WMATA | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published September 10, 2021 at 7:30AM | Updated September 10, 2021 at 9:03AM

Tower of Light Returns — From Dave Statter: “The Tower of Light at the Pentagon began tonight & continues through September 12 in honor of those killed when the United States was attacked 20 years ago Saturday.” [Twitter, Fox 5]

Road Closures for Memorial 5K — “The Arlington Police, Fire, Sheriff and ECC Memorial 9/11 Memorial 5k race will take place on the evening of Saturday, September 11, 2021. The Arlington County Police Department will close the following roadways around the Pentagon and in Crystal City to accommodate the event.” [ACPD]

News

Columbia Pike Metro Expansion Nixed For Now

By Jo DeVoe

Published September 8, 2021 at 3:55PM | Updated September 8, 2021 at 4:15PM

It looks like the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is not going to consider a Metro line through Columbia Pike any time soon.

For the last year and a half, there were some signs that such an expansion — which was part of initial Metro planning in the 1960s but was never built — was an actual possibility.

News

Metroway is on the Chopping Block as WMATA Eyes Bus Cuts in Budget Proposal

By James Cullum

Published December 3, 2020 at 11:45AM | Updated December 3, 2020 at 12:20PM

Metroway bus in Crystal City (Photo courtesy of Donna Gouse)

(Updated at noon) Metro’s “barebones” Fiscal Year 2022 budget proposal threatens to eliminate service on a number of bus lines running through Arlington.

Among the proposed cuts is the Metroway route between Pentagon City and the Braddock Road Metro stations.

News

Dorsey’s Check Saga May Finally Be Over

By ARLnow.com

Published July 31, 2020 at 9:45AM | Updated July 31, 2020 at 10:41AM

Fulfilling a long-delayed promise, Arlington County Board member Christian Dorsey dropped off a cashier’s check for $10,000 to the headquarters of the Amalgamated Transit Union International yesterday.

The action is, one would assume, the last chapter in the saga of a political donation that caused Dorsey to lose his seat on the WMATA Board and lose the trust of some of his constituents in Arlington.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2020 at 7:30AM

Amazon Orders Thousands of Meals from Freddie’s — “Amazon has hired Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant, which is widely known as an LGBT establishment, to prepare and deliver 10,000 meals in the month of May for front line healthcare workers and first responders in Arlington and nearby Alexandria who are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement released to the Washington Blade, Amazon said it was investing $200,000 to pay for the 10,000 meals.” [Washington Blade]

VRE Ridership Down 97% — “First, the good news, such as it is: Ridership on Virginia Railway Express stabilized in April as the public-health pandemic rolled on. The bad news: The ridership decline is now averaging 97% compared to normal times.” [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 17, 2020 at 7:55AM

Home Prices Up in 2019 — “Data from Bright MLS, a multiple listing service that analyzes real estate data in the Mid-Atlantic region… revealed the average home sale price in Alexandria City, Arlington and Fairfax counties, collectively, rose by 4%, from $590,582 in 2018 to $614,236 in 2019.” [WUSA 9]

Endorsements for Choun — Chanda Choun, who is running in the Democratic Arlington County Board primary against incumbent Libby Garvey, has received the endorsement of a pair of current and former elected officials: former County Board member Jay Fisette and, most recently, current Commissioner of Revenue Ingrid Morroy. [Twitter, Chanda Choun]

News

Arlington Fire Department Urging Metro to Stop Blocking Fire Hydrants

By Airey

Published September 17, 2019 at 4:45PM | Updated September 17, 2019 at 5:24PM

(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) The Arlington County Fire Department is urging Metro to keep its Metrobuses from blocking fire hydrants in Pentagon City.

The call came after retired reporter, former volunteer firefighter, and fire service consultant Dave Statter tweeted videos and pictures for weeks of Metrobuses blocking two hydrants on S. Hayes Street outside the Pentagon City Metro station.

News

WMATA Wants You to Stop Worrying and Love the Bus

By Vernon Miles

Published May 21, 2019 at 3:00PM

Model buses at the Bus Transformation Project open house

Within the next decade, a new transit group wants to make the bus the go-to transit option in the D.C. area

Earlier this year, the Washington Area Bus Transformation Project — which is backed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority — released a draft strategic plan with a variety of short and long-term goals and strategies for improving the D.C. region’s bus network.

News

Survey Says Arlington Commuters Want Reliable Transit Info

By Airey

Published May 7, 2019 at 4:15PM

An Arlington Transit (ART) bus outside the Ballston Metro station (staff photo)

A recently-released report recommends that Arlington County improve its delivery of real-time transit information.

The Department of Environmental Services’ Mobility Lab released a 245-page report calling for changes to the way the county shares real-time arrival information. Respondents to a survey said the information was valuable, but they wanted additional updates and more data.

News

Plans to Build New Ballston Metro Station Entrance Could Stall

By Alex Koma

Published June 29, 2018 at 10:45AM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 11:33AM

Plans for a western entrance to the Ballston Metro station (via the NVTA)

Arlington officials worry that their plans to build a second entrance to Ballston Metro station could stall and be delayed indefinitely if the county and WMATA can’t make progress soon.

To get a move on and finally construct a western entrance for the highly trafficked station, county leaders say they need millions more in funding, and they’ve had trouble tracking down that money.

News

Arlington Metro Ridership Drops in Early 2018, As Riders Fail to Return After SafeTrack

By Alex Koma

Published May 24, 2018 at 9:55AM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 9:11AM

Nearly a year after Metro’s “SafeTrack” maintenance blitz wrapped up, Arlingtonians still haven’t returned to the transit system, new data show.

An ARLnow analysis of figures compiled by WMATA and released to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission shows that ridership at Arlington’s 11 Metro stations fell by about 4.1 percent in the first three months of 2018 when compared to the same time frame last year.

News

ART Bus Real-Time Information Back Down

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published April 5, 2018 at 2:00PM

Real-time arrival information for ART buses is suffering another outage today (April 5).

The outage comes less than a day after the service was restored from a separate, five-day outage.