For the immediate future at least, further expansion of rail lines across the D.C. region is likely to take a back seat to more modest upgrades to transit service moving forward.
That seemed to be a consensus, albeit not a unanimous one, as members of the regional DMV Moves task force met Monday (March 24) to narrow options for improving the area’s transit — and paying for a Metro system that’s now estimated to cost between $450 million and $600 million more per year.
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.
Riders on Metro’s Silver Line and other lines serving Fairfax County could see a number of service improvements coming down the track.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s board of directors got a first look at the transit agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget conditions and, if funding allows, potential service improvements at a meeting of its finance and capital committee last Thursday (Nov. 21).
Elections have consequences, and now, Northern Virginia leaders are in wait-and-see mode on what those could be for local transit and transportation funding.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) board met Thursday (Nov. 7) for the first time since the 2024 general election, when Donald Trump regained the presidency and Republicans took control of at least one chamber of Congress — an unnerving prospect for Northern Virginia’s mostly Democratic political leaders.
Fairfax County leaders want Gov. Glenn Youngkin to boost state funding for critical services, such as schools, transportation and health care.
The Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 on Tuesday (Sept. 24) to send a letter to Youngkin arguing that chronic underfunding by the state has forced localities like Fairfax County to lean heavily on local tax revenue to maintain “core services” like public education, public safety and transportation infrastructure, straining local budgets and taxpayers.
More than 80% of people surveyed in the National Capital Region said they “support more and better transit services, even if it requires higher investment by the region,” according to a survey conducted by two advisory groups associated with a regional task group’s effort to create a new funding plan for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro).
Under a proposed funding plan known as Scenario 1, the advisory groups said the region would have to generate an additional $645 million to cover all the transit agencies in fiscal year 2028, with 70% of the funds for capital investments.
Fairfax Connector will roll out some notable service changes later this month, including the launch of its first-ever direct connection to Montgomery County in Maryland.
The new Express Route 789 between Tysons and Bethesda will begin operating on Sept. 16, providing weekday, rush-hour service to five stops using the Capital Beltway (I-495) and American Legion Bridge.
On this day 10 years ago, Metrorail arrived in Tysons and Reston, connecting two growing communities in Fairfax County to D.C. by train for the first time.
Decades in the making, the Silver Line’s Phase 1 launch on July 25, 2014 represented the D.C. region’s biggest rail expansion since the Green Line opened in 1991 and set the stage for a connection to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County that came to fruition with Phase 2 on Nov. 15, 2022.
The price of taking Fairfax Connector is officially going up.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the bus system’s first fare increase in seven years without discussion at a meeting today (Tuesday). Starting on July 29, fares will jump about 12% from $2 to $2.25 for the base rate and from $4.25 to $4.80 for express fares.
In the D.C. area, the summer solstice has brought a reminder that heat doesn’t just make people sluggish. It can affect transportation infrastructure too.
Metro has instituted a systemwide speed restriction, limiting all trains to a maximum of 35 mph when they’re above ground due to rail temperatures exceeding 135 degrees Fahrenheit. The limit took effect today (Thursday) at 2 p.m.
