tchoiniere

Just saw that TourMobile is ceasing all operations in DC as of 10/31. Figured I would post this in case anybody was planning on using them. I used it for the Arlington Cemetery portion and enjoyed that. Didn't see the point of using them within DC. Hopefully somebody will be able to pick up the tour portion for Arlington Cemetery as that will be a challenge for mobility impaired people.

MichelleY

I thought they were fine withing Arlington, but outside of that, crummy customer service and attitude towards the customer.

gardendiva

Thank you for this info. I just booked an evening tour of DC but thankfully it is with GrayLine. I do not remember their website stating this information either.

ElendilPickle

It was on their website a couple of weeks ago when we were looking at options for visiting Arlington National Cemetery.

lee Ann

azzure

I used them on a visit to DC last spring, and thought the guides were very witty and knowledgeable. They were the hop on/hop off tour licenced by the National Park Service; I wonder what happened?

tchoiniere

Probably a lack of customers. When I was there in August, there was only about 10 people on the trams in Arlington and we saw a lot of empty trams around the Mall. I thought they were too expensive for the hop on / hop off. And it probably caught up to them.

kayd

TourMobile has for ages had the exclusive right to serve National Park Service sites along the Mall. Not even the public Metrobuses could stop at the monuments. After some shakedown period, we can expect more and varied transportation options now that the Park Service has announced an end to this exclusivity and will contract with other transportation providers--from pedicabs to DC Circulator and others -- to provide the variety of services residents and visitora deserve in the Mall area.

Some background can be found in this local blog postin from 2009:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...the-memorials/

tchoiniere

That would be a great way to fix it around the Monuments and a lot more cost-effective. I was thinking about this when I was there about the lack of public buses. Still, someone needs to pick up the Arlington Cemetery tour to make it easier to move around.

ElendilPickle

That was really interesting, kayd. We were surprised there weren't any public buses running along the Mall.

Lee Ann

kayd

Arlington Cemetery is operated by the Defense Department, not the Park Service, so there could be a separate arrangement with Tourmobile for that, but if Tourmobile is closing altogether the cemetery may be without a valuable service.

BigRuss

Sheeyoot, at those prices, they deserve to fail. That's $80 for a family of four for a bus ride!

kayd

$20 is less than the going rate for hop-on-hop-off narrated tours in DC (tourmobile's competitors) and most other cities I've looked at.

pdamia

Was just in DC this past weekend and spoke with one of the Tourmobile guides. Apparently, the owner of Tourmobile recently passed away and left the operation to his much younger wife, who has decided that she does not want to run the company and is simply closing it down. It is unfortunate, as it will put quite a number of people out of work. The company was in business for over 40 years.

obxgirl

Thanks for that update pdamia. Sorry to see them go away as it seems like they've been around forever.

$20 is not a lot for an all day bus ride.

sf7307

Interesting article from the Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...2PJ_story.html

obxgirl

That was a good read sf7307, thanks. So is this one which is another Post article embedded in your url:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...0UI_story.html

Kinda makes the NPS look doofusly glacial. It'll be interesting to see who gets the Arlington contract.

I say all hail the Circulator which **could** be a good replacement to TourMobile for the monuments. It currently does run all or most of the length of the National Mall on Constitution and Independence. I love the Circ. But it's transportation, not a guided hoho.

ElendilPickle on Oct 23, 11 at 5:30pm described a walking tour, free but a tip to the guide, in her recent DC trip report.

sf7307

Thanks for the link obx, I enjoyed that editorial (and having worked with government contracts in my professional life, completely agree with the writer's position!)

tchoiniere

http://www.tourmobile.com/

Just an update that they are running shuttles again in Arlington and starting in March for the Mall. Im glad that they are covering Arlington again. Had I seen this before yesterday, I would have gone...

TDudette

Just heard on radio--$5 for trip on the shuttle. Don't know route.

There are also "circulator" busses that are either free or really inexpensive. All is not lost!