David Brinkley used to tell a good story about this issue in WWII era DC. The advice then was to take a single brick or tile on the bus each day and leave it behind wrapped in a newspaper. Problem solved in a month or so.

The story of these steps is that in the era of streetcars, there were two competing lines serving Georgetown. One ran across the bridge to Roslyn & Northern Virginia, and it terminated at the streetcar barn, still located next to the steps. The other line, into DC, ran along Prospect St, at the top of the bluff. The steps were the only way to “transfer” between these lines.

Imagine making that climb every day going to work downtown. Hell, indeed.