the buses have their own dedicated lanes so they can zoom past traffic along route 1 between pentagon city and down to the metro stations. the metro way bus stops have a distinctive look including screens that offer information about wait times. some riders told us they hope the new system will shorten their commutes. >> it's going to cut it by half, i believe, now that it will have its own lane, it doesn't have to compete with the crystal city traffic. >> i'm anxious to see how it works. >> cautiously optimistic. >> drivers who use the bus-only lane will get a warning for the next 30 days. after that, t driving in that lane, goes up to $200. >>> well, a last-minute push by the district could help the national park service get millions to repair the arlington memorial bridge. the district government agreed to co-sponsor a grant application for the federal government's fast lane program. the grant is worth $150 million and it's critical to fixing the bridge. the park service just approached the district last week and the two sides managed to hammer out a deal before this week's application

it's between pentagon city and braddock road metrorail stati arlington's portion of the route officially opened up yesterday. >>> 4:31. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. i'm loving this warm weather. if we can could only keep it like this. >> i know. here is chuck bell with four things to know. >> give you one nice day in a row and now the expectations are off the charts. well, i can promise that we can deliver very fine weather here for today and tomorrow. the 80s are back in town. haven't been above 80 at national airport since april 1. it will be sunny a while longer, although rain chances sneak in later into the week and perhaps may linger into the front part of your weekend. "7-day forecast" at 4:51. what about your monday, though? sun is up at 6:27. temperatures in the 40s in the cooper scooler suburbs. highs today will be right away 80 in the suburbs to 82 down on the national mall. we'll let you know what the cool kids will be wearing today coming up this ten minutes. anymore consu >>> a couple items of construction to note. again northbound georgia at colesville as we talk

place in arlington and alex which means they get to ride around the traffic along route 1 between pentagon cityraddock road. adam truss tracked the first rush hour commute today. >> reporter: if a bus gets its own lane and gets to roll around the traffic, it can make a difference. >> it will make it easier because we won't have to wait through all the traffic, the regular commuter traffic along route 1. that'll be definitely easier. >> next arrival in three minutes. >> reporter: the buses here come often and they show up on time. cool new screens give you a wealth of information. the bus stations themselves look like interesting transit stops. and if you can keep a schedule while providing reliable transportation, then you may get a following. >> we'll see. i'm cautiously optimistic. >> reporter: janet lives right across the street from one of these new stops. 's crystal city metro station. she thinks there will be a learning curve, especially for drivers. >> i think this will be very confusing for a lot of motorists in the area. i'm anxious to see how it works. >> reporter: for the next 30 day

the entire metro way which runs along route 1 between pentagon city and metrorail station adam tuss is live along the route this morning. great to see you early, adam. >> reporter: great to see you as always, angie. and don't we all want a better commute? well, check this out. these are the new stations that you will be finding between basically the braddock road metro station and pentagon city. places like this and their own dedicated bus lanes that will be able to give you a faster trip. all sorts of you into little gadgets to tell you when the next bus will show up 36 minutes for this first one here. it's a small stretch, but it's an important step for our region. we've been talking a lot about bus rapid transit systems. this one is now up and running. montgomery county has plans for bus rapid transit systems. d.c. enforcing bus only lanes. and take a look here on the ground, bus only markings on the ground. you also have to pay attention if you're a driver in this area. warning period starting now like the nextkxt 30 days. and then after that, you could get a $200 fine for driving

and silver lines, running every 18 minutes. 18 minutes as well on the blue line between arlington cemetery and pentagon city. have a great weekend. i'll see you on monday for news4 today. tickets to get in town and it opens tomorro w >>> if you have a lot of old prescription drugs lying around in your medicine cabinet taking up space, tomorrow could be your day. it's national prescription drug federal drug enforcement administration. law enforcement agencies will be collecting unused medication and safely disposing of it. it helps prevent potential abuse by people who find those drugs in the trash. last fall more than 647,000 pounds of prescription drugs were collected. go to the nbc washington app and search drug takeback. got a lot of old drugs to give away myself. >> we just did that this week. we were amazed at 2011, 2012 expiration dates we found on there. >>> remember that cool exhibit at the national building museum last summer with thousands of plastic balls? well, those balls are now being repurposed. >> it's quickly becoming the hottest ticket in town. meagan mcgrath takes us underneath the street

and on the yellow line, single tracking will be taking place between l'enfant plaza and pentagon city if you see something that we don't over the weekend, you can always hit me up on twitter. use the twitter handle @wusa9 traffic. >> he runs a lot. >> much respect. >> in the rain? in the cold. >> can't stop him. can't stop won't stop. how's that going to work out though today? >> it will be mainly dry today. it's the second half of the weekend that if you have outdoor plans that things get a little bit dicey out there. not only going to see some rain around tomorrow morning but also we're going to see some showers and thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. so it's going to be yellow weather alert day tomorrow. this morning, we're starting there. we've got cloudy skies, some areas of mist and drizzle and even fog. reducing the visibility so it doesn't really feel like the last day of april outside. 51 right now we've got that east northeast wind creating that -- we call it cold air damming effect against the mountains where it just keeps us socked into the clouds, the cool temperatures and

between alexandria and arlington will get a faster commute beginning today. the entire metroway route with its dedicated bus only lanes is open along route 1. it runs from pentagon cityto the braddock road metro station. the bus only lanes are meant to speed up commutes in an area that gets congested by traffic. riders are hoping the new bus lanes will get them to their decembstination faster. >> we wait a lot especiallt lights. so now that they have their own lane and they actually get to go the wrong way in some parts which i think is cool, i think it will cut it a lot. >> drivers who use the dedicated only bus lanes can be issued a $200 fine. >>> for other commuters there may be an slowdown because of water main repairs. paving will be through langley park starting around 9:00 this morning. you will see lane closures between piney branch road and new hampshire avenue. crews fixed a 12 inch water main that broke on saturday. and metro is shutting down one of columbia heights stations entrances to install two new escalators. the entrance on the northeast corner of 14th and irving streets will remain closed for nine months during the installation. escalators at the s