Metro’s bus facility in Franconia is a step closer to going electric, thanks to a big infusion of funding from the federal government.
The Federal Transit Administration has awarded Metro a $104 million grant to convert its Cinder Bed Road Bus Division garage at 7901 Cinder Bed Road into a fully electric facility, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Monday (June 26).
A long-delayed effort to outfit Fairfax County Public Schools’ buses with cameras has officially received the green light from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
At a meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the board unanimously approved an agreement allowing the Fairfax County Police Department to participate in a program that will install 50 bus camera systems to detect drivers who don’t stop when buses are boarding and off-loading students.
Fairfax County’s plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) service on Route 7 in Tysons sailed through the planning commission last week.
The commissioners recommended on Wednesday (June 21) that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve a comprehensive plan amendment establishing guidelines for the future public transportation system, including the route and station locations.
Some good news is on the horizon for local Metrorail riders: the West and East Falls Church stations are set to reopen on Monday (June 26) after a 23-day closure.
The bad news? The Vienna and Dunn Loring stations will remain closed through July 16.
The last train out of the Vienna Metro station for the next month will depart at 12:20 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday).
After that, the Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church stations will all shut down, as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority begins to replace a 40-year-old steel rail extending to Ballston.
Plans for a Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Tysons are starting to take more concrete shape, outpacing an ongoing study of the corridor further to the south.
The service will initially launch in Tysons, operating between the Spring Hill and West Falls Church Metro stations, before later expanding into Falls Church and Alexandria, Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff told planning commission members at a May 11 committee meeting.
Fairfax Connector is shaking up its service along the I-66 corridor in anticipation of two major parking facilities finishing construction later this year.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation has proposed adding or revising almost 30 routes in Tysons, Vienna, Springfield, Chantilly and Centreville, as it seeks to incorporate the upcoming Springfield and Monument Drive garages into its bus system.
Local transportation officials are dreaming of a better future for Metrobus, including a 24-hour route connecting Tysons and Bethesda.
That route and others are part of Metro’s draft “Visionary Network,” an aspirational redesign of the 50-year-old bus network that will not be implemented — at least in full.
Metro will assemble an armada of shuttles this summer to support travelers during its multi-week shutdowns of several stations on the Orange, Silver and Green lines.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced yesterday that free shuttle buses will be available throughout the closures, which will begin on May 12 and roll out to Fairfax County’s Orange Line stations starting June 3.
(Updated at 8 p.m.) A white bus with a blue strip attempted to pick up children at a bus stop in the Southington Lane area of Reston earlier this morning (Thursday).
Local police are investigating the incident, which happened around 7:44 a.m.
