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.
Metro leaders are taking steps that could permit the transit agency to ban people from its property if they commit crimes or otherwise demonstrate what is deemed improper behavior.
The measure was first discussed publicly at a Jan. 30 meeting of the Metro Board of Directors’ safety and operations committee. An agency spokesman told FFXnow on Monday (March 3) that the discussion “remains ongoing.”
A ridership revival has led to a $20 million increase in projected revenue from Metro passengers in the coming fiscal year.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) released new budget forecasts last week that now anticipate $464 million in passenger revenue for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1.
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.
Efforts to upgrade bus service along the Route 7 corridor from Tysons to Alexandria continue to roll steadily forward, albeit with no recent headline-grabbing advances.
The $518 million initiative dubbed Envision Route 7 appears to be “moving along well,” Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) chair Matt de Ferranti said at the organization’s Nov. 7 meeting.
Metro’s new inspector general is under no illusions about the perceptions of her office.
“There is a big question about…independence. The thought was we didn’t have independence,” Michelle Zamarin told the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) at its meeting on Thursday (Oct. 3).
Local and state officials in Virginia say the path to dig Metro out of its looming $750 million deficit is uncertain — but action is necessary to avoid the significant service cuts, systemwide fare hikes, layoffs and station closures laid out in the transit agency’s newly proposed budget.
Leaders in Fairfax County — which already faces lean economic times — say they don’t plan to offer up additional funds unless jurisdictional and federal partners can throw some more skin into the game.
Two stops on Metro’s Silver Line have risen above all others since the rail line was extended into Loudoun County last fall.
The stations at Dulles International Airport and Ashburn remain the most popular so far, continuing a trend seen in the first month of operations for the extension, according to Metro officials.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fairfax County first responders were sent to an incorrect address during a 911 call for a cardiac arrest incident at the Reston Town Center Metro station yesterday (Tuesday), leading to a delay in the response.
Based on information provided by Metro, the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications dispatched emergency crews to 1901 Reston Metro Plaza — an address next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, reported local public safety watcher Dave Statter.
The atmosphere of the recently opened Reston Town Center Metro station will get a boost with artwork planned for this year.
Artist George Bates is working on artwork inspired by Reston’s founder Bob Simon and the statement “You can’t have a Utopia of one.”
