Inconsistent policies on bus fares and enforcement are creating confusion among riders and challenges for transit in Northern Virginia, Metro’s top official says.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority CEO Randy Clarke critiqued the D.C. area’s patchwork of rules for where riders must pay to ride the bus, along with the limits placed on the Metro system’s ability to enforce its payment requirement.
A new bus route will offer Shirlington residents a direct connection to D.C. during rush hour.
The new A29 route will run between Van Dorn Street Station and Metro Center via the I-395 express lanes, with stops at Beauregard Street, Mark Center and Southern Towers in Alexandria in addition to the Shirlington Transit Center.
An automated system that adjusts the timing of traffic signals when buses are running late is helping to improve transit reliability along Langston Blvd.
Since late summer, county transportation officials have been using “transit signal priority” along the 5-mile corridor from East Falls Church to Rosslyn. The system extends green lights and shortens red lights when ART buses are behind schedule — resulting in a small but measurable impact.
Metrobus riders will soon have the ability to use credit and debit cards to pay for rides.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is adding the same “Tap-Ride-Go” ability to its buses as it currently has on the rail system, creating an alternative to cash and physical or phone-based SmarTrip cards.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) is considering various ideas to keep cars from blocking Arlington’s designated bus lanes.
Nearly a decade after the county and Alexandria inaugurated the region’s first dedicated bus-only travel lanes, ticketing motorists who get in the way remains decidedly low-tech.
A multimillion-dollar project adding new bus bays and pedestrian improvements to the East Falls Church Metro station begins next week.
Plans at 2001 N. Sycamore Street call for the construction of three new bus bays, as well as updates to nearby sidewalks, crosswalks, bus shelters and utilities. The first phase will begin in the station’s north parking lot, county spokesperson Claudia Pors told ARLnow.
All Metrobus routes are getting new names, some routes are changing and 19 bus stops will be eliminated this weekend in Arlington.
The redesign, dubbed the Better Bus Network, is part of the regional bus system’s first overhaul in 50 years. It aims to bring “more frequent, consistent bus service [and] enhance access across the region,” according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
About two dozen bus stops in Arlington and Falls Church are scheduled to be eliminated at the end of June as part of a Metrobus “redesign” project.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) plans to remove at least 19 Arlington Metrobus stops and three Falls Church stops on June 29, the agency told ARLnow.
A Virginia State Police chase through Fairfax County ended in a fleeing vehicle striking a Metrobus and a minivan near Fairlington on Saturday.
No passengers were on board the bus and the driver was uninjured, while the minivan driver was hospitalized for injuries that were not life-threatening, according to a press release.
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.
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.
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.
