Who couldn’t help but notice the little twelve passenger mini-bus wrapped in an artist’s rendering of the future of the Waterside mall area tooling around I Street, SW.   For those who don’t know, the Shuttle-Bug is a free transportation service that began in mid December 2008 and was created in Southwest to ameliorate some of the issues presented by the ongoing construction at the Waterside Mall that hampered people’s ability to move from the subway and north.   The Shuttle-Bug is expected to continue until the construction is completed in early 2010 when the need will no longer exist.  It is a collaboration that was more than two years in the making and spurred on by SouthWest Action Team (SWAT) led by Beth Paulson.  Assistance and funding has come from the District government including Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Office on Aging, Department of Transportation and private developers Waterfront Associates and Fairfield Residential. Councilmember Wells devoted countless hours of his and staff time to ensuring this bus service would become a reality and adequately serve the needs of the community and is pleased it is such a hit.

It has been greeted with rave reviews in the community, especially by seniors who can often be seen riding it to get to the Safeway and CVS.  Rider-ship regularly hits 100 passengers daily and has been reported at almost double that number on occasion.  The service runs daily at 20 minute intervals from 7-10am and 5-10pm and then midday 10:30-1:30 on Tuesdays and Fridays at 30 minute intervals. Organizers announce they will celebrate the success of the Shuttle-Bug jitney service on June 25, 2009 at 6:00pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Southwest.

Three cheers for Shuttle-Bug!