Route R12 operates Monday through Saturday from Greenbelt station and Deanwood station mostly along Kenilworth Avenue. The route provides service along Kenilworth Avenue and smaller communities to various Metrorail stations. Route R12 currently operates out of Landover division.
Route R12 was created as a brand new express streetcar route around 1963 operating as an express streetcar route all the way between Farragut Square in Downtown D.C. & Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt weekdays only, and between Federal Triangle and Beltway Plaza Mall on Saturdays[2] as part of the "Kenilworth Avenue Express" Streetcar Line, with routes R11 & R15 operating between Farrugut Square & Springhill Lake Apartment Complex peak hours only, and routes R13 & R14 operating between Southwest D.C. & the Macke Industrial Park Complex.[2]
In 1973, all routes were converted into Metrobus Routes when WMATA took over all of the streetcar companies that operated throughout the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area and merged them all into its "Metrobus" System[3] keeping their exact same routing as their streetcar lines.[2]
Following the opening of Stadium–Armory station, routes R11, R12, & R15 were shorten to terminate their routes at the Stadium Armory on July 18, 1977[2] with all routes discontinuing service to Farragut Square. Routes R11 and R15 will also operate during early Saturday morning trips before the first Blue Line train operated.[2]
Routes R13 and R14 were discontinued on July 18, 1977 being replaced by the R11, R12, and R15[2]
On September 26, 1977, early Saturday morning service on routes R11 & R15's were discontinued, due to new Blue and Orange Line service being introduced during earlier times on Saturday mornings.[4] Weekday peak hour service was not changed.
As a result of these changes, R11 & R15 were split their own separate line as the, "Greenbelt-New Carrollton Express Line" while R12 remained a part of its own line, which was renamed the, "Kenilworth Avenue Line".[5]
On January 4, 1981 when Addison Road station opened, R12 was extended from Deanwood station to Addison Road station[6][7] via Minnesota Avenue NE, and route P12's former routing on Addison Road, Palmer Highway, Addison Road, Seat Pleasant Drive, Hill Road, and Central Avenue when P12 discontinue service to Deanwood.[6] On the other hand, during the time this particular change took place, R12 was truncated to only operate up to the Beltway Plaza Mall, discontinuing service to Goddard Space Flight Center.[7] Route R12 was renamed the " Kenilworth Avenue–Addison Road" Line as of result.[7]
On December 11, 1993, when both College Park–University of Maryland station & Greenbelt station opened, R12 was rerouted to operate between Deanwood & New Carrollton stations, via the segment of its route between the Deanwood station and intersection of Keniworth Avenue and River Road. Route R12 would run along River Road to serve College Park station, before returning onto River Road to rejoin Kenilworth Avenue. R12 would then operate on the same exact routing it had been operating on between the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue & River Road and Beltway Plaza, and run along Cherrywood Lane to serve Greenbelt station. Then R12 would operate past the Capital Office Park & Greenbelt Federal Courthouse, before turning onto Kenilworth Avenue, and then operating the rest of the way to the New Carrollton station, Route R12 was renamed the, "Kenilworth Avenue-New Carrollton Line".[8][9]
Also routes R11 & R15 were discontinued and was replaced by the R12 which operates on a combination of both former routes between Greenbelt & the New Carrollton station, essentially replacing both of those Metrobus Routes in their entirety.[8] The segment of R12's former route between the Deanwood & Addison Road station, was replaced by both routes V14 & V15, which were extended from Addison Road to operate between Deanwood station & Penn Mar Shopping Center, via R12's former routing.[8]
Bus service in Greenbelt, Maryland were controversial over the last few years due to lack of services. The proposal was mentioned as part of Metro's systemwide bus and rail cuts proposed during a budget crisis in spring of 2010. The Metro Board then took all service cuts off the table before approving the budget for this fiscal year. Alterations to Greenbelts bus service came back up at the request of the City and Prince George's County.[10][11] At the time of the proposal, the R12 was suffering bus bunching and scheduling problems due to its long route.
