The first major redesign of Metro’s bus operating network since the system’s founding in the early 1970s will help Fairfax County riders and those across the region, local transit leaders say.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) board of directors approved the Better Bus Network redesign last Thursday, Nov. 21. Two years in the making, the changes aim to create a more seamless, easy-to-understand system for riders that’s also more efficient for the transit agency.
Though the vote only took a few minutes, the approval represents the culmination of 29 months of “outreach, collaboration, coordination and teamwork,” said Don Drummer, a WMATA board member from Maryland who chairs the body’s safety and operations committee.
According to Drummer, the benefits will include more frequent service on most-traveled routes; increased midday, weekend and evening service; and the elimination of inefficient and unsafe bus stops.
WMATA board chair Valerie Santos, a D.C. representative, thanked jurisdictions across the region who assisted in developing the plan, as well as the “thousands of people who submitted comments along the way.”
Board member Tracy Hadden Loh, who also represents D.C., perhaps summed up the mood in a single word: when asked to vote, instead of the usual “yes” or “aye,” she offered “yeah!” and applause.
The redesign had been in the works since 2022 and is expected to take effect next June. In the coming months, Metro officials plan to conduct more public outreach, rewrite the bus schedule, train bus operators on new routes, update signage and revamp the information provided on social media, wayfinding platforms and transit apps.
The effort will also restructure existing route names to reflect the area they serve. Route 28A, for instance, a massive operation supporting the Route 7 corridor between Tysons and Alexandria, will become Route F20, indicating that it’s based in Fairfax County and Falls Church.
During deliberations, Metro officials considered about 100 bus stops across various routes in Northern Virginia for consolidation and elimination. Ultimately, about 40 received a stay of execution, but the others will disappear when changes take place next summer.
Systemwide, the Better Bus Network eliminated 500 “underused” bus stops, according to WMATA.
Metrobus launched in 1973 after WMATA, which was created by Congress in 1966 to develop a $430 million rail network in the region, assumed the bus operations of several failing private operators. The resulting bus network was expanded but not fundamentally altered in the ensuing half-century.
The Better Bus Network proposal was adapted to WMATA’s financial circumstances. Should additional funding become available, staff has proposed a “visionary” alternative that would increase the frequency of service and add more new routes, but would cost about 35% more.
“Metro wants to someday implement the Visionary Network but doesn’t currently have the funding to do so,” WMATA said in a statement.
Elected officials and transit leaders across the D.C. region have been discussing options for establishing a dedicated, sustainable funding source for Metro, but president-elect Donald Trump’s victory and promises to reduce the federal government workforce have added a new layer of uncertainty.
