In August 2025, I started working on my goal of riding every single bus route run by WMATA. The agency had just rolled out their Better Bus redesign, and while looking at the regional maps for the new routes, it started to feel like a doable long-term goal to ride all of them. I was also inspired by Geoff Marshall, who rode every bus in London.

Why?

I love the bus! Riding a new route is thrilling to me. It's a great way to explore the area where I grew up and still live. I like how it lets me go places I wouldn't otherwise think to go, even if I don't have any specific destination in mind. Its even more fun when I do have a specific destination in mind! So far, I've been to a beautiful library in Hillcrest Heights, this deli, and this quilting shop, among other places. I also want to be able to say that I've ridden every metrobus.

It's also a fun challenge - how many ways are there to go back and forth between two points? Will I be able to make a tight connection between two buses?

Some things for me are just inherently fascinating: Going over the I95 bridge across the Potomac on a bus (the p90); riding along the PG county side of the future purple line route (the p31); going to imaginary places such as national harbor (the C11) and tysons corner (the F20).

What counts as riding a bus?

I'm not riding the full length of each route, but I am keeping track of the few times when I do that anyways. I'm also not riding one stop on each route, walking back to the transit center the route started at, and getting on the next bus that shows up. I want to take each route a meaningful distance, or at least with meaningful function such as connecting two other routes instead of walking between them. Sometimes I have a destination in mind, sometimes I just go in large arcs around the region. This is all made up and for fun, so trust me that I'm not gaming my own system.

Prove it

I'm taking photos of the bus I get on which show the route number and destination. I'll work on uploading them somewhere public, but for now trust me pls :3

The routes I've ridden

I'll find a better way of displaying this info later. Also, as I keep riding more buses, I'll maybe write something about my trips, which will be linked on this page.