New Carrollton–Silver Spring Line
| Company type | Transit authority |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | 1967 |
Area served | Washington metropolitan area |
| Products | Metrobus, Metrorail |
| Owner | Government of the District of Columbia; Maryland; Virginia |
| Website | wmata |
The New Carrollton–Silver Spring Line, identified as Route P30, is a Metrobus service running daily under the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It links New Carrollton station on the Orange and Silver Lines with Silver Spring station on the Red Line. Service frequency is every 12 minutes between 7 AM and 9 PM, then shifts to intervals of 30 to 60 minutes later in the evening. Each journey typically takes about 62 minutes. This route operates along the vital East-West Highway corridor, providing a transit connection between eastern Prince George's County, Maryland and western Montgomery County, Maryland.
Background
Operating every day, Route P30 connects New Carrollton station with Silver Spring station, facilitating travel between Prince George's County and Montgomery County via the East-West Highway corridor. As one of Maryland’s busiest Metrobus lines, it serves important communities such as Riverdale, Hyattsville, and Lewisdale, which contribute to its substantial passenger volume.
Beginning at New Carrollton, the route follows Ellin Road, Harkins Road, Annapolis Road, and Riverdale Road. Westbound buses turn onto Lafayette Avenue and Queensbury Road from Riverdale Road; eastbound trips use Queensbury Road and 48th Avenue before rejoining Riverdale Road. The line stops at Hyattsville Crossing station before continuing westward along East-West Highway into Montgomery County via Ethan Allen Avenue, Philadelphia Avenue, Fenton Street, Colesville Road, Georgia Avenue, and Wayne Avenue en route to the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center. The return journey retraces this same path.
Route P30 is dispatched from the Landover division.
P30 stops
<section begin=p30-table/>
| Bus stop | Direction | Connections | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince George's County, Maryland | ||||
| New Carrollton Bus Bay H |
Westbound origin, Eastbound destination |
Template:Bus icon Metrobus: A12, B21, B22, B24, B27, F6, F12, F13, F14, G12, G14, T14, T18 Template:Bus icon MTA Maryland Commuter Bus Template:Bus icon TheBus: 15X, 16, 21, 21X Template:Bus icon Greyhound Template:Bus icon Peter Pan Bus Lines Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon Template:WMATA icon Template:Rint MARC: Penn Line Template:Rint Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Vermonter Template:Rint MTA: Purple Line (Planned) | ||
| Harkins Road / Ellin Road | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: B24, B27, F6, F13, G12, G14, T18 | ||
| Annapolis Road / West Lanham Drive | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: B24, B27, F13, G12, G14 | ||
| Riverdale Road / Carrollton Mall | Westbound only | Template:Bus icon TheBus: 16 Template:Bus icon Shuttle-UM (Eastbound only) | ||
| Riverdale Road / Fontainebleau Drive | Eastbound only | Template:Bus icon TheBus: 16 Template:Bus icon Shuttle-UM | ||
| Riverdale Road / Martins Lane | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: F6 | ||
| Riverdale Road / Auburn Avenue | Westbound only | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: T14 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 14 | ||
| Riverdale Road / 67th Place | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: T14 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 14 Template:Rint MTA: Purple Line (at Beacon Heights-East Pines) (Planned) | ||
| Queensbury Road / Baltimore Avenue | Eastbound only | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 83 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 14, 17 | ||
| Belcrest Road / Queens Chapel Road | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 86, F6, F8, R4 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 18 | ||
| Template:Wmata Bus Bays D and G |
Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 86, C4, F4, F6, F8, R4 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 13, 14, 18 Template:Bus icon Shuttle-UM: 113 Template:Rint Washington Metro: Template:WMATA icon | ||
| East-West Highway / Toledo Terrace | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: C4 Template:Bus icon TheBus: 18 | ||
| East-West Highway / Ager Road | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: C4, R2 | ||
| East-West Highway / New Hampshire Avenue | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: K6, K9 Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :16 | ||
| Montgomery County, Maryland | ||||
| Ethan Allen Avenue / Elm Avenue | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :16 | ||
| Philadelphia Avenue / Park Avenue | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :18 | ||
| Fenton Street / Bonifant Street | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :16, 17, 20, 28 (Eastbound only) Template:Rint MTA: Purple Line (at Silver Spring Library) (Planned) | ||
| Fenton Street / Roeder Road | Both directions | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: Z2,Z6,Z7,Z8 Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :15–20 series including Flash BRT (Blue and Orange) | ||
| Maryland Route 97#Georgia Avenue / Ellsworth Drive | Eastbound only | Template:Bus icon Metrobus: Q2,Q4,Y2,Y7,Y8 Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :12–17 series including 20 | ||
| Silver Spring station Bus Bay 223 |
Eastbound destination, Westbound origin |
Template:Bus icon Metrobus: 70,79,F4,J1,J2,Q2,Q4,S2,S9,Y2,Y7,Y8,Z2,Z6,Z7,Z8 Template:Bus icon Ride On (bus) :1–22 series including Flash BRT Blue and Orange Template:Rint Washington Metro Red Line Template:Rint MARC Brunswick Line Template:Rint MTA Purple Line (Planned) | ||
<section end=p30-table/>
History
Prior to WMATA's Better Bus Redesign initiative, Route P30 was previously designated as Route F4. Before February 19, 1978, the F4 operated within the Michigan Avenue Line, connecting Avondale and Archives. The F6 originally began as the Sargent Road Line in the 1940s, serving the corridor between Green Meadows and Brookland, D.C., but it was shortened in 1949 and ultimately discontinued by 1958.
