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.
According to FCDOT, the changes will improve travel throughout the D.C. region, with the Monument Commuter Parking Garage and Transit Center in particular supporting new connections between the eastern and western sides of the county.
“By creating a transfer point at the new Monument Park-and-Ride facility, riders will have the opportunity to transfer between local routes, access regional routes, and connect to the Vienna Metrorail Station, Franconia Metrorail Station, Tysons, or…D.C.,” FCDOT said in a news release.
Shaped by two previous rounds of public engagement, the proposed service plan will be presented today (Monday) at a 7 p.m. community meeting in the Franconia Government Center (6121 Franconia Road). Virtual meetings are also scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday (May 25).
The public can also provide input through an online survey until June 5.
Monument Drive
The $43 million Monument facility will boast 820 parking spaces, eight bus bays, a pick-up and drop-off area, and bicycle racks and storage. Located at the Government Center Parkway intersection next to Fairfax Corner, it broke ground in November 2021 as part of the I-66 widening.
FCDOT has proposed adding the facility as a stop on Route 660, a cross-county connector from the Stone Road Park & Ride in Centreville to the Tysons Metro station that launched in February.
Other notable changes involving the Monument facility include:
- Route 605: Reston Town Center Metro station to Fair Oaks Mall
- Route 622: Fairfax Towne Center circulator with more local links and new weekend service
- Route 625: New route to Random Hills Road and Pender Drive
- Route 651: New seven-day service to the Westfields, Chantilly, and Fair Ridge areas
- Route 663: Stringfellow Road Park and Ride to the Vienna Metro station
- Route 670: New peak express service between Chantilly and the Franconia-Springfield
Metro station - Route 671: New peak service from Chantilly to the Dunn Loring Metro station
All kids under the age of 12 will soon be able to ride the Fairfax Connector for free.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday (Tuesday) to change the bus system’s policy to allow any child 12 or younger to ride for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
The vote closes a gap in the county’s transit policy that left children between ages 5 and 12 paying for bus fare, while younger kids and high school students can ride for free.
Hunter Mill Supervisor Walter Alcorn said the change is part of an ongoing effort to expand the number of riders who can ride Fairfax Connector fare-free — without going fully free like neighboring Alexandria.
“This is a nice step forward,” said Alcorn. “…As we move forward with identifying populations that really should get free fare, we should do that, and just as a reminder, we have some other things coming in terms of reduced fare. So, this is one of a number of initiatives we’re doing in terms of our bus fare strategy.”
Chairman Jeff McKay said one of the long-term benefits of getting more children riding Fairfax Connector is familiarizing a new generation with mass transit.
“This is great,” McKay said. “Not only is it for people who need it — in this case it’s free fare for children — but we’re also building a population and educating a population on how to use mass transit. It’s an investment in the future, and we’ve certainly seen that with the student bus pass program.
Calling the new policy “fantastic,” he thanked county staff for proposing the change and “the speed at which they got this to the Board for approval.”
The new policy will take effect on May 1.
Fairfax Connector could be free for all children ages 12 and under.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s current policy is kids under 5 years old do not need to pay a fare. The new policy would extend that to all children under 12.
Older children can already get a free student bus pass: all Fairfax County middle and high school students can ride on all Fairfax County routes and some Metrobus routes for free between 5 a.m.-10 p.m. with a student bus pass. The transportation department said in a presentation the change would “close a gap” in the county’s fare-free policy for kids.
Those children would still obviously need to be accompanied by a fare-paying adult to receive a free fare.
In a presentation, the Department of Transportation said there are several potential benefits to the change.
- Closes the gap in fare-free travel for children between ages 5-12
- Increases accessibility and removes barriers to travel for parents. Especially beneficial for trips to access medical or social services
- This change will help children become acclimated to using public transit from an early age thereby creating increased transportation alternatives
FCDOT is collecting feedback on the proposed change until next Friday, March 10.
The policy change is scheduled to be presented to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on April 11. If approved, it would take effect on April 30.