Proposals were set for route R12 including shortening the section to Greenbelt station with the Greenbelt to New Carrollton portion to be replaced by a new route T14 operating between Goddard Corporate Park and Beltway Plaza along the old R12 routing in Old Greenbelt.[12] This however would lead to a reduction of service and a loss of a direct route from route R12 routing to New Carrollton station.[13]
Other proposals were a route G12 would run on route R12's routing in Old Greenbelt running between Greenbelt station and New Carrollton station in May and discontinue service into Franklin Park and the Beltway Plaza loop being replaced by route G14 and G16.[14][15] In September 2010, it was proposed for route R12 to still terminate at Greenbelt station and split the Greenbelt to New Carrollton station portion to route G12 but route R12 would serve Franklin Park instead of route G14 and G16 and serve the Beltway Plaza loop.[16][17][18]
On December 19, 2010, R12 was shorten to only operate between Deanwood station & Greenbelt station. The rest of its route between Greenbelt and New Carrollton station, was replaced by a new route G12 under the request of the city of Greenbelt to break R12's super lengthy route into two separate routes and in order to improve service reliability, adherence to schedule times, and avoid duplication with the already existing Prince George's County TheBus Routes & other Metrobus Routes.[19][20]
Route R12 was rerouted inside Franklin Park and the Springhill Lake Complex. Buses previously operated along Edmonston Road, Springhill Drive, Springhill Lane, Breezewood Drive, and backtrack to Beltway Plaza Mall via Cherrywood Lane and Greenbelt Road before running again on Cherrywood Lane to Greenbelt station going northbound and from Greenbelt to Beltway Plaza to Springhill Lake Complex going southbound under the same path. The route was change to operate along Greenbelt Road, Beltway Plaza, Cherrywood Lane, Breezewood Drive, Edmonston Road, Springhill Drive, and back along Cherrywood Lane to Greenbelt station Northbound. The route would operate vice versa going from Greenbelt station, Springhill Lake Complex, and Beltway Plaza going southbound. Service along Springhill Lane was replaced by TheBus route 16.[19]
Route R12 was also rerouted to operate along Campus drive to/from College Park–University of Maryland station instead of backtracking along River Road in order to add Metrobus service to the parks and recreational centers along Campus drive. Route R12 would only operate along River Road one way in both directions.[19] Route R11 was also reincarnated back into service to operate parallel to R12 operating during weekday early mornings, skipping R12's diversion into the Springhill Lake Apartment Complex and Beltway Plaza.[19]
The R12 at Greenbelt Station
On August 23, 2015, the R11 was eventually permanently discontinued and replaced by more frequent route R12 service. These services would not enter Beltway Plaza.[21]
Beginning on September 1, 2019 for nine months, the College Park Metrobus loop was temporarily closed for construction of the Purple line at College Park station having all stops located along River Road. As of a result, route R12's bus stops were moved onto River Road in order to serve the station. There were no detours that affected route R12.[22]
During the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the R12 was relegated to operate on its Saturday supplemental schedule beginning on March 16, 2020.[23] However beginning on March 18, 2020, the route was further reduced to operate on its regular Saturday schedule with the supplemental trips not operating and having no Saturday service when WMATA implemented its modified Sunday schedule and regular Sunday service during the weekends.[24] Additional service was brought back on August 23, 2020, however Saturday service remained suspended.[25]
On September 26, 2020, WMATA proposed to eliminate all route R12 Saturday service and reduce weekday service to only every 60 minutes due to low federal funding.[26] However on March 14, 2021, all route R12 Saturday service was restored.[27]
^ abcFinal Environmental Impact Statement: Internal Revenue Service National Office Consolidation: Prince George's County, Maryland. Washington D.C.: Hill International, Inc. July 17, 1992. p. 67.
