49th Avenue, Queensbury Road, Taylor Road, and turning onto East West Highway to prevent another accident from happening on the railroad crossing. Service between Riverdale Road and 49th Avenue plus Queensbury Road and East West Highway were discontinued. Alternative service was replaced by TheBus Route 14 on the weekdays until TheBus 14 discontinued service to Riverdale station in 2019.

In 2010, WMATA proposed to split the F4 and F6 routing into two routes. While the F4 remained the same, the F6 was proposed be rerouted to serve Fort Totten, keeping its routing between the New Carrollton station & intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road the same, except route F6 would be rerouted to operate on the Route R3 routing between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway & Fort Totten along East-West Highway, Riggs Road, Sargent Road. This was proposed in order to reduce redundancy with F4 between Silver Spring station and the East West Highway and Riggs Road intersection. The proposal was brought up again in 2012 with the same similarities.

In May 2012, WMATA announced that route F6 would be rerouted to operate between New Carrollton & Fort Totten station to replace route R3 keeping the same routing between New Carrollton and the East West Highway and Riggs Road intersection but running along route R3 routing to Fort Totten from there. The Route F6 will now operate on R3's former routing between the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway & Fort Totten station beginning on June 17, 2012. Route F4 also began operating every 12-20 minutes during the weekdays and 30 minutes on Sundays as a result of the changes to reduce crowding from F6 riders.

With the Silver Spring Transit Center opening in September, 2015, route F4 was rerouted along Fenton street and Colesville to serve the new transit center. Route F4 was given Bus Bay 223 on Level 2 sharing the Bus Bay with the J4.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the F4 operated on its Saturday supplemental schedule beginning on March 16, 2020. It however began operating on its Sunday service on March 18, 2020. Weekend service was also reduced to operate every 30 munutes. Its regular service was restored on August 23, 2020.

On March 14, 2021, new short trips between New Carrollton and Prince George's Plaza station were introduced to reduce crowding on its buses.

On September 5, 2021, service was rerouted along Queensbury Road between Baltimore Avenue and 49th Avenue restoring its pre-2009 routing. Service along Baltimore Avenue was eliminated. Service was also increased to operate every 12 minutes daily between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Incidents

 * On March 27, 2009, a MARC commuter train struck an F4 bus while it was crossing along the Queensbury Road railroad crossing. The F4 bus (D40LFR 6040) then hit another F4 bus that was turning (Flxible Metro 9731) causing damage to both buses. After the accident, route F4 was rerouted along East West Highway to no longer serve the Queensbury Road railroad crossing and in order to prevent another accident from happening.
 * On April 11, 2018, a man armed with a knife attempted to hijack an F4 bus after trying to rob a passenger along Riverdale Road. The driver of the bus pulled over and called emergency help. The man demanded everyone to get off the bus and tried taking off with the bus but was stopped due to an security feature that was equipped during an emergency. A Prince George's County police officer was able to detain the suspect and Metro Transit Police shortly after arrested the suspect. None of the 16 passengers on board or the driver were injured.