The Silver Spring–Fairland Line designated Route Z6 or Z8 are daily bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride lot (Z6) and Greencastle Park & Ride Lot (Z8), and Silver Spring station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 20–30 minutes at all times. Both trips are roughly 60 minutes long.
Background
Route Z6 operates daily running between Silver Spring station and Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride. The route operates via Calverton, Westfarm, and White Oak, Maryland. Weekend trips ends at #14000 Castle Boulevard.
Route Z8 operates daily running between Silver Spring station and Greencastle Park & Ride mostly along Castle Boulevard, Old Columbia Pike, and Colesville Road. Weekend trips ends at Briggs Chaney Park & Ride Lot.
Both Routes operate out of Montgomery division.
History
Route Z6 was created on January 27, 1985 which operated between Silver Spring station and Calverton mostly operating along Calverton Boulevard, Old Columbia Pike, Columbia Pike, Lockwood Drive, Colesville Road. In the 1990s, route Z6 was discontinued and replaced by route Z7 which took over the Calverton routing which Z6 operated on.
Route Z8 had prior incarnations as the Old Bladensburg Road Line and the Sligo Avenue Line. The lines were at first operated as streetcars under the Capital Traction Company. The lines would later be operated by buses in 1927 and 1940. Both lines were later merged into one, later operated until DC Transit in 1956 and then acquired by WMATA on February 4, 1973. However the Z8 was later replaced by Ride On.
Route Z8 would later be reincarnated as the Colesville Road–Fairland Line which would operate between Silver Spring station and Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride lot via White Oak, Greencastle Park & Ride Lot, Briggs Chaney Park & Ride Lot, and a few peak-hour trips to Verizon–Chesapeake Complex.
After a series of proposals in early 2004, route Z6 was reincarnated in service as the Tanglewood–Westfarm Line to operate between Silver Spring station and Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride lot via Calverton, Westfarm, and White Oak, Maryland on September 26, 2004. The new Z6 replaced the Glenmont–Silver Spring Line (Z1 and Z4), Colesville–Fairland Express Line (Z3 and Z5), the Calverton Express Line (Z7 and Z17), and route Z8's routing between Greencastle Park & Ride Lot and Burtonsville Park & Ride. Route Z6 replaced route Z4 routing between Lockwood Drive, Stewart Lane, and Old Columbia Pike through the White Oak Shopping Center and White Oak Apartments, Z1, Z4, Z5, Z7, & Z17's routing on Columbia Pike, Industrial Parkway, Tech Road, and Broadbirch Drive in Westfarm, and a portion of Z7 & Z17's routing on Calverton Boulevard in Calverton. Routes Z1, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z7, and Z17 were all discontinued and route Z8 was shorten to Greencastle Park & Ride Lot with all the discontinued routings combined into the new route Z6.
Route Z6 will operate along Lockwood Drive to White Oak, then operate to Calverton via Broadbirch Drive, Calverton Boulevard, Galway Drive, and Fairland Road. Route Z6 will then operate along Briggs Chaney Road serving Briggs Chaney Park & Ride and #14000 Castle Boulevard. It will then operate along Old Columbia Pike to Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride lot. The service would only operate on weekdays however.
Also on the same day, route Z8 was shorten to operate between Silver Spring station and Greencastle Park & Ride Lot via Briggs Chaney Park & Ride Lot. Service to the Burtonsville Crossing Park & Ride Lot was replaced by new Route Z6. The Z8 also replaced portions of the Z1, Z3, Z4, and Z5 which were all discontinued on the same day.
On June 24, 2007, Z6 service to Tanglewood was discontinued and replaced by a new Ride On Route 21. The line was also changed from the Tanglewood–Westfarm Line to the Calverton–Westfarm Line.
When the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center at Silver Spring station opened, both routes were rerouted from its bus stop along Dixon Avenue to Bus Bay 106 and Bus Bay 114.
During WMATA's Fiscal Year of 2016, WMATA proposed for to add Saturday service to route Z6 between Silver Spring, Calverton and Fairland with buses arriving every 30 minutes and to reduce the number of trips between Castle Boulevard and Burtonsville. WMATA reasons that the current route Z6 schedule does not provide enough time for buses to get from one end to the other, ridership is high for route Z6 on the weekdays, and there are very few riders using the Z6 between Castle Boulevard and Burtonsville.