Arlington–Union Station Line

Throughout the 1990s, more changes were made to the line.[3]

Routes 13C, 13D, and 13E were all discontinued and replaced by routes 13A and 13B. Routes 13A would operate in the clockwise direction via Army Navy Drive, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Constitution Avenue, Federal Triangle, Independence Avenue, and the 14th Street Bridge while 13B would operate the same routing in the counter clockwise direction (opposite direction). These routes are a combined 13C, 13D, and 13E.

Also a new 13F and 13G were introduced to operate between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station/Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Federal Triangle via Crystal City station and Pentagon station which operates along the 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D, and 13E routing between Pentagon and Downtown DC. The 13G would operate in the clockwise direction (same as 13A) and 13F would operate in the counter clockwise direction (same as 13B) during the weekend early AM hours only between 5:00 AM and 7:00 PM prior to Metro's opening.[4] The line was later renamed the National Airport–Pentagon–Washington Line

In 2006, WMATA proposed to eliminate all off-peak service for routes 13A and 13B. This was because service was redundant with Metrorail service and low ridership during the off-peak hours.[5] According to WMATA, weekday peak ridership averages 21 passengers per trip versus 5 passengers per trip (65 passengers) during the off-peak. Weekend pre-Metro opening ridership averages 28 passengers on Saturday and 38 on Sundays. After 8:00 AM ridership averages four passengers per trip ( 108 passengers) on Saturday and seven passengers per trip (133 passengers) on Sunday.[6]

On September 24, 2006, off-peak service for routes 13A and 13B were discontinued due low ridership and a redundancy towards Metrorail service. Service would now operate between 5:10 AM to 9:10 AM and 3:00 PM to 6:50 PM weekdays. Routes 13F and 13G would operate between 5:20 AM to 7:15 AM Saturdays, and 5:30 AM to 7:10 AM on Sundays.[7]

In 2010 during WMATA's FY2011 budget, WMATA proposed to eliminate routes 13A and 13B and replace it with an extended route 16F to Federal Triangle via the 14th Street Bridge and a new route 7Y to Farragut Square via the Arlington Memorial Bridge in later proposals.[8][9]

Routes 13F and 13G would be retained and still provide early morning weekend service between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM but could be extended to 8:00 AM if Metro were to change its hours.[9]

On December 19, 2010, routes 13A and 13B were discontinued by WMATA and replaced by a new route 7Y and an extended 16F. Route 7Y would operate via the Arlington Memorial Bridge while route 16F would operate via the 14th Street Bridge replacing the 13A and 13B entirely. Routes 13F and 13G remained unchanged.[10]

In 2013, WMATA proposed two options to the 13F and 13G.

One option was to discontinue all service and replace it with an extended route 54 (designated 54A) from L'Enfant Plaza station to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station via Pentagon station replacing routes 13F and 13G.[11]

The second option was to extend routes 13F and 13G to Washington Union Station via Pentagon City and Crystal City stations. The line would be extended along 7th street (Northbound), 9th street (Southbound), and E street to serve Union station. Service along Arlington Memorial Bridge would be discontinued as the line would be simplified to only operate along the 14th Street Bridge. Service along Independence Avenue and the terminal point along 12th street would also be discontinued.[11]

WMATA reasons the changes in order to provide connections to additional activity areas and transfers to other lines and minimal ridership was reported at Arlington Cemetery station and on Constitution Avenue west of 14th Street.[11]

On March 30, 2014, routes 13F and 13G were discontinued and replaced by a new route 13Y which was also extended to Washington Union Station. The new 13Y would operate along WMATA's Option 2 proposal from 2013 and would only operate during weekend early AM hours similar to routes 13F and 13G. The line was also renamed for the third and final time as the Arlington–Union Station Line as of a result.[12]

In 2016 during WMATA's FY2018 budget, it was proposed to eliminate route 13Y due to low ridership, to reduce costs, and has a high subsidy per rider.[13][14] According to performance measure it goes as the following for WMATA:[15]

On June 25, 2017, route 13Y was eliminated due to low ridership. A new route 10N of the Alexandria–Pentagon Line was introduced on the same day to operate along the same 13 routing between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station and Pentagon station. Service to Washington DC was fully discontinued. The main difference between the 10N and 13Y was the 10N would operate during Friday and Saturday late nights (after midnight) and early morning Sunday service between 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM only.[16][17]