The Annapolis Road Line, designated Route P40, is a daily bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between New Carrollton station of the Orange and Silver Lines of the Washington Metro and Rhode Island Avenue station of the Red Line of the Washington Metro. The line operates every 12 minutes during the weekdays between 7AM and 9PM and 45–60 minutes after 9PM. P40 trips roughly take 50 minutes to complete.
Background Route P40 operates daily between New Carrollton station and Rhode Island Avenue station providing service along Annapolis Road and connecting passengers between Prince George's County and Northeast. Route P40 also runs a limited stop segment between Mount Rainier terminal and Rhode Island Avenue station serving only 7 stops in each direction. Local service is provided by Routes D32 and P10.
Route P40 operates out of Landover division.
P40 stops
Bus stopDirectionConnectionsPrince George's County, MarylandNew Carrollton stationBus Bay KWestbound station,Eastbound terminal Metrobus: P20, P21, P24, P30, P31, P35, P42, P60, P61 MTA Maryland Commuter Bus TheBus: P22, P23, P2X, P44, P52, P5X, P71 Greyhound Peter Pan Bus Lines Washington Metro: MARC: Penn Line Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Vermonter MTA: Purple Line (Planned)Harkins Road / Ellin RoadBidirectional Metrobus: P20, P21, P24, P30, P31, P35 TheBus: P22Harkins Road / Sherwood StreetBidirectional Metrobus: P20, P21, P24, P30, P31, P35 TheBus: P22Harkins Road / Annapolis RoadWestbound Metrobus: P20, P21, P24, P30, P31, P35 TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / Harkins RoadEastbound Metrobus: P20, P21, P24, P30, P31, P35 TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 77th AvenueBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 76th AvenueBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / Gallatin StreetBidirectional TheBus: P22 MTA: Purple Line (at Glenridge station) (Planned)Annapolis Road / Ardwick Ardmore RoadBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / Greenvale ParkwayWestbound TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 72nd AvenueEastbound TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 71st AvenueBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 69th PlaceBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 69th AvenueBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 68th AvenueBidirectional TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / Cooper LaneBidirectional Metrobus: P41 TheBus: P22Annapolis Road / 65th AvenueBidirectional Metrobus: P41Annapolis Road / 62nd AvenueBidirectional Metrobus: P41Annapolis Road / 57th AvenueWestbound57th Avenue / Annapolis RoadBidirectional57th Avenue / Bladensburg High SchoolBidirectional57th Avenue / 58th AvenueBidirectional57th Avenue / Bladensburg High SchoolBidirectional57th Avenue / Emerson StreetBidirectional58th Avenue / #4213Bidirectional58th Avenue / #4245-#4251Bidirectional58th Avenue / Roger Heights Elementary SchoolBidirectionalEmerson Street / 57th AvenueBidirectional57th Avenue / Annapolis RoadBidirectionalAnnapolis Road / 56th AvenueBidirectionalAnnapolis Road / Landover RoadBidirectional TheBus: P43Annapolis Road / 54th StreetWestbound TheBus: P43Annapolis Road / Bladensburg Elementary SchoolBidirectional TheBus: P43Annapolis Road / Edmonston RoadBidirectional Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Annapolis Road / 48th StreetBidirectional Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Annapolis Road / 46th StreetBidirectional Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Bladensburg Road / 43rd AvenueBidirectional Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Bladensburg Road / 42nd AvenueEastbound Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Bladensburg Road / 41st AvenueWestbound Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Bladensburg Road / 40th PlaceEastbound Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P43Bladensburg Road / 38th AvenueBidirectional Metrobus: P42 TheBus: P4338th Avenue / Parkwood StreetBidirectional TheBus: P4338th Avenue / Perry StreetBidirectional TheBus: P43Rhode Island Avenue / 37th PlaceWestbound Metrobus: C41, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue / 37th StreetEastbound Metrobus: C41, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue / 34th StreetWestbound Metrobus: C41, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue / Municipal PlaceEastbound Metrobus: C41, P10, P1XNortheast Washington, D.C.Rhode Island Avenue NE / Eastern Avenue NEBidirectional Metrobus: C41, P10, P1X, P42Rhode Island Avenue NE / Newton Street NEBidirectional Metrobus: P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / South Dakota Avenue NEEastbound Metrobus: D32, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / 24th Street NEWestbound Metrobus: D32, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / 18th Street NEBidirectional Metrobus: C71, D32, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / Montana Avenue NEEastbound Metrobus: C63, D32, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / Brentwood Road NEWestbound Metrobus: C63, D32, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue NE / 12th Street NEBidirectional Metrobus: D32, D36, D74, P10, P1XRhode Island Avenue stationBus Bay CEastbound station,Westbound terminal Metrobus: D32, D36, D74, P10, P1X Metropolitan Branch Trail Washington Metro:
History
Prior to WMATA's Better Bus Redesign network, Route P40 was originally known as Route T18. Route T18 was created as a brand new Metrobus Route by WMATA on December 3, 1978 to operate between New Carrollton station and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station shortly after New Carrollton station opened on November 20, 1978.
