Riggs Road Line

The Riggs Road Line, designated as Routes R1 & R2, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Fort Totten station of the Red and Green Lines of the Washington Metro & Adelphi (R1) or Calverton (R2). Routes R1 & R2 operate every 20 minutes during peak hours and route R2 operates every 35-60 minutes at other times on weekdays, and 60 minutes on the weekends. R1 trips are roughly 32 minutes and R2 trips are roughly 55 minutes.

Background
Route R1 and R2 provides service along Riggs Road between Fort Totten station and Adelphi or Calverton. Route R1 operates in the weekday peak-hour direction only while route R2 operates daily. The line operates every 20-30 minutes during weekday peak hours, 35 minutes at all other times on weekdays, and 55-65 on the weekends.

Routes R1 and R2 currently operates from Bladensburg division but had some trips operated by Northern division during peak hours until 2018. The line often utilizes articulated buses due to its high ridership volume.

R1 stops


R2 stops


History
In 1975, R4, was created as brand new Metrobus Route to operate as part of the Crystal City - Calverton Line between Crystal City in Virginia and Great Oaks Center (Calverton), via the George Mason Memorial Bridge, Independence Avenue SW/SE, 1st Street NE, Columbus Circle NE, Union Station, Massachusetts Avenue NE, North Capitol Street NW, Riggs Road NE/Riggs Road, Powder Mill Road, Beltsville Drive, Calverton Boulevard, and Cherry Hill Road.

February 19, 1978, route changes
On February 19, 1978, shortly after the Fort Totten and Brookland - CUA Metrorail Stations opened, R4 was rerouted to operated as part of the Queens Chapel Road Line between the Brookland - CUA Metro Station and Hyattsville. Once this change took place, the R8 Metrobus Route replaced R4's routing on the Riggs Road Corridor, by operating between the Fort Totten Metro Station and Great Oaks Center (Calverton).

December 11, 1993, route changes
On December 11, 1993, the R8 Metrobus Route was discontinued and replaced by the R2 Metrobus Route, which was rerouted to operate between Fort Totten station and Great Oaks Center (Calverton), via the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station and Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center. Prior to this time, the R2 Metrobus Route operated as part of the Queens Chapel Road Line between the Brookland - CUA Metro Station and Great Oaks Center (Calverton).

During this same exact time, WMATA also created the brand new R1 and R5 Metrobus routes, to operate as part of the Riggs Road Line. R5 would operate on nearly the exact same routing as R2 between the Fort Totten Metro Station and Calverton, only with the exception of skipping R2's diversion off of Riggs Road onto East - West Highway to serve the Prince George's Plaza station and Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, during weekday rush hour/peak period times only. On the other hand, R1 would only operate on shortened trips between the Fort Totten Metro Station and Adelphi during weekday rush hour/peak period times only. R1, like Route R5, would skip R2's diversion off Riggs Road onto East - West Highway to serve the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station and Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center, even though R1 would operate on nearly the exact same routing as the R2 and R5 Metrobus Routes between the Fort Totten Metro Station and intersection Riggs Road & Metzerott Road in Adelphi. R1 would then make a loop through Adelphi via Metzerott Road, New Hampshire Avenue, Adelphi Road, and Edwards Way, to reach its terminus at Edwards Way & Riggs Road (Adelphi).

Route R7, which operated as part of the Queens Chapel Road Line alongside Routes R2, R4, and R6, between the Brookland - CUA Metro Station and Highview, was rerouted to operate as part of the Riggs Road Line between the Fort Totten Metro Station and Great Oaks Center (Calverton), via R2 and R5's routing but with the exception of diverting into the United States Army Research Laboratory along Floral Drive. R7, like Routes R1 and R5, would also skip R2's diversion off Riggs Road onto East - West Highway to serve the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station and Prince George's Plaza Shopping Center. During this time, R7's routing between the Brookland - CUA Metro Station and Highview, was replaced by the R4 Metrobus Route.