Fairfax Connector launched a pilot last month allowing low-income riders to get half-price fares.
A man from Springfield is facing multiple charges after stabbing another man’s hand and stealing a bus driver’s cell phone while riding Fairfax Connector in Tysons.
Fairfax County police responded to the intersection of Jones Branch Drive and International Drive at 12:52 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 11) after getting a report that a person had been stabbed.
The altercation started as a verbal argument between three men on the bus that escalated “to one of the men being stabbed in the hand,” according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
“The suspect then stole the bus driver’s cell phone and ran away,” the FCPD said.
The chase didn’t last long. With the assistance of the department’s Fairfax 1 helicopter, officers quickly located the suspect as he attempted to run into Freddie Mac’s headquarters on Park Run Drive, per a Twitter user who follows police scanner traffic.
The man who got stabbed was taken to a hospital with injuries that police say aren’t considered life-threatening.
The suspect — identified as 28-year-old Lionel Aguilar Cantareo, of Springfield — was arrested and has been charged with three counts of robbery and preventing a person from summoning law enforcement, the FCPD says.
The robbery charges include two counts of using physical force not resulting in serious bodily injury or displaying a weapon other than a firearm “in a threatening manner,” which is classified as a Class 5 felony by Virginia law.
Cantareo is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to police.
The suspect fled on foot, but Fairfax 1 was overhead quickly and found him running from the scene. Patrol units with the assistance of a VSP Trooper took him into custody as he attempted to run into Freddie Mac's HQ on Park Run Dr.
— Henry Bright (@HCBright10) February 11, 2023
A bus route carrying passengers between western Fairfax County and Tysons on the new I-66 Express Lanes will take effect early next month.
Fairfax Connector will start operating its new Route 660 on Monday, Feb. 6, providing weekday, rush-hour service from the Stone Road Park & Ride in Centreville to the Tysons Metro station, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation announced Friday (Jan. 20).
The route will include stops at the Fairfax County Government Center, the Vienna Metro station and the intersection of Tysons Blvd and Westbranch Drive.
With the addition, the transit agency will eliminate Route 644, which currently connects Centreville and the Sully Government Center to the Vienna Metro on weekdays.
A couple of tweaks to service in the Reston and Herndon area will also go into effect on Saturday, Feb. 4:
- Route 937: Coppermine-Elden-Herndon Metrorail Station — Southbound service on Route 937 will be realigned to serve Coppermine Rd, with a left turn to Frying Pan Rd. Northbound Route 937 remains unchanged.
- Route 951: Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station to Innovation Center Metrorail Station — Eastbound service realigned to serve Coppermine Rd, with left turn to Frying Pan Rd. Westbound remains unchanged.
The service changes were approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in September. They’re being implemented slightly later than previously anticipated.
In a report, county staff said the changes are intended “to improve the customer experience and increase ridership through improved connectivity, on-time performance, service reliability, and effectiveness.”
A new dashboard looking at transit around the region illustrates Fairfax Connector’s slow climb back to pre-pandemic ridership levels.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission recently released an interactive website that lets users break down ridership at various local transit services and compare and contrast those figures.
For Fairfax Connector, data from the last year of ridership shows a stark upswing that started in June and has gradually brought the system back up to pre-pandemic levels.
The bus system had a promising start to 2020 with 669,501 riders that January — higher than numbers for that month in previous years. Those numbers dove over the next two months as the Covid pandemic kicked into gear, dropping to a low of 248,866 riders in April.
Ridership only marginally recovered through the rest of 2020 and 2021, but the pace of recovery picked up in 2022 and shot up from June to July, reaching a post-pandemic high of 738,968 riders in August 2022. In September, Fairfax Connector surpassed pre-pandemic ridership for the same month for the first time since February 2020.
The Connector isn’t alone in this recovery. DASH in Alexandria and the CUE bus in the City of Fairfax saw similar recoveries in the second half of 2022.
In Alexandria, DASH’s dramatic uptick in ridership seemed fueled in part by switching to a fare-free system. Fairfax County was considering a similar move for the Connector, but that was tabled by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month in favor of a discounted rate for low-income passengers.
