The seven-week government shutdown derailed growth at Arlington Transit (ART), but county leaders anticipate a return to higher numbers.
October is “typically the highest ridership month we have,” said Paul Mounier, a transit planner for the county government, at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Transit Advisory Committee. But figures show a ridership decline of 2.2% year-over-year that month, dropping to just over 243,000 riders.
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.
The Falls Church city government continues to chip away at its staff vacancies, but faces ongoing challenges with public safety recruitment.
The 8% vacancy rate recorded across all city departments in early November “is, I think, the lowest we’ve been since the pandemic,” City Manager Wyatt Shields told members of the City Council’s government-operations committee on Nov. 26.
Officials from Arlington and Falls Church have endorsed a regional plan to support the Metro system with $460 million per year.
County Board Chair Takis Karantonis and Falls Church City Council member David Snyder were part of the 22-0 vote, with two abstentions, as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) board of directors backed the funding plan laid out in late October by the DMV Task Force.
State Sen. Adam Ebbin has promised Arlington leaders that he will push to bring home more transit funding from the 2026 General Assembly session.
“That’ll probably be the most intense of the things I’m working on,” Ebbin (D-39) said during a Nov. 13 work session between County Board members and the community’s legislative delegation.
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 Arlington County Board has requested more study on possible increases to towing rates before making a decision.
Board members unanimously rejected a staff and advisory-panel recommendation to hold a November public hearing and potentially increase maximum towing rates from the current $155 ($135 plus $20 surcharge) to as much as $210.
Arlington Transit (ART) in fiscal 2025 returned to service levels last seen immediately preceding the pandemic, according to county officials.
About 2.62 million passengers rode the local service between July 2024 and June 2025, on par with the period between July 2019 and June 2020.
Crime is declining on the Metro system, but riders’ perceptions of safety depend on which mode of transportation they use.
Riders on Metrobus reported more safety concerns than those on Metrorail. Overall, however, rider satisfaction rates are either flat or improving, according to data reported at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority’s safety and operations committee.
Arlington County staff are seeking state funding to replace an old elevator at the Courthouse Metro station with two up-to-date lifts.
It could be a decade before the multimillion-dollar proposal becomes reality.
Members of an advisory panel are suggesting that the County Board might need to intervene in issues with a transportation program for residents with disabilities.
Karen Audant, interim chair of the Disability Advisory Commission, said she is “deeply concerned” about the operations of the Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR) program following a scathing report on the initiative from the county’s internal auditor, Wayne Scott.
A newly adopted vision statement affirms Arlington County’s commitment to supporting modes of transportation other than cars, but falls short of some advocates’ ambitions.
County Board members, who adopted the statement and associated goals at a Saturday meeting, defended the new language as aspirational while also being realistic about the current state of transit in Arlington.