June 1996 route changes
In June 1996 when the Great Oaks Center closed, the R2, R5, and R7 Metrobus Routes were rerouted to terminate at the Orchard Shopping Center, located at the intersection of Plum Orchard Drive & Broadbirch Drive instead.

1998 route changes
In 1998, route R7 was eliminated due to security concerns at the United States Army Research Laboratory. Service was replaced by route R2.

May 15, 2003, route changes
On May 15, 2003, the original bus bays inside Prince Georges Plaza Shopping Center, were demolished in order to build a new Target store. Route R2 along with routes 86, C4, F4, F6, F8, R3, R4 and TheBus 13, 14, 18 have stopped entering and looping inside around the mall. This change did not affect routes R1 or R5.

June 17, 2012, route changes
On June 17, 2012, the R5 Metrobus Route was discontinued and R2 was rerouted to no longer operate on East - West Highway east of the intersection of 23rd Avenue in Lewisdale, to serve the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, nor operate on Riggs Road between the intersections of East - West Highway and University Boulevard East in Lewisdale. R2 was instead rerouted to operate through Lewisdale via 23rd Avenue to replace R3's routing through Lewisdale when R3 was truncated to only operate between the Greenbelt and Prince George's Plaza Metrorail Stations, instead of operating on its original routing between the Greenbelt and Fort Totten Metrorail Stations. R2 would operate on 23rd Avenue all the way between East - West Highway and University Boulevard East unlike R3 which would only operate on 23rd Avenue from East - West Highway to Lewisdale Drive, then divert off 23rd Avenue onto Lewisdale Drive and Fordham Street to get back onto 23rd Avenue in the opposite direction back towards East - West Highway. R2 would then use University Boulevard East to get between 23rd Avenue and Riggs Road. Service to Prince Georges Plaza was replaced by routes C4 and F4 and TheBus 18.

Discontinued service on Riggs Road between East-West Highway and University Boulevard was taken over by routes C4 and R1. The R2's former routing between the intersection of East-West Highway & Riggs Road and Prince George's Plaza station, was replaced by routes C4, F4 and TheBus 18. The rest of the R2's routing between Fort Totten station and the intersection of Riggs Road & East-West Highway, as well as between the intersection of Riggs Road & University Boulevard and Calverton, remained the same. Route R1 was not affected from any of the changes.

On December 30, 2018, WMATA announced a proposal to make changes to the R2 routing.

One proposal was to extend the R2 beyond Calverton to Muirkirk station on the MARC Camden Line or to Greenbelt station discontinuing the Calverton loop.

The second proposal was to eliminate the segment of Route R2 service 23rd Avenue in Lewisdale and discontinue the R1 completely to create a more direct route for the R2 and to simplify the line. The discontinued segments in Lewisdale would be replaced by a rerouted route F8 and the already running TheBus route 18. Route F8 was proposed to make all stops on the proposed discontinued route R2 service in Lewisdale and discontinue service along Adelphi road. If the proposals are made, the R2 would provide a more direct route to Calverton or Fort Totten for customer convenience with the R1 being discontinued due to it being a duplication of the R2.

Other proposals mentioned that weren't considered were the following:
 * Creating a new MetroExtra route for the Riggs Road Line.
 * Moving either route R1 or R2 terminal to Prince George's Plaza station with the other route remaining at Fort Totten station.
 * Rerouting route R1 to Takoma Langley Crossroads Transit Center discontinuing service to Adelphi.
 * Giving route R1 daily service but having route R2 be rerouted to Prince George's Plaza station from Calverton.
 * Swap route R1 and R2 routing in Lewisdale with R2 remaining on Riggs Road while R1 is rerouted along 23rd Avenue and University Boulevard.

None of the proposals went through due to public feedback.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all route R1 service was suspended and route R2 was reduced to operate on its Saturday schedule beginning on March 16, 2020. However on March 18, 2020, route R2 was further reduced to operate on its Sunday schedule with weekend service suspended beginning on March 21, 2020. Route R1 was brought back to service on August 23, 2020 while route R2 resumed its regular schedule on the same day.