Ashburn, Dulles Metro stations are busiest on Silver Line extension so far

The Metro stations at the Dulles International Airport and Ashburn have been the busiest stations since phase two of the Silver Line opened in the middle of November.

So far, more than 60% of entries at the new stations happen during peak periods, according to Martha Coello, who works with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s special projects division.

At a Board of Supervisors transportation committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday), Coello noted that customers of the six new stations appear to generally be coming from or going to downtown D.C. The most frequented points of origin or destinations are Farragut West, McPherson Square, Foggy Bottom and Metro Center.

“A lot of the common starting and ending points…are actually in downtown D.C.,” she said.

Coello said that Fairfax Connector bus service changes in the Herndon and Reston area are going smoothly, with new routes providing more than 500 passenger trips per day.

The 11.4-mile extension into Loudoun County sees about 3,500 daily boardings. Around Thanksgiving travel time, that number hovered closer to 5,000 boardings, Coello said.

As of yesterday afternoon, the county was still waiting to finalize the execution of its maintenance and operations agreement with Metro for facilities in the county. That step is simply contingent on the receipt of documents, Coello said.

The installation of a sidewalk on Sunrise Valley Drive near Reston Parkway is still ongoing. The project is currently in the land acquisition phase, with construction anticipated in the spring of next year.

The county is also working on the removal of bus bays near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. That project will wrap up in the next few months.

After bus services were realigned, there is no longer a need for the bus bays.

The bays were primarily used by Loudoun County buses and are a “surplus at this point,” Coello said.