The New Carrollton-Silver Spring Line traces its origins to DC Transit’s East-West Highway Line Route J4, which commenced service around 1961 between the University of Maryland and Friendship Heights. By 1963, J4 had been extended to Beltway Plaza Mall and transitioned into a WMATA Metrobus route in 1973 following WMATA’s acquisition of DC Transit.
In approximately 1975, Route J2 was introduced as part of the East-West Highway Line alongside J4, operating between Beltway Plaza and Montgomery Mall. Upon the opening of Silver Spring station on February 19, 1978, Routes J2 and J4 were truncated to operate only between Friendship Heights/Montgomery Mall and Silver Spring station. This change resulted in the division of the East-West Highway Line into two separate lines: the Bethesda–Silver Spring Line (Routes J2, J3, J4) and the Prince George's-Silver Spring Line (newly created Routes F4 and F6).
Routes F4 and F6 operated between Silver Spring and New Carrollton (F4) or Greenbelt (F6), sharing service along the corridor from Silver Spring to Green Meadows before diverging. The F4 followed the previous J2 alignment to New Carrollton Mall and station; meanwhile, F6 traced the former J4 path through the University of Maryland toward Beltway Plaza and Greenbelt Center, offering rush-hour trips to Goddard Space Flight Center.
Following the inauguration of New Carrollton station on December 3, 1978, Route F4 was extended to serve this station. On December 11, 1993, Route F6 was rerouted to serve Prince George's Plaza station instead of Beltway Plaza and Greenbelt Center; these latter areas were covered by Route C2. Around this period, F6 discontinued service to Silver Spring station.
By 1996, with the completion of Paint Branch Parkway, Route F6 altered its path between Prince George's Plaza and College Park station to utilize Paint Branch Parkway, ceasing operations along Kenilworth Avenue. On September 12, 1999, F6 was extended once again to Silver Spring station via West Hyattsville.
Sunday service was introduced on Route F4 on June 30, 2002, with buses running hourly. In May 2003, demolition of bus bays inside Prince George's Plaza Mall took place to accommodate a new Target store; consequently, several routes including F4 and F6 ceased entering the mall loop.
On February 20, 2006, the line’s name changed from Prince George's-Silver Spring Line to New Carrollton-Silver Spring Line. In September 2008, due to construction of the new Silver Spring Transit Center, bus bays at Silver Spring were closed; Routes F4 and F6 temporarily operated from curbside stops nearby.
After a collision on March 26, 2009 involving a MARC train and two F4 buses at Riverdale station’s railroad crossing, Route F4 was rerouted via East-West Highway bridge to bypass that crossing. Service along Riverdale Road segments was discontinued; TheBus Route 14 provided alternative weekday coverage until its discontinuation in 2019.
In both 2010 and again in 2012, WMATA proposed separating Routes F4 and F6 to reduce overlapping service: retaining F4’s existing routing while redirecting F6 to serve Fort Totten station along what had been R3’s route. This change was implemented in May 2012—beginning June 17—when Route F6 started operating between New Carrollton and Fort Totten stations following R3’s former alignment. Simultaneously, weekday and Sunday frequencies on Route F4 were increased to address overcrowding.
With the opening of Silver Spring Transit Center in September 2015, Route F4 was adjusted to run along Fenton Street and Colesville Road to access Bus Bay 223 on Level 2 of the center alongside Route J4.
During the COVID-19 pandemic starting March 16, 2020, Route F4 operated on reduced schedules—initially matching Saturday supplemental service levels before shifting to Sunday schedules—with weekend frequencies reduced to every half hour. Full regular service resumed on August 23, 2020.
On March 14, 2021, short-turn trips running between New Carrollton and Prince George's Plaza (now Hyattsville Crossing) stations were introduced to alleviate crowding. Then on September 5, 2021, pre-2009 routing along Queensbury Road between Baltimore Avenue and 49th Avenue was restored (eliminating service along Baltimore Avenue), accompanied by improved frequencies running every twelve minutes daily from 7 a.m. through 9 p.m.
Better Bus Redesign
In 2022, WMATA launched the Better Bus Redesign initiative, marking its inaugural extensive revamp of the Metrobus system.
By April 2023, WMATA unveiled the Draft Visionary Network, which included a proposal to rename the F4 route as Route MD145 while preserving its current path. Subsequent updates changed the designation from MD145 to Route P30, with no alterations to the route itself. This change was incorporated into WMATA’s Proposed Network for 2025.
On November 21, 2024, WMATA formally approved the Better Bus Redesign Network. Starting June 29, 2025, the F4 route was officially rebranded as P30, continuing to operate along its established alignment.
Incidents
- On March 27, 2009, a MARC commuter train collided with an F4 bus at the Queensbury Road railroad crossing, triggering a secondary impact involving another F4 bus. As a result, the F4 route was redirected via East-West Highway to eliminate crossing risks and improve passenger safety.
- On April 11, 2018, an armed individual attempted to commandeer an F4 bus following a robbery attempt targeting a passenger. The driver promptly halted the vehicle and notified law enforcement; the suspect was apprehended without any injuries to those on board.
- On January 17, 2025, an F4 bus collided with an unoccupied building in Riverdale after the operator suffered a medical emergency. While no passengers were harmed, the driver succumbed to their condition.