The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved the elimination of two Fairfax Connector bus routes and reduced schedules on more than a dozen others to trim $7.3 million in budget costs.
The vote on Tuesday (May 5) was unanimous but, in several cases, unenthusiastic.
“This is challenging to support,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said. “I very much have been excited [in recent years] that we have been able to increase our bus frequency.”
But Palchik noted that the changes were recommended only after extensive study showing where service levels exceeded passenger demand.
“It’s critical that we’re trying to be responsible,” she said.
“It’s not always easy to make the smart, right decision,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said at the meeting. He praised planners for “using metrics to guide decisions.”
County Executive Bryan Hill had proposed reducing Connector service by 48,500 hours in his advertised fiscal year 2027 budget, stating that adjustments on 13 “low-performing” routes would affect an estimated 600 passengers per day.
Starting June 27 before the July 1 start of the new budget, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, two routes will be discontinued due to low levels of ridership: Route 552 (Innovation Center-Wiehle-Reston East) and Route 622 (Penderbrook-Monument Drive).
Routes that will see schedule or stop alterations include:
- Route 101: Fort Hunt-Mount Vernon
- Route 109: Rose Hill
- Route 335: Fort Belvoir
- Routes 401/402: Backlick-Gallows-Tysons
- Route 432: Old Courthouse-Beulah
- Route 461: Vienna-Oakton
- Route 463: Maple-Vienna
- Route 553: Kingstream-Herndon-Fox Mill
- Route 615: Fair Oaks-Greenbriar
- Route 625: Random Hills-Pender Drive
- Route 642: Stone Road-Centreville North
- Route 924: NOVA-Loudoun-Herndon-Franklin Farm
- Route 950: Reston Town Center-Herndon Metro
The package also includes service improvements on Route 983, which connects Dulles International Airport with the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center. Weekday service on Route 983 will increase from hourly to once every 40 minutes, and slight adjustments will be made to weekend service.
In addition to reviewing performance metrics, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff took into account about 225 comments from the public about the proposed service alterations.
During the regional DMV Moves initiative that recommended plans for funding Metro and other transit systems going forward, McKay was a strong voice against the possibility of consolidating the D.C. area’s local bus networks.
At the May 5 Board of Supervisors meeting, McKay said maintaining local control allowed for the best decision-making on bus routes and service levels.
“We would not be able to do this if we didn’t run our own bus service,” he said. “We know, better than anyone, who is riding our buses and why.”
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said the state needs to step up and provide local government taxing tools to provide support for transit service.
“Without dedicated transit funding, we can’t fully fund our transit needs,” he said. “We just can’t do it on the backs of our property taxpayers, particularly our residential homeowners.”