Overall transit ridership in the area, though, remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels — in large part due to Metro accounting for more than 78.6% of the region’s ridership.
Metro didn’t have quite the same dramatic return to pre-pandemic ridership in Virginia that Fairfax Connector experienced.
While Metro’s combined ridership for rail and bus was higher every month in 2022 than it was in 2021, it’s still half what it was in 2018 and 2019. In Virginia, Metro’s ridership for September was roughly 4.1 million — less than half of the 9.2 million riders in 2019.
Fairfax County doesn’t have the same high percentage of access to transit — around 61.3% of the total population — compared to neighbors like Arlington and Alexandria, but that’s to be expected given that it’s significantly larger with less urbanized areas.
Fairfax County is poised to halve Fairfax Connector fares for low-income riders, beginning in February, through a pilot program.
The Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP) is a state grant initiative that aims to increase transit ridership. Reduced fares would only apply to individuals whose annual income is at or below 225% of the federal poverty level by household size. That would put the eligibility cap around $29,000 for an individual or $59,625 for a family of four.
The state awarded the county roughly $5.5 million for a three-year pilot program, which includes a county share of $4.2 million.
But at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ transportation committee meeting last week, staff and board members concurred that permanently cutting fares for the bus system was not a financially prudent decision and could impact quality of service.
Instead, staff recommended continuing the county’s existing free fare programs, including free student bus passes and reduced fares for seniors and passengers with disabilities. Other programs include free transfers to and from WMATA bus and rail service and free rides for children under 4.
Staff also recommended expanding free fare to children between ages 5 and 11 with a paying adult.
Board Chairman Jeff McKay said that he supported the recommendation.
“I do think if we were to go full fare free, I am worried out about our capacity issues to be able to accommodate and degradation of service that may come as a result of that,” he said.
However, he said he was concerned that only up to two children could be eligible for free fares when traveling with a parent or guardian, asking the county to examine removing that cap.
Fairfax County Director of Transportation Tom Biesadny said his department would gladly look into the issue — which has remain untouched since the service began.
Bus fare reductions and eliminations have gained momentum in the D.C. region, as local leaders look to encourage the use of transit after ridership tumbled due to the pandemic. D.C. will waive Metrobus fares starting July 1, and Alexandria’s DASH system has been fare-free since fall 2021, though the operating costs may not be sustainable long-term.
John Zarbo of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation noted that while free fares would provide equitable access, increase ridership and cut fare collection cost, the possible repercussions were more severe.
Consequences include the loss of roughly $9 million in yearly ridership revenue, an increase in non-destination riders that could lead to security issues, and possible Title VI civil rights concerns on the impact of free fares to non-economically disadvantaged riders.
Staff also noted that the county would lose data specific to riders or fare categories because of the lack of a fare box, and the program could result in an inequitable benefit to county riders with only Metrobus options.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said she hopes the county will continue to find ways to invest in the program.
“We’re building lifelong riders,” she said.
Fairfax County officials are preparing for the launch of new bus services in the Reston and Herndon area through the Fairfax Connector.
The changes — which were approved by the Board of Supervisors in February — will connect commuters to the Herndon, Reston Town Center and Innovation Center Metro stations, which are set to open on Nov. 15.
“With the realigned service, buses will operate more frequently to link customers to new Metrorail Silver Line Stations, including new connections to employment, education, hospitals and key activity centers,” the county wrote in a news release.
Four new routes will be offered. One route will connect the Reston Town Center Transit Station to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax County Government Center, Fair Oaks Mall, Fair Lakes and Greenbriar Center.
The Reston Town Center station will also have new Capital Bikeshare stations.
Look!👀 @bikeshare🚲 stations at the Reston Town Center Metro are all set for the opening on Nov. 15. There are 34 other #CaBi stations in Reston to ride to and from the new Metro station. #CapitalBikeshare #SilverLine #Reston #FairfaxCounty https://t.co/mcnlBUNun0 pic.twitter.com/Uvrh6IEZOO
— Fairfax Connector (@ffxconnector) November 2, 2022
A second route will connect the Herndon Metro Station, Centerville Road, and the park and rides at Sully Station, Centerville and Centreville-UMC.
