Some Fairfax Connector riders may now be able to ride free, thanks to help from new state funding, the county bus system announced last Thursday (Aug. 27).
The Connector will offer a new Transit Ridership Incentive Program, called TRIP100, offering 100% off fares to eligible riders, up from the 50% discount previously provided.
Fairfax County is expanding the use of electric and hybrid-electric buses in Fairfax Connector in an effort to reduce emissions and “modernize” its transit fleet.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) announced this week that 19 new next-generation hybrid-electric buses are being added, advancing a goal to transition nearly a quarter of the fleet to the technology by the end of the year.
Virginia lawmakers want to examine consolidating Northern Virginia’s transit agencies to assess potential cost savings and service improvements.
The proposal, which is included in the two-year budget lawmakers passed Monday, directs the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to include in its report not only the cost savings and long-term financial impacts of merging multiple systems, but also how potential changes would affect riders through fare structures, service reliability and accessibility.
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.
A Fairfax Connector bus was one of two that collided head-on near the Pentagon this morning (Friday), injuring 23 people, including Defense Department workers.
The Omni Ride and Fairfax Connector transit buses struck each other shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to a press release from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. Emergency personnel transported 18 of the injured to local hospitals for further medical evaluation. Five were treated at the scene.
Fairfax County is likely to receive most, but not all, of the funding it is seeking through a regional transit grant program.
The county’s request for just under $4.4 million in funding to support a new limited-stop Fairfax Connector service between the Tysons and Franconia-Springfield Metro stations has been removed from the list of projects being considered for the fiscal years 2027-2028 I-66 Commuter Choice funding cycle.
Fairfax County is continuing its recent push to trim costs, pursuing budget cuts that are less drastic than the ones proposed last year but could still result in some notable programming changes.
Released on Feb. 17, County Executive Bryan Hill’s advertised fiscal year 2027 budget plan would reduce spending by $32.9 million and eliminate 107 positions, bringing the total amount of cuts since FY 2024 up to $124.5 million.
Most Fairfax County residents woke up this morning (Monday) to a wintry landscape, but the amount of snow they saw varied depending on exactly where in the county they live.
Snow accumulations from the storm that arrived in the D.C. region yesterday (Sunday) afternoon ranged from a mere inch in the Mount Vernon area to 4.5 inches in Reston, the highest amount recorded in the county, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service.
Fairfax Connector will not provide any bus service during the upcoming Winter Storm Fern.
With heavy precipitation and ice accumulation expected, the county bus system announced this afternoon (Saturday) that it will suspend service starting at 9 p.m., continuing through Sunday (Jan. 25).
A man who allegedly claimed to have a bomb before boarding a bus in Woodlawn over the weekend has been arrested.
Blake Davis Norton, 57, boarded a Fairfax Connector bus in Woodlawn yesterday (Sunday) after telling the bus’s driver that he had a bomb in his backpack, the Fairfax County Police Department said in a press release today.