Route T18 was designed to replace the segment of routes T14, T16, and T17 routing between Annapolis Road in New Carrollton and the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station, via Capital Plaza Mall, since routes T14, T16, and T17 were truncated to terminate at New Carrollton.
Route T18 would operate along Ellin Road, Harkins Road, and Annapolis Road, then divert off Annapolis Road after passing the Baltimore–Washington Parkway and Capital Plaza, and make a loop along 57th Avenue, 58th Avenue, Emerson Street, and then 57th Avenue to serve Bladensburg High School, as well as the adjacent apartment complexes. Then the route returns onto Annapolis Road remaining straight on Annapolis Road and Bladensburg Road, then turn onto the intersection of 38th Avenue and 38th Street, another left turn at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and remain straight on Rhode Island Avenue before reaching the intersection of Washington Place NE and ultimately making a left turn onto that street to enter Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood station. Route T18 would then turn back and operate on the same routing (except in the exact opposite direction), back towards New Carrollton station.
Limited Stop Segment Beginning on December 14, 2014, route T18 began a newly limited stop segment along Rhode Island Avenue between Mount Rainier terminal and Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood station along with route T14. The limited stop segment was to reduce bus bunching along Rhode Island Avenue and improve on time performance for route T14, and T18. Buses would only serve the following stops: Rhode Island Ave & 12th St NE Rhode Island Ave & Montana Ave NE (eastbound)/14th St NE (westbound) Rhode Island Ave & 18th St NE Rhode Island Ave & South Dakota Ave NE (eastbound)/24th St NE (westbound) Rhode Island Ave & Newton St NE Rhode Island Ave & Eastern Ave NE Passengers wishing for local service will have to use routes 83 or 86. This resulted with route T18 running as a direct route, and route T14 runs primarily through neighborhoods.
Later changes During the COVID-19 pandemic, the T18 operated on its Saturday supplemental schedule beginning on March 16, 2020. It however began operating on its Sunday service on March 18, 2020. Weekend service was also suspended beginning on March 21, 2020. Weekend service was restored on a limited basis on July 18, 2020. Full service resumed on August 23, 2020. Full service was restored on August 23, 2020.
On September 5, 2021, service was also increased to operate every 12 minutes daily between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
In 2024 during WMATA's FY2024 Budget crisis, WMATA proposed to eliminate all service after midnight daily on the T18. However on April 25, 2024, Metro’s Board of Directors approved a $4.8 billion capital and operating budget which avoided service cuts.
Better Bus Redesign In 2022, WMATA launched its Better Bus Redesign project, which aimed to redesign the entire Metrobus Network and is the first full redesign of the agency's bus network in its history.
In April 2023, WMATA launched its Draft Visionary Network. As part of the drafts, WMATA proposed to rename the T18 to Route MD146, and kept the same routing of the current T18. During WMATA's Revised Draft Visionary Network, WMATA renamed the MD146 to Route P40 and kept its same routing. The change were then proposed during WMATA's 2025 Proposed Network.
On November 21, 2024, WMATA approved its Better Bus Redesign Network.
Beginning on June 29, 2025, Route T18 was renamed to the P40 and kept the same routing as the former T18 did.
Incidents On January 10, 2022, a man was stabbed on board a T18 bus along Rhode Island Avenue between 14th Street and Montana Avenue. The suspect ran away from the scene.
References