County leaders are promising action after an audit found major deficiencies in the operation and oversight of a transit program serving Arlington residents with disabilities.
Identified issues with the Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR) program ranged from billing discrepancies to a lack of review of driver manifests by WeDriveU, which operates the paratransit program under contract to the county.
Funding for better safety on Arlington buses, a new “microtransit” project and upgrades to a crash-prone intersection is included in a new state funding proposal.
Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board is proposing a total of $13.7 million for Arlington projects in Fiscal Year 2026 as part of a draft Six-Year Improvement Program.
A new “microtransit” program meant to shore up gaps in bus routes is expected to launch in northwest Arlington later this year.
Operating as an on-demand service, the initiative would likely use vans or other relatively small vehicles to connect passengers to fixed transit routes and key destinations.
An Arlington leader is among several local officials opposing a proposal to merge bus systems in Northern Virginia in a quest for greater efficiency.
Though the possibility of merging transit systems came up during DMV Moves meetings late last year, leaders including County Board member Matt de Ferranti expressed skepticism after the concept re-appeared during a meeting last week.
Several Arlington County programs may be canceled or significantly reduced as officials face a restricted budget this year.
The budget calls for rolling back an eviction prevention program, cutting positions in the county’s planning department and canceling a preschool program and a traveling art truck.
County Board members have promised more follow-up with residents who lived with the contentious placement of Arlington Transit buses on a N. Quincy Street government parcel.
“We need to do an after-action evaluation,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said on Saturday after the matter was brought up during the Board’s public comment period.
Get your sledding in now while you can.
A few freezing sprinkles or additional flurries are possible this morning, forecasters say, but temperatures are set to rise above freezing in a couple of hours. The warm up, combined with expected rain tonight, should melt much of the 5-6 inches of snow that fell yesterday. Tomorrow’s high of 54 should finish the job.
As Arlington Transit buses prepare to move south from the Virginia Square to a new facility, the future of the N. Quincy Street site remains an open question.
“I can’t promise in the future that we won’t consider that property will be used for things that people would rather not have there,” County Manager Mark Schwartz told delegates to the Arlington County Civic Federation during his annual visit to the organization in mid-December.
You’re waking up to a snowglobe world of plows and closed offices.
Some 4-5 inches of snow have fallen so far, as of 8:30 a.m., with more expected for the next couple hours and then later today.
Construction of the new operations and maintenance facility for Arlington Transit (ART) bus service has come in on budget and ahead of schedule, Arlington government leaders say.
So a victory lap was in order.
Arlington Transit workers have reached a tentative deal with their employer, diminishing the threat of possible disruption to ART bus service.
If ratified, the agreement would put an end to several months of increasingly tense negotiations between ART workers and the county-contracted transportation company Transdev.
Arlington’s elected leadership is not saying much about the future of the county’s Missing Middle policy — at least not from the dais.
Pressed to make some comment on what will happen with the residential zoning change — known alternately as Expanded Housing Options (EHO) — County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) opted to stay mum.
