College Park Line

The 81 running to Cherry Hill in 2015

Route 81 originally operated as part of the North Capitol Street Line, alongside route 80, between Fort Totten station & West Potomac Park until the summer of 1997, when it was rerouted to operate between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station & Cherry Hill Campground as part of the Maryland Line alongside routes 82, 83, and 86, in order to replace the segment of 83's former routing to Greenbelt station, which was discontinued when 83 was rerouted to serve College Park–University of Maryland station instead. Routes 81 & 83 operate on almost the same routing but with the 81 serving Greenbelt station, while 83 would serve the College Park station. The 81 gave alternative service to routes C2 in Branchville and 83 on Sundays as both routes did not operate on Sundays at the time. Route 83 was rescheduled to only operate between Monday through Saturday of each week, in order to avoid redundancy with route 81.

The 82 Maryland Streetcar Line, which used to be the primary route that operated as part of the Maryland Line, operated between West Potomac Park and Branchville until replaced by buses in 1958.[2] The 82 streetcar line used to operate even further north of Branchville all the way up to Laurel. However, the route was truncated to terminate at Branchville during the late 1940s. The 82 route was extended from Branchville to the Seven Springs Village Apartments once they opened between the 1960s and early 1970s, via Rhode Island Avenue, Edgewood Road, Baltimore Avenue, and Cherry Hill Road. However; a few select 82 trips operated further north on Rhode Island Avenue and terminated at the Hollywood subdivision of College Park instead. The line was eventually taken over by WMATA and officially became a Metrobus route in 1973 when WMATA bought various streetcar companies.[3] WMATA mainly kept the 82 route the same as its streetcar routing, only with the exception that WMATA rerouted 82 to divert off Rhode Island Avenue NE onto the intersection of Washington Place NE to serve Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station when it opened on March 27, 1976, before returning to the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NE, and operating on its usual routing towards West Potomac Park via Downtown Washington D.C.

86 originally operated under the Capital Traction Company under the G6 streetcar line before it was formed into Capital Transit. 86 was created as a new Capital Traction Company bus route to replace the G6 streetcar line, which was discontinued around the late 1950s. [2]

Route 86 was created on March 27, 1976 when Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station opened operating between the intersection of Dartmouth Avenue & Calvert Road in College Park and West Potomac Park, . The 86 operates on portions of the old G4 Streetcar line which ran between Downtown Washington D.C. and within the city of Hyattsville, MD and the G6 Streetcar Line, which ran from Branchville to Beltsville until replaced by buses between 1949 & 1958.

On September 24, 1978, WMATA truncated route 82's from West Potomac Park to Rhode Island Avenue station due to riders having an option of getting off at Rhode Island Avenue to catch the Red Line to get downtown much faster. Riders also had the option of getting off at other Metro stops downtown where they could catch other routes to get towards West Potomac Park.[4] This changes also affected Routes 84, 85, 86, and 88. Parts of the former route 82 routing was replaced by a new route B6 operating between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station to Metro Center station connecting Downtown.[4]

Route 83 was also created on September 24, 1978, that would travel parallel to Route 82 except make limited stops and ease crowding during weekday peak hours only.[4]

On December 11, 1993 when the Green Line portion between Fort Totten and Greenbelt opened, Route 82 was truncated to only operate between the Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station and Mount Rainier terminal at the intersection of Municipal Place & Rhode Island Avenue during early morning, late night, and rush hours only being replaced by Route 83 which was given daily service and extended to Cherry Hill keeping the same routing, only with the exception of being minority rerouted to serve Greenbelt station.[5][6]

Route 86 was also extended from its previous College Park terminus, all the way to the Centerpark Office Park (Calverton), in order to replace the segment of R2's former routing between Prince Georges Plaza and Calverton, via East–West Highway, Baltimore Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, as well as on Powder Mill Road between the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and Beltsville Drive, that was discontinued.[5]

In the summer of 1997, route 81 was shifted from the North Capitol Street Line to operate as part of the Maryland Line between Rhode Island Avenue station and Cherry Hill via the 83 routing but would serve Greenbelt station instead of College Park–University of Maryland station on Sundays replacing the 83 which eliminated all Sunday service and route C2 in Branchville which does not operate on Sundays.

On May 15, 2003, the original bus bays inside Prince Georges Plaza mall, were demolished in order to build a new Target store. Routes 86 along with routes C4, F4, F6, F8, R2, R3, R4 and TheBus 13, 14, 18 have stopped entering and looping inside around the mall.[7]

Route 86 managed to keep its original routing in the city of College Park via College Avenue, Dartmouth Avenue, and Calvert Road even after College Park–University of Maryland station opened. But route 86 didn't directly serve the station, instead having a stop close to the western end of the station on Calvert Road. Passengers wishing to board and alight at College Park–University of Maryland station on route 86 would had to board/alight at the intersection of Dartmouth Avenue & Calvert Road as it was the closest 86 bus stop to the western entrance of the station on Calvert Road.

