Arlington leaders have joined counterparts elsewhere in Northern Virginia in voicing opposition to a proposed merger of local bus systems.
Speaking at an Oct. 21 regional forum on the issue, County Board member Takis Karantonis and Vice-Chair Maureen Coffey each suggested consolidation would be a solution in search of a problem.
Having localized bus networks is “already working,” Karantonis said, voicing concern about being forced to “invest energy and resources to study how to consolidate.”
The Oct. 21 roundtable was convened by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT). The state agency has been tasked with considering the impacts of Northern Virginia bus-system consolidation and reporting back to the General Assembly in December.
Four bus networks are being studied for a potential merger: Arlington Transit (ART), Fairfax Connector, Fairfax City’s CUE and Alexandria’s DASH.
The effort is not looking at consolidating the local bus networks with the regional Metrobus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
None of the elected or staff members representing the four jurisdictions came out in support of a consolidation, although most said there were ways for the jurisdictions to collaborate better.
Coffey, who likely will serve as Arlington’s board chair in 2027, said consolidation would be an involved process that “doesn’t seem like the best use of anyone’s time.”
The ART system allows Arlington leaders to be “responsive to our residents’ needs,” she said.
Turning that local autonomy over to a regional bus operator “is really hard for us to get on board with,” Coffey said.
Comments were similar from representatives of other jurisdictions.
“I did come here … with an open mind, open to any compelling reason [to support consolidation],” said Walter Alcorn, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. “I’m still looking for it — I don’t see it.”
The study will not recommend for or against consolidating, but will present facts and analysis, DRPT director Mariia Zimmerman said at the forum, held in Arlington.
“There are some pros and cons,” Zimmerman said, suggesting final decisions would have to be “guided by the political will here in Northern Virginia.”
At present, the political will seems to be summed up as “collaboration, yes; consolidation, no.”
“We want our systems to work better — we want all of Northern Virginia to be better coordinated and for every rider to have better opportunities,” Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins said. “For us, though, we truly believe ‘better together’ doesn’t mean merged.”
Those who came into the process wary of consolidation seem to have had their concerns validated by a study conducted for DRPT by the consulting firm Kimley-Horn.
Its analysis suggests a merger would take four to six years to implement and might lead to a consolidated system that is more expensive to run than four separate ones.
Further, “the potential efficiencies from a service perspective are relatively minimal,” said Lucas Muller of Kimley-Horn, who delivered preliminary findings at the Oct. 21 meeting.
Muller said one of the major challenges would be finding common ground in four systems that have evolved differently over the decades:
- ART, CUE and Fairfax Connector are owned by localities, while DASH is independent of the Alexandria government
- ART and Fairfax Connector use a contractor to provide service and employ workers, while CUE and DASH employ their workforces directly
- DASH and CUE currently do not charge fares, while ART and Fairfax Connector require riders to pay
- Fairfax Connector, DASH and ART have unionized workforces, while CUE does not
Martha Coello, deputy director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said local governments and the transit agencies already are working to implement strategies that were part of the regional DMV Moves study focused on the future of local public transit.
“Getting through that is really key,” she said.
Coello said all Northern Virginia jurisdictions are facing budget challenges, and the prospect of a consolidated system actually costing more, rather than less, was unpalatable.
“Right now, it would be challenging to move forward,” she said.
Like Coffey, Coello said that local governments are best equipped to respond to local users’ needs.
“We are dealing with very localized concerns,” she said. “It would be very challenging to meet all of those types of needs in a regional setting.”
Alcorn agreed, saying a consolidated bus service would require tradeoffs that local officials may not be willing to make.
“Even just the size of Fairfax County can create challenges in terms of getting responsiveness,” he said.
Karantonis said that he appreciated the discussion and acknowledged “better coordination” between the bus systems was needed. But he pointed to the nimbleness of having jurisdiction-specific oversight.
When an issue arises, “we can tweak it,” he said. “In a bigger agency, this will be highly problematic.”
Feedback obtained from local leaders will be incorporated into the final report delivered in December to the legislature, said Sarah Husain, Northern Virginia transit programs manager for DRPT.
Combined, the four local systems transport more than 19 million riders a year — about 20% more than Metrobus in Northern Virginia — over 112 fixed routes. Fairfax Connector has by far the largest network of the four.