The third route — known as the Herndon Circulator — will provide connections between the Herndon Metro Station, Spring Street, downtown Herndon, Elden Street, Archer Avenue and Worldgate Drive.
The final route provides connections between Sterling Plaza, Crest View Drive, Herndon Parkway and the Herndon station.
A dozen other routes were also tweaked to provide replacement services. A breakdown of all bus service changes is available online.
Local transportation officials are set to discuss the Connector changes at a meeting tomorrow at 11 a.m.
Interested participants can join the meeting online through Microsoft Teams or by phone, calling 571-429-5982 with the passcode 795 911 947#.
A new circulator through the Town of Herndon is set to open when service for phase two of the Silver Line officially begins.
The Herndon Circulator — run through the Fairfax Connector — will include weekday and weekend service through the Herndon Metro station, Spring Street, Downtown Herndon, Elden Street, Parcher Avenue and Worldgate Drive.
“The route was developed in response to community input and to increase connectivity between downtown and the north side Herndon bus bays,” Robin Geiger, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said.
Service is expected to begin when trains start running for phase two, according to the county. It’s unclear that will begin.
Most recently, Metro’s general manager stated that Metro may be operationally prepared to seek safety certification from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission and Federal Transit Administration sometime this month.
An opening date has not yet been set, although a fall date is anticipated.
The route is one of several approved recently for Fairfax Connector. Other service changes include a new route between Tysons and Centreville that will take effect next year.
The route comes after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved several new routes and changes to the Fairfax Connector in February.
Under the plan, the county added four new routes, altered 19 existing bus routes, and eliminated 12 bus routes.
The Fairfax Connector is getting a few changes (page 228) starting early next year, including a new route along I-66’s express lanes with more Vienna connections on the horizon.
At a meeting on Sept. 13, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved several changes that could expand the reach and efficiency of transit around the Tysons area.
“Staff proposes service changes for implementation on January 14, 2023, to improve the customer experience and increase ridership through improved connectivity, on-time performance, service reliability, and effectiveness,” staff said in a report.
There are four changes planned for January. The big one for Tysonians is a new route that would use the I-66 express lanes for a better Tysons-Centreville route.
“County staff worked with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to develop Route 660 that will operate along I-66 using the new express lanes,” the report said. “The route will improve connectivity between Centreville and Tysons, which is a major employment center, and will provide additional connections for passengers at the Government Center and Vienna Metrorail Station.”
According to the report:
- Route 660 will provide weekday commuter service with 10-minute frequency during peak periods.
- Reduces travel time from Centreville to Tysons by approximately 30 percent.
- The estimated total annual revenue hours are 17,300.
- The estimated total annual operating cost is $2.3 million, which will be funded through a DRPT grant using I-66 Outside the Beltway (OTB) toll revenue.
- The vehicles needed to operate this route have already been purchased by the County using funds from DRPT
One of the other changes is the elimination of Route 644 to avoid duplication with the new Route 660.
“The connection from the Stone Road Park-and-Ride Lot to the Vienna Metrorail Station will be served by Route 660 with improved frequency,” the report said. “The entire service that Route 644 currently provides will be covered by Route 660.”
Other planned changes include shifting Route 937 (serving Innovation Center and Herndon Metro) and Route 951 (serving Innovation Center, Herndon, Reston Town Center) slightly south.
In a separate action item, the Board of Supervisors also approved funding from the I-66 Outside the Beltway tolls into two additional bus routes:
- Route 670 – Chantilly to Franconia-Springfield Metrorail Station with connections at the Monument Drive multimodal facility and Vienna Metrorail Station
- Route 698 – Stringfellow Park-and-Ride Lot to the Vienna Metrorail Station with through connections to the Pentagon during peak periods
