D.C. officials will begin phasing out Circulator buses in October and terminate the system by December 31, the District Department of Transportation announced in a press release Monday.

The release attributed the service’s elimination to fiscal restraints from the department’s 2025 budget, which DDOT officials initially announced in April prior to confirming the services’ closure. After the official announcement on Monday, D.C. Circulator sent letters to their employees informing them of permanent layoffs which will occur in shifts through December.

The release states the department is working to “reduce the impact” of the system’s closure because officials know the D.C. Circulator services neighborhoods that have no other public transportation access like Georgetown.

A DDOT spokesperson said they will continue to work with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to determine needed service levels and ensure a “strong transition” for D.C. riders in the future.

“During the transition, we are encouraging riders to visit the DC Circulator website as well as WMATA’s website to use the trip planner feature,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Additional information regarding these impacts will be shared in the coming months as the service transitions.”

Beginning October 1, the D.C. Circulator will terminate its Rosslyn-Dupont Circle loop and end late night service to Georgetown and Adams Morgan. All remaining routes will start running every 20 minutes compared to the previous operation of service every 10 minutes to the Circulator’s stops, the release states.

Since its origin through a partnership between the DDOT and WMATA in 2005 the red Circulator buses have allowed riders to loop around D.C. locations like the National Mall, Georgetown and Adams Morgan for a fee of $1 per ride. The Georgetown to Union Station route runs through GW’s campus with a loop around Washington Circle and stops along Pennsylvania Avenue, allowing students to utilize the service to travel to and from Union Station.