On June 27, 2004, route 86 was permanently rerouted at the request of the city of College Park to directly serve the College Park–University of Maryland station station by operating along the 83's routing along Baltimore Avenue, Paint Branch Parkway, and River Road instead of operating along College Ave, Dartmouth Ave, and Calvert Road.[8][9]

Due to the construction of a new curb next to the new Mosaic Apartments built right next to Prince George's Plaza station around June, 2007, all WMATA Metrobus Routes that have previously exited Prince George's Plaza station from the northbound side, had to do so by exiting the Prince George's Plaza station via a right turn onto East-West Highway and left onto Belcrest Road. Route 86 was in the direction of Calverton to exit Prince George's Plaza station northbound, right onto East-West Highway and remain straight on East-West Highway to past Belcrest Road but was able to keep its entire routing in the direction of Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station the same as the route was still allowed to turn left from East-West Highway onto Belcrest Road, make a right turn from Belcrest Road to enter Prince George's Plaza station, and make a right turn southbound on Belcrest Road.

On June 20, 2011, WMATA added a new route to the College Park Line called "83X" as a plot route during the summer in order to provide additional direct service from Cherry Hill Campground to College Park–University of Maryland station operating four weekdays trips only from 8:30 am to 10:00 am only from the third Monday in June through the second Friday through August.[10]

During WMATA's Fiscal Year of 2015, WMATA proposed to split Route 83 and 86 into four routes. Route 83 and 86 would terminate at College Park station from Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station and be renamed Route 83S and 86S or keep their same names. The second portion was to be named route 83N and 86N or route R6 and R8 and will operate between College Park station and Cherry Hill (83N/R6) and Calverton (86N/R8) keeping the same routing with route 83 and 86. All existing service would still be covered but passengers will have to transfer at College Park station in order to continue their trips. If the proposal had gone through, it would mark the return of the R6 and R8 (unless it was switched to Route 83N/86N) service as they haven't operated since 1993[5] under the "Queens Chapel Road Line" (R6) and "Riggs Road Line" (R8).[11]

During WMATA's FY2016 budget, it was proposed for route 83 to be given Sunday service replacing route 81 and discontinuing Sunday service to Greenbelt station. Routes 83 and 86 would replace route 81 in College Park while route C2 would replace route 81 between Greenbelt station and University of Maryland. The reason of the changes was for WMATA making the College Park Line easier to understand towards riders.[12]

On March 27, 2016, route 81 service between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station and Cherry Hill Campground was discontinued and replaced by route 83.[13] Route 83 also added Sunday service replacing the 81 but no longer serving Greenbelt station where it was replaced by route C2. Route C2 also added Sunday service to replace Route 81 portion between Greenbelt Road and Greenbelt station.[13][14]

On December 18, 2016, Route 82 was discontinued and was replaced by the 83.[15] Short trips between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station and Mount Rainier were made 83 routes instead during late nights and early mornings. Also, due to Metro closing at midnight during that time period because of SafeTrack maintenance, select Route 83 trips were introduced to operate between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood and College Park–University of Maryland station on Friday and Saturday late nights only.[15]

On March 19, 2017, route 83 short trips between Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station and Mount Rainier during weekday peak-hours were discontinued and replaced by route G9.[16]

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 83 and 86 were temporarily rerouted along River Road having to turn around on the roundabout along Haig Drive to return to its regular route going both directions.[17]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, routes 83 and 86 were relegated to operate on its Saturday schedule beginning on March 16, 2020.[18] However beginning on March 18, 2020, the route was further reduced to operate on its Sunday schedule.[19] Also beginning on March 21, 2020, weekend service was further reduced with the 83 operating every 30 minutes and route 86 having all weekend service suspended.[20] On August 23, 2020, additional service was added to roues 83 and 86 operating every 60 minutes with a 30 minute frequency along Baltimore Avenue. However Route 86 Sunday service remained suspended while Route 83 operated every 30 to 35 minutes.[21]

Beginning on April 20, 2020, parts of Calvert Road was closed due to the ongoing construction of the Purple line. Routes 83, and 86 were temporarily rerouted to turn on Calvert Road to serve the west side of College Park–University of Maryland station since vehicles cannot travel along parts of Calvert Road.[22] The routing was similar to route 86's routing from 2004 before it was rerouted to College Park station.

In May 2020, WMATA announced that route 83X will not operate during for the 2020 summer season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Metro's reduced service since March 16, 2020. Alternative service would be provided by routes 83 and 86.[23]

On September 26, 2020, WMATA proposed to reduce the frequency of buses to every 60 minutes on both routes 83 and 86 and eliminate all route 86 Sunday service due to low federal funding. Route 86 has not operated on Sundays since March 15, 2020 due to Metro's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24]