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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is proposing to adjust portions of its Blue Line Metrorail service to meet changing ridership patterns during peak times.

To meet growing east side demand in downtown Washington, D.C., WMATA is seeking a new way to move riders from the Blue Line’s Franconia-Springfield station across the Potomac River to L’Enfant Plaza and onto Greenbelt Station. Currently, 10 Blue Line trains operate each hour from Franconia-Springfield Station to the Largo Town Center station.

The authority plans to run four peak-period trains per hour over the Yellow Line bridge into L’Enfant Plaza. Trains would continue on to the Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street-Convention Center Station, and end at Greenbelt Station. WMATA also would run four trains per hour between the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU and Largo Town Center stations. Currently, trains make one-way trips between the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU and New Carrollton stations.

The changes also would help WMATA meet shifting ridership patterns from south of the Pentagon into downtown Washington. During the past five years, ridership has shot up 13 percent between the Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations, and dropped 4 percent between the Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom stations.