MAX Silverleaf

I was able to go on my first ride on The MAX earlier. I took the 960 from Cedar Grove to Silverleaf. Couple of things:

• Buses should be able to detour via Brambleton to I-264 to get out of town: St. Paul's Blvd is a parking lot
• Route 36 should exit Silverleaf towards TCC as follows: RIGHT Independence; RIGHT Silverleaf Dr; RIGHT Holland - this cuts the line wanting to STAY on Independence
• Don't send MAX buses out to cover the 19. I'd rather see a 1200, 1700, 2000, or - heaven forbid - a rust bucket (900) until the 919 is officially launched. I don't want to go into discussion about the nightmare it caused this morning. Ditto for Route 22 (hopefully that didn't happen) since neither are MAX routes until September.
  
• Something needs to be done about the strange loop for the 36 Pembroke. It may be a pain to cross, but City of VB: Could we get a left turn lane from Holland Rd to Commuter Dr?
• Where is the MAX 30-Day E&D card that I was promised (then retracted)!? This caused an uproar at Wards Corner.

919 NAVAL STATION MAX

It's Here! The 919 NAVAL STATION MAX did run this morning and did cause confusion if it's free or not ($1.50 Route 19 fare requested). Passengers were already talking about the MAX when 960s came through ("this is what our bus will be in September") and got confused since they knew The MAX was free for the first two weeks. There were two Gillig Phantom (1800 series) Route 19s that came through, then the rest were 919 MAX buses. The decision to dispatch MAX buses was that of 18th Street Dispatch.

I arrived around 4:30 AM not knowing it would only take me 20 minutes to ride up Independence on a bike and helped until the 36 showed up at 6:30 (it was supposed to be there just before 6:18, the Holland & S. Plaza timepoint) so I could get to the dentist.

All 19s and 919s had difficulty with their signs. The only sign towards the base we (myself, a driver, and supervisor) could find was 19 STAFF COLLEGE/LAFAYETTE ANNEX so everyone else stayed with 19 SILVERLEAF STATION or 919 MAX SILVERLEAF