Is there a bus service between Allentown, PA and Washington, DC?

Do you think the Washington DC area can do better with bus service to outlying areas?

• Travel through out the DC area and outlying cities has always been a major headache for me and thousands of others when needing to commute on a daily basis. There is the metrorail and highways are being improved and bus service is available in the morning and evenings but it is still not enough. What more can be done to help commuters?

• Answer:

  I do think that bus service in the suburbs needs to be improved, but the question is one of funding and whether the public would use any extra bus service that would be added. It would make sense for me, for example, if bus service to the Pentagon available from Burke Center and West Springfield terminated at the Franconia-Springfield Metro during the day and on weekends, instead of providing a rush hour-only service. But then again, these buses wind through neighborhoods that may not want off-peak traffic like buses coming in in the first place. Ideally buses would run along main roads (e.g. Burke Center Pkwy and Old Keene Mill Rd), minimizing travel time, and smaller feeder buses in neighborhoods would link to the main line, either as a fixed-route schedule or an on-demand service. But people need to get over the stigma associated with riding the bus if something like this is ever going to happen. Maybe streetcars? If nothing else, other commuter services like VRE have added one or two mid-day trips to help those commuters who need to get home early, or sleep in a bit late. Would make sense to do this for the commuter bus routes as well.