The Mount Pleasant Line, served by Routes 42 and 43, is a Metrobus

Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)

Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are over 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009,...

 bus route in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Until the 1960s, it was a streetcar line.

Route 42 currently runs at all times, beginning at Mount Pleasant Street and 17th Street West in Mount Pleasant, and heads south on Mount Pleasant Street, Columbia Road, and Connecticut Avenue to Farragut Square

Farragut Square

Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street NW on the north, I Street NW to the south, and on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW, and it interrupts Connecticut Avenue NW...

, where some trips used to end (They are now the Route 43). The remaining trips turn east on H Street North (eastbound) and I Street North (westbound) to Ninth Street West at Gallery Place station.

Route 43 follows the same route as the 42, but it only runs in the morning rush from Mt. Pleasant to Farragut Square and in the evening rush from McPherson Square to Mt. Pleasant. Route 43 also passes underneath Dupont Circle, cutting the trip time.

History

In the final days of streetcars operated by the D.C. Transit Company, Routes 40 and 42 served the Mount Pleasant Line. Both began at Mount Pleasant and ran to H Street, turning east there, south on 14th Street West, and east on F Street North along the F Street Line. At Fifth Street West, Route 40 turned south, continuing east around the north side of the Capitol and along East Capitol Street

East Capitol Street

East Capitol Street is a major street that divides the northeast and southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. It runs due east from the United States Capitol to the DC-Maryland border. The street is uninterrupted until Lincoln Park then continues eastward to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium...

 to 15th Street East, while Route 42 turned north and east past Union Station on the East Washington Line, ending at D Street North and 13th Street East. Streetcars were replaced by buses on December 3, 1961 (Route 42) and January 28, 1962 (Route 40).

After Metro

Washington Metro

The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

 was built, the line was split at Stadium-Armory station. Route 40, which had been extended east to Seat Pleasant, Maryland

Seat Pleasant, Maryland

Seat Pleasant is an incorporated city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States immediately east of Washington D.C. The population was 4,885 at the 2000 census. Two state highways run through it — Maryland Route 704 and Maryland Route 214...

, was eliminated west of Stadium-Armory, while Route 42 remained the same, running between Mount Pleasant and Stadium-Armory. The portion of Route 40 on East Capitol Street west of Stadium Armory was replaced by an extension of Route 96. Route 96 has since absorbed Route 40, and Route 42 has been truncated to Gallery Place, with the removed portion replaced by a rerouted Route D6.