Reston’s Coming Urban Area Transportation Network: An Early Look at the Cost of Streets and Transit in and around Reston’s Station Areas

   Reston’s Coming Urban Area Transportation Network: An Early Look at the Cost of Streets and Transit in and...

The . . . Most . . . Dysfunctional . . . Transit . . . Board . . . EVER!

Yes, that will be the WMATA Board of Directors.

Just as we were all headed out the door for a nice Labor Day weekend away from the lunacies of our daily routines, Dr. Gridlock writes a telling article entitled, "Why Metro wants to kill the Dulles 5A bus route."  This route provides service from Washington's L'Enfant Plaza via Rosslyn and the Herndon-Reston P&R before going on to Dulles airport.  Your alternatives from DC are Silver Line to Wiehle and transfer to an IAD-bound bus (being pushed by some WMATA Board members) or the Washington Flyer. 

• From a Metro perspective, operating a direct bus route is less expensive than a combination subway-bus route for both itself and its riders.
• Being a direct route, the 5A bus is much less of a hassle for employees and travelers than the on/off in Reston.
• The transfer alone at Wiehle makes the trip longer and less certain.

So why would the WMATA Board even consider such an action?

Well, it seems that a Maryland member of the Board, Michael Goldman by name, doesn't think the taxpayers of Maryland should be subsidizing a bus route that serves only DC and Virginia.  I'm just wondering how many Marylanders take a train or bus to L'Enfant Plaza to catch the 5A to IAD.   Does Mr. Goldman know?  Does Metro know?  I doubt it.

Deputy Chairman (and Reston-area member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors) Cathy Hudgins countered:

Stunned by Goldman’s proposal, Fairfax representative Catherine Hudgins said that if Maryland wasn’t paying for the route, why should Fairfax County pay? After all, she said, the Fairfax residents are likely taking Fairfax Connector buses to Dulles.

“This is a regional system and I will put my money on the fact that there are Marylanders that are using it as well,” Hudgins said.

She offered a solution: If it’s serving D.C., let D.C. pay for it. Then the board agreed to put the route back on the docket for public hearing.

She made her point about the regional nature of Metro by out-parochializing Maryland's Goldman!  Good on her!  No doubt her point was to make Goldman and other Board members think about how stupid Goldman's proposal is.  This kind of thinking taken to its illogical conclusion would mean each jurisdiction (maybe even at the county or community level) would pay just enough to cover the stations in its jurisdiction or even just the number of passengers who entered or exited at a station in their jurisdiction.   

Metro is a regional transit system.  It is not--or, more accurately, should not be--a kluged-together set of County or smaller jurisdiction transit agencies.  If its Board can not act like a regional transit agency Board of Directors, all of them should resign or be summarily replaced by those who can.  Otherwise, we will continue to have the same poor decisions--and even lack of decisions--on critical matters affecting the future and operations of Metro.

And while the WMATA Board is dealing with this really stupid proposal, it is not selecting a new General Manager, making Metrorail safer, making it more reliable, less expensive, etc.  It is wasting time, money, and whatever remaining confidence and goodwill the transit-riding public has in its judgment. 

Nonetheless, the WMATA Board will be wasting its time to hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Sept. 17, at the Jackson Graham Building, 600 5th St. NW, in the District.  If you have any interest at all in this matter, you had better trek to DC and testify because we have no confidence that the Board will even come close to making a wise decision. 

Are streetcars really the answer for transit?

Update--11/18/2014:  Although this post was not aimed at any particular streetcar initiative, today Arlington County canceled its plans to proceed further with the Columbia Pike streetcar initiative.  Clearly the initiative was aimed at encouraging development along Columbia Pike, not an improvement in mobility as laid out by Jeffrey Brown and Jarrett Walker in the two posts linked to below. 

Late last week, Washington Post writer Robert McCartney wrote:

The Nov. 4 election results in Arlington show how the surge of anti-spending sentiment among voters is creating major doubts about the Washington region’s strategy for growth in the inner suburbs.

For many years, the area has planned to build transit lines, particularly the Columbia Pike streetcar and Maryland’s Purple Line, to promote economic development without worsening traffic congestion.

Now both projects are endangered. In Maryland, voters elected a new governor, Larry Hogan (R), who thinks the state can’t afford the Purple Line.

I think supporters should keep pushing for the two projects. For the sake of the environment and our quality of life, we need more dense, urban-style neighbor­-hoods where people are less dependent on cars. . . .

This writer agrees that we need more people using public transit as the region becomes more urban, but not that streetcars are the best solution.  Buses appear to offer a better solution in most cases, including the Columbia Pike and possibly the Purple Line routes.

