That humble sign looks a bit surreal when you see it in the President’s neighborhood. But indeed, one end of the route is at the foot of S. Buchanan Street and Columbia Pike, and the other in the Sea of Suits, the Land of Lobbyists on K Street at McPherson Square.

According to Metro, the 16Y is the first through-bus service offered from Columbia Pike since Metro’s Yellow Line opened in 1982. Metro Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman seems proud of the Pike-K Street connection, and notes that the bus is also intended to help relieve overcrowding at the Pentagon Metro station, where all other Route 16 busses terminate.

Jammed Pentagon trains are truly a problem, but I’m not sure the 16Y will make much of a dent. More rail cars are needed to solve that problem. I usually avoid the bus-train mess altogether by riding my bike downtown via Fort Meyer or to the Orange Line at Virginia Square. But when it rains or snows, I rely on the 16 busses on Columbia Pike, connecting to Metrorail at the Pentagon.

I tried the new 16Y on a rainy October day and found it faster and cheaper than the bus-Metro transfer. According to the schedule, the trip takes 30 minutes. While that may be optimistic, I’ve found that reaching Farragut Square via the bus-Blue Line transfer can drag out to 50 minutes or more since Route 16 busses have been routed away from the Pentagon following the Sept. 11 attack.

The 16Y is "faster by 10-15 minutes going in, and definitely faster going home," one rider told me. She’s been taking the 16Y since it was launched on Sept. 30. Better service for less: a round-trip costs $2.20, compared to $3.55 via Metro transfer.

The 16Y arrived about five minutes late at Connecticut and K on the afternoon I rode it home. But once it cleared K Street, it moved pretty well, circling past the Kennedy Center, crossing the Roosevelt Bridge, heading out Route 50, detouring onto N. Pershing and then Washington Blvd to Columbia Pike. About two-thirds of the seats were taken, but no one had to stand. Most passengers had debarked by the time the bus reached Walter Reed Drive.

Unlike the 16X bus that rumbles right through Barcroft, the 16Y’s last stop is on Four Mile run across from the Goodwill, forcing you to cross the Pike and trek up the steep Buchanan St. hill. But there are benefits to that: On a whim, I stopped in to check out the BIP Halal market before trudging home.

The clerk told me the store specializes in food from Bangladesh. I picked up a bag of Tandoori bread, a bag of salty puffed rice snacks called Muri, and a colorful foil packet of Chanaghur. I don’t know what Chanaghur it is, but the clerk said it goes well with Muri.

So there you have it: A ride from K Street to Bangladesh for only $1.10.

The 16Y departs from Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run every half hour from 6:30-9 a.m., and from McPherson Square every half hour from 4:30-7:00 p.m. Note: Four more trips were added in 2005--see the link below for current times.d

To see the full schedule and route, go to the Metro homepage for a press release on "New Metrobus service runs between Arlington and downtown" or a .pdf file with the schedule.

This page was revised on: January 3, 2005.