East Capitol Street–Cardozo Line
| Company type | Bus route |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Defunct | June 29, 2025 |
| Fate | Restructured and renumbered as Route C51 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. , United States |
Area served | Washington Metropolitan Area |
| Owner | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) |
The East Capitol Street–Cardozo Line, known as Route 96, was a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It linked the Red Line's Tenleytown-AU station with the Blue and Silver Lines' Capitol Heights station. Service intervals ranged between 20 and 30 minutes throughout the day, with each journey lasting roughly 80 minutes.
Background
Route 96 provided transit service through Downtown Washington DC, traveling along East Capitol Street, Massachusetts Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, U Street, and Wisconsin Avenue. It operated every day, with a few early morning trips beginning at U and 13th Streets NW.
The route was primarily dispatched from the Andrews Federal Center garage. Historically, weekday operations were based out of the Southern Avenue garage, while weekend and late-night trips originated from Bladensburg garage. Prior to 2019, full-time service was run from Bladensburg garage, and at other times it also operated from Northern garage.
Route 96 stops
<section begin=dc96-table/>
| Bus stop | Direction | Connections |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, D.C. | ||
| Fort Drive NW / Albemarle Street NW Tenleytown-AU |
Eastbound stop, Westbound terminal |
Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H2, H4, N2, W45, W47 Template:Bus icon AU Shuttle Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon |
| Wisconsin Avenue / River Road NW | Eastbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, N2, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Albemarle Street NW Tenleytown-AU |
Eastbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, H2, H4, N2, W47 Template:Bus icon AU Shuttle Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon |
| Fort Drive NW / Nebraska Avenue NW | Westbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, H2, H4, N2, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Tenley Circle NW | Eastbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H2, H4, N2, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Veazey Street NW | Westbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H2, H4, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Van Ness Street NW | Eastbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H2, H4, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Upton Street NW | Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H4, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Rodman Street NW | Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H4, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Porter Street NW | Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33, D32, H4, W47 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Newark Street NW | Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33 |
| Wisconsin Avenue / Macomb Street NW | Westbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33 |
| Woodley Road NW / Wisconsin Avenue | Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 31, 33 |
| Woodley Road NW / 35th Street NW | Bidirectional | |
| Woodley Road NW / 34th Street NW | Bidirectional | |
| Woodley Road NW / 32nd Street NW | Bidirectional | |
| Cathedral Avenue NW / Woodley Road NW | Bidirectional | |
| Cathedral Avenue NW / 29th Street NW | Westbound | |
| 29th Street NW / Cathedral Avenue NW | Eastbound | |
| 29th Street NW / Woodley Road NW | Westbound | |
| 29th Street NW / Garfield Street NW | Eastbound | |
| Calvert Street NW / 29th Street NW | Westbound | |
| Calvert Street NW / McGill Terrace NW | Eastbound | |
| Calvert Street NW / Shoreham Drive NW Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan |
Eastbound | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: L2 Template:Bus icon DC Circulator: Woodley Park – Adams Morgan – McPherson Square Metro Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon |
| Calvert Street NW / Connecticut Avenue Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan |
Bidirectional | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: L2 Template:Bus icon DC Circulator: Woodley Park – Adams Morgan – McPherson Square Metro Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon |
<section end=dc96-table/>
History
Route 96 originated in 1922 as a segment of the East-Capitol Hill Streetcar Line, operated by the Washington Railway & Electric Company. Its initial route stretched between Duke Ellington Bridge and the United States Capitol, traversing major thoroughfares such as Calvert Street, U Street, Florida Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, North Capitol Street, Louisiana Avenue, and Constitution Avenue.
Following its acquisition by the Capital Traction Company, the streetcar service was replaced by bus operations in 1962 under DC Transit. Subsequently, WMATA integrated DC Transit along with other private transit providers into its Metrobus network on February 4, 1973.
On March 27, 1976, Route 96 was redirected to end at Washington Union Station, ceasing its previous service along Constitution Avenue. When U Street station commenced operations in 1991, Route 96 incorporated this stop without altering its path.
In March 1995, after routes 40, 42, and 44 were truncated or discontinued, Route 96 extended its service from Union Station to Capitol Heights station, passing through Stadium–Armory station and Benning Road station. This extension primarily followed Massachusetts Avenue and East Capitol Street. Concurrently, a new Route 97 was launched to operate alongside Route 96 during weekday peak periods between Union Station and Capitol Heights but took a different route segment between Stadium Armory and Union Station. These modifications resulted in the line being renamed the East Capitol Street–Cardozo Line.
On June 24, 2007, Route 96 was lengthened from Duke Ellington Bridge to McLean Gardens to substitute portions of routes 90, 92, and 93, aiming to enhance punctuality. Later, on September 30, 2012, Routes 96 and X3 were further extended from McLean Gardens to Tenleytown-AU station due to detours related to construction activities.
In 2014, WMATA proposed truncating Route 96 back to Duke Ellington Bridge with a reroute along Massachusetts Avenue NE between East Capitol Street and Union Station. A new Route 98 would cover the section between Tenleytown-AU and U Street stations. The goals included boosting reliability, offering direct peak-hour service between Capitol Heights and Duke Ellington Bridge, shortening travel times around the U.S. Capitol, and aligning capacity with demand.
Effective June 21, 2015, Route 96 was rerouted via Massachusetts Avenue NE to serve Station Park for improved dependability; meanwhile, Route 97 continued on its existing routing.
In 2017, WMATA suggested eliminating the portion between McLean Gardens and Tenleytown-AU station because of overlapping coverage with several other routes (30N/S, 31/33, 37, H3/H4). Instead, Route 96 would terminate at Cathedral Commons—the location prior to the 2012 extension. Three turnaround configurations were evaluated involving local streets near Wisconsin Avenue.
Performance evaluations of Route 96 indicated strong ridership figures and favorable cost recovery compared to WMATA standards:
| Performance Measure | Route 96 | WMATA Guideline | Pass/Fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Riders | 4,582 | 432 | Pass |
| Cost Recovery | 18% | 16.6% | Pass |
| Subsidy per Rider | $3.62 | $4.81 | Pass |
| Riders per Trip | 29 | 10.7 | Pass |
| Riders per Revenue Mile | 3.0 | 1.3 | Pass |
Ridership on the segment proposed for elimination was significantly lower during both weekdays and weekends.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, starting March 16, 2020, service on Route 96 was reduced while Route 97 operations were fully suspended. By March 21, weekend service for Route 96 was also halted. Some additional service resumed on August 23; however, Route 97 remained inactive.
On September 26, 2020, WMATA put forth a proposal to discontinue all Route 97 trips due to insufficient federal funding and replace them with full-route trips on Route 96 running between Tenleytown and Capitol Heights stations.
Following construction completion on November 13, 2020, eastbound trips on Route 96 were redirected along New Jersey Avenue NW; service along New York Avenue NW, M Street NW, and North Capitol Street NW was discontinued.
In February 2021, WMATA proposed adjusting Route 96 to operate solely between Union Station and Deanwood station by merging segments of multiple routes (U5/U6/V1/V7/V8/W4). This change would eliminate service beyond Union Station toward Capitol Heights as well as discontinue all Route 97 service.
By September 5, 2021, all previously suspended routes including Route 97 were officially removed from WMATA’s active listings.
As part of WMATA's Better Bus Redesign implemented on June 29, 2025, Route 96 was restructured to serve Anacostia station rather than Capitol Heights via Martin Luther King Avenue SE—partially integrating with Route 90—and received a new designation: C51.