Bus improvement projects underway
Several projects are underway to improve bus transportation across the region, transit officials reported at a virtual meeting Jan. 20 hosted by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
The NVTC is undertaking a regional analysis of bus service in coordination with local transit agencies and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, said Xavier Harmony, senior program manager at NVCT.
The study will cover existing bus services, service gaps, planned bus changes, potential new transit corridors, asset and capital management, financial needs, and funding constraints,
“Regional coordination is key to make sure we’re not repeating what everyone else is doing,” Harmony said. As a result, NVTC is working with Fairfax Connector, ART-Arlington Transit, the City of Alexandria Dash bus system, Loudoun County Transit, and other bus systems, as well as WMATA.
The study is expected to be completed in April 2024.
On a long-term basis, NVTC is developing two major bus rapid transit (BRT) systems – one on Route 7 and another on Route 1.
BRTs have increased capacity, frequency, and reliability compared to regular buses, Harmony said. Among the benefits of BRT systems: They expand access to jobs, they’re environmentally friendly, and they help people move around the region.
The Envision Route 7 BRT will connect the Mark Center in Alexandria with the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons. It will also stop at the East Falls Church Metro station and connect with the future Alexandria West End Transitway.
The 14-mile Route 7 BRT will have 22 stations and will go through four jurisdictions. And that requires a great deal of regional coordination, Harmony said.
The Envision Route 7 planning study has been fully funded. The study is expected to be completed in summer 2023.
Related story: Federal funds approved to complete planning for Envision Route 7
The 7.4-mile Route 1 BRT, called The One, will connect the Huntington Metro station to Fort Belvoir and will have nine stations. It is expected to begin running in 2030.
In another major bus improvement, WMATA is undertaking a major effort to redesign the entire Metrobus system.
The goals of the Better Bus project are to ensure buses take people where they need to go and to bring more bus service to neglected communities, said Melissa Kim, deputy project officer for bus design at the WMATA office of planning.
It will promote equity and inclusiveness, identify sustainable and predictable funding for bus service, and make it easier for the public to take buses.
The results of a survey and community outreach sessions found what people want most are shorter wait times and more reliability, Kim said.
WMATA will recommend Metrobus improvements for the agency’s draft FY 2025 budget.
Related story: More students can get free bus passes
Fairfax County has realigned its Connector bus routes in response to the completion of Metro’s Silver Line, said Michael Felschow, a planning section chief with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s Transit Services Division.
Nineteen of the 30 routes were modified in that area. Felschow said. Twelve routes were replaced and four new ones were added. Routes on the Dulles Toll Road were eliminated, as they’re no longer needed due to the Silver Line extension.
Every route now stops at one or two Metro stations, he said. Fairfax Connector buses now come every 20 minutes, and the system also added all-day and mid-day service, while shortening travel times.
In the City of Alexandria, a revamped Dash bus network was launched in September 2021, reports Martin Barna, director of planning and marketing for Dash.
The city’s goal was to build ridership by providing more frequent service and improved access. Bus fares were eliminated for a four-year trial period.
In high-density corridors, Dash buses run every 15 minutes all day and evenings, Barna said.
Nearly three-quarters of residents – and 81 percent of low-income residents – are within walking distance of a bus stop, he said. Before the improvements were implemented, only 27 percent of residents could walk to a bus stop.
As a result of these improvements, ridership exceeds pre-Covid levels, Barna said. Average daily boardings doubled over the first 12 months since free fares were implemented.
A survey of Dash customers found 22 percent are new riders since last year, and 70 percent of existing riders are taking more bus trips.
The survey found the most important factor in growing ridership is frequent service, followed by free fares, Barna said. The high cost of gasoline was the least important.
Fourteen of the 101 buses in the Dash system are electric; by 2037, the entire fleet will be electric.
These BRT projects are great, if and when they come to fruition. We sure could use them. Feels like I’ve been hearing about route 7 BRT for a decade already.
That’s because they’ve been wasting your money talking about it and not doing anything. Oldest trick in the book.
Maybe but a big part of the problem is actually getting funding even to study these projects, which all take toooo long. Getting the projects themselves funded and built feels like a pie in the sky.
You feel like you’ve been hearing about rt 7 BRT for a decade because you HAVE BEEN hearing about it for a decade. It’s been a decade and it still isn’t done being studied, and it’s somewhere between 10-15 years out before it starts becoming a reality on the most optimistic of timelines.
It’s absurd that it takes 25 years to get these kind of improvements done. I seem to recall when Danica Roem initially ran for delegate. Her #1 issue was expanding Rt 28 to eliminate gridlock. She got results within a single 2 year term and Rt 28 has seen massive improvements since.
Rt 28 may not have all of the jurisdictional issues that Rt 7 BRT has, but we have to be able to do better than 25 years. My kids will literally have been born, grown up, gone to college, and have started their careers between the point when Rt 7 BRT became a thing and when it will theoretically get installed.
I get your point and your frustration. And this is the case as people have touted BRT as being, fast, cheap and easy to implement. It seems it should be but I’m not holding my breath.
I’ve commented several times before about the need for a bus route along Sleepy Hollow Road connecting Columbia Pike on the one end with Route 7 on the other end. There currently is not one single stop along this stretch of road and no reasonable public transportation option for anyone to go from Annandale to Seven Corners. How hard can it be to add some bus stops so people who live and work in the area can get around without a car?
Want to also touch on this too. Sleepy Hollow Elementary has a ton of kids who come from the Williston community and the Patrick Henry apartments. Their ability to attend really any after school events is extremely limited because there is no bus line along sleepy hollow for them to get there, and FCPS doesn’t pay for after hours busses.
Kids that participate in chorus or other performing arts that have performances after school and are mass transit bound have to rely on the generosity of others, including the music teachers themselves who spend a bunch of time personally shuttling kids to the event so they can participate. The PTA also semi-regularly holds meetings and events at the williston center so that that community can attend…. I’m not sure how many other PTAs in fairfax have to hold offsite events just so people can attend, but i would guess it isn’t many if any.
Route 4S on Sleepy Hollow Road was eliminated many years ago. If I recall correctly, it was because of low ridership.