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Prompted by employee concerns over extended commute times and increased commute fares, the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill has joined with union members in requesting that Prince George's County and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reroute the NH-1 bus line for the second time this year.

The request would change the bus route from its current connection at the Branch Avenue Metro station in Suitland to the Southern Avenue station in Temple Hills, where it originally operated until August, when the line was rerouted to Branch Avenue after the hotel said employees had safety concerns.

However, members of a union for Gaylord employees say they are unaware of any previous safety concerns and were never consulted about the change. They have complained that the original reroute to Branch Avenue has caused longer commute times and cut off access to National Harbor to communities in Oxon Hill, prompting requests to restore the route back to Southern Avenue.

In an Oct. 18 letter submitted to County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Gaylord and the hotel employees' union, Unite Here Local 25, requested that the NH-1 bus line be restored to its original starting point at the Southern Avenue station.

The letter, which was signed by the hotel's general manager, Phil Coffey, and John Boardman of the Local 25, states the original route "provided a necessary and time-conserving, affordable service" to employees and that the August reroute "imposed a significant burden on those who ride the bus."

Coffey and Boardman said the August reroute did not cost Metro more and a change to the original route will likely not add costs.

The hotel did not address why it changed its position but released a statement Oct. 27 saying it "does not oppose Local 25's request to WMATA to consider restoring the NH-1 line back to its original route. Our priority has always been the personal safety of our employees and guests, and we will continue to closely monitor the safety and reliability of the NH-1 service, no matter its ultimate route."

Boardman, executive secretary treasurer for Local 25, said the union represents 1,200 hotel employees at National Harbor, many of whom had relied on the original route as a reliable means of getting from Southern Avenue to the Gaylord hotel.

"Southern Avenue was a major hub for the buses," he said. "If you try to get from the subway to the bus, it was very convenient."

Southern Avenue sits more than four miles from National Harbor with about a nine-minute driving time, while Branch Avenue is more than seven miles from the development and about a 13-minute drive. Both sit along the Green line — Branch Avenue is the last stop on the southern end of the line, three stops from Southern Avenue.

Boardman said the union did not learn of the reroute until late July, just weeks before the change in August. The union, he said, immediately began petitioning the hotel to rescind the reroute.

"By moving it to Branch Avenue, the average commute time [for workers] increased by an hour," he said. "On average, the cost of the commute increased dramatically."

The Southern Avenue station, which sits outside of Washington, D.C., is the closest Metro line to National Harbor. The bus line began operating in spring 2008, shortly after the National Harbor opened, and it was intended to link Metro with the development.

In May, representatives at the Gaylord told The Gazette that employees and guests who arrive at the Southern Avenue station after bus hours are often stranded there because taxi cab drivers refuse to pick them up, fearing for their own safety, although no crime incidents had been reported.

The former bus route ran through communities along Southern Avenue in Southeast Washington, Temple Hills and Oxon Hill before reaching Route 210/Indian Head Highway and flowing into the development. The August reroute to Branch Avenue became mainly a Beltway line, as the station sits right off of Interstate 495/95.

Susan Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation, which works with WMATA, said the agency is currently evaluating Gaylord's request and would respond accordingly.