So having picked a fight with a large number of urbanists, let me give a few reasons for this point of view:

• Streetcars require a huge front-end investment in the building of the trackway not required by buses.  This is the key to concerns in Arlington and Maryland about the two proposed lines where WaPo reports the projected cost of the Purple Line is $2.4 BILLION and the Columbia Pike streetcar is$333 MILLION, including a share from Fairfax County.  These costs are the primary concern over the feasibility of both lines and contributed to the election of opponents of the lines in Maryland (Gov.-elect Hogan) and Arlington County (John Vihstadt).  In contrast, buses use existing street systems.
• Streetcars, in general, are no less expensive to operate and maintain than a bus.  They can carry more passengers than a bus, but not more cost-effectively in many, if not most, cases.  
• Streetcars are inflexible; they can go only where the trackway goes.  Buses are flexible and can change routes (a) tactically as accidents, etc., block a route, and (b) strategically as demand to go to and from different destinations changes over time (and it will).
• Streetcars often must use exclusively one or more lanes of vehicular traffic capacity permanently with boarding islands and other obstructions, depending on route design.  The local traffic system may actually lose transportation capacity along a given streetcar route.

There are some advantages to streetcars.  They are more iconic and, because they are fixed systems, tend to attract real estate development.  There may be others.

Many others have commented and studied the two types of transit systems.  Here are some leads readers may want to follow up on:

• BeyondDC, When streetcars are better than buses (and vice versa):  This post provides a good list of the strengths of both types of systems by a blog generally favoring streetcars.

• "The Modern Streetcar in the U.S.:  An Examination of Its Ridership,  Performance, and Function as a Public Transportation Mode," Jeffrey Brown, FSU, Journal of Public Transportation:  This research looks at the operating costs of each mode in more than a dozen US cities.  Among his conclusions;
• There is significant variation in performance, with some of this variation a function of the built environment within which the systems operate and/or of the degree of integration with the rest of the transit system, captured in the transfer rates. In all of the cases, the streetcars are not operating faster than the agency’s typical motor buses in revenue service, although they are providing service that riders value, . . .
• The difficulty encountered in obtaining data on streetcar service from many of the agencies in this study suggests that many do not really view the streetcars as primarily transit service but instead view them more as development catalysts or as devices used to serve tourists and shoppers as opposed to regular transit riders.  Whether this is an effective strategy or not is also something beyond the scope of
  this study, but it is indicative of a dilemma in these fiscally-constrained times, given that streetcar projects funded by the federal government’s resource-strapped capital grants program use resources that might have been used for other projects designed primarily to transport regular transit riders. . .

• Human Transit, streetcars: an inconvenient truth, Jarrett Walker:  Written by urban public transit planning consultant, this post notes:
• Streetcars that replace bus lines are not a mobility or access improvement.  If you replace a bus with a streetcar on the same route, and make no other improvements, nobody will be able to get anywhere any faster than they could before. This makes streetcars quite different from most of the other transit investments being discussed today.   (NOTE:  This would seem to make the Columbia Pike streetcar a rather cost-ineffective option, but leaves open the possible effectiveness of the Purple Line.)
• Are there cases where a mobility improvement (i.e.  enabling someone to go somewhere faster than they can now) follows logically from the streetcar technology?  Yes, there are some:
  • Capacity.  In other urban contexts, rail transit is important for its ability to carry large number of riders per vehicle, and hence per driver, usually by combining cars into trainsets.  Modern streetcars generally cannot be run as trainsets, but the still have some advantage over buses in this area; they have a capacity of around 200 compared to 120 for a typical articulated bus.  This capacity advantage can be relevant in high-volume situations, particularly when frequencies get down to the three-minute range.  However. most streetcars now under discussion are not this frequent.  Portland's Streetcar System Plan, for example, envisions mostly frequencies of 10-15 minutes, and at these levels the frequency is driven by a service quality standard, not a capacity requirement.  
  • Existing rail rights-of-way.  A proposed streetcar project in Vancouver involves using a piece of existing rail line, as does the small line in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  In this case, the streetcar can obviously do something important that a bus can't.
  Let me review carefully what I'm not saying about this incredibly sensitive topic.  
  • I'm not disputing the ridership benefits of streetcars.  Streetcars do attract more ridership than the buses they replace, though it's not always clear why.  There's an urgent need for more research on how much of the ridership benefits of a streetcar are truly results of intrinsic benefits of the streetcar (such as the ride quality, the legibility provided by tracks in the street, etc) as opposed to results of other improvements introduced at the same time (including speed and reliability improvements, better public information, off-board fare collection, and possible differences in operations culture).
  • I'm not saying that streetcars don't promote urban development; clearly they seem to be doing that, though there's room for disagreement about how much the development really requires the streetcar.
  • I'm not saying that electric streetcars aren't quieter and more environmentally friendly than diesel buses; clearly they are, but if this is your only reason for wanting streetcars, electric trolleybuses may meet your need less expensively.
  • I'm not saying that streetcars aren't fun to ride.  They are.  
  Most important, I'm not saying in the abstract that streetcars are good or bad.  I'm saying that they are a major capital expense that requires a justification other than mobility ("getting people where they're going fast and efficiently") when we compare them to the bus routes they replace, or that could be developed instead. 

And that last sentence pretty much captures this writer's viewpoint.  Streetcars are major capital investment not justified by improved mobility when compared with transit bus alternatives in most cases.  This is especially true for the Columbia Pike streetcar proposal and may also be true for the Purple Line given the huge capital investment required (that will no doubt escalate as planning continues).  It also seems definitely true in the urbanizing areas of Fairfax County, including Reston. 


Terry Maynard

The slide in Metro ridership is concerning.

In an article today, Jonathan O'Connell reports a decline in Metro ridership--just as the Silver Line begins to go into operation--and efforts to understand why.  Here's some of what he says:

Metro ridership has been declining in recent years even as it spikes in other parts of the country, a potential concern to owners of downtown real estate. If employees are working remotely, the value of Washington office space is potentially diminished. And almost all of Metro’s ridership losses in the past year are from weekdays.

Officials and Metro riders have raised a series of possible reasons for the decline, among them federal job cuts, slow economic growth, increased teleworking, more bike commuters, increased fares and disruptions caused by track work.

Recently Metro officials drilled more deeply into the numbers and in a memo they outlined why they believe a central cause is the cut to federal transit benefits from $245 to $130.

Ridership declines began well before the benefit cut, so benefit levels are unlikely to explain all of the ridership losses. But Metro officials think the cut is behind the most recent drop . . . .

These are all valid reasons, and they omit one more recent cause:  The reduced price of gasoline.  While not as steep in the Reston area, the price of gas in Winchester and even southern Fairfax County is now running about $2.25 per gallon for regular vice recent prices near $4/gallon a year ago.  Hopefully, those prices will come to Reston soon.  While we would be the last to try to forecast how long these low prices will last (possibly only until the return of spring and greater travel), a sustained reduction in gasoline prices will mean more people on the area's roads and fewer on Metrorail or even the Fairfax Connector--especially in the face of federal cuts in transit subsidies.

We all know what driving on our area roads is like and the possibility that more people will choose to drive--especially for commuting purposes--is concerning.  It raises the question--and the opportunity--for area local governments and private employers to increase their transit subsidies to help assure the growth of Metro and bus transit while keeping needed capacity expansion in local roads at a minimum.  And local Congressmen need to prevent further cuts--and seek increases--in federal transit subsidies to prevent further erosion of Metrorail use. 

More Fairfax Connector bus schedule changes proposed for Reston; community meetings this week.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is in the midst of an effort to change a number of Fairfax Connector bus schedules across the County, most of which involve changes in Reston linked to the opening of the Silver Line at Wiehle station.  Here are the specifics related to Reston:

Route 505 – Reston Town Center

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.
• Departures on routes 505, 981, and 983 will be timed to provide an even spacing of buses between Reston Town Center and the Wiehle Metro station.

Routes 551,557,559 – Reston South

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.

Routes 552,558 – Reston North

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.

Route 574 – Reston-Tysons

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.
• Buses will serve the Tysons Westpark transit station via Spring Hill Road providing connections to Route 401/402, making a trip between Springfield, Tysons, Merrifield, Annandale, and Reston possible by bus.

Route 585 – Franklin Farm-Reston South

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.

Route 605 – Fair Oaks-Reston

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.
• The time between buses will change from every 60 minutes to every 45 minutes on weekdays and from every 60 minutes to every 70 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays.
• Buses will travel to and from Fair Oaks Mall via West Ox Road, Post Forest Drive, Government Center Parkway, the Fairfax County Government Center, and Monument Drive.
• Buses will serve Fair Lakes Promenade and Pender Creek via bus stops on Monument Drive at Fair Lakes Parkway.

 Route 950 – Herndon-Reston

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions and to improve Silver Line connections.
• Departures on routes 950 and 980 will be timed to provide an even spacing of buses between Herndon-Monroe Park & Ride and the Wiehle Metro station.

Routes 951,952 – Sunrise Valley Drive-Sunset Hills Road

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.
• Route 951 buses will serve the US Geological Survey campus on all trips via Sunrise Valley Drive.

Route 980 – Herndon-Monroe

• A new schedule will reflect travel times adjusted for current traffic conditions.
• Departures on routes 950 and 980 will be timed to provide an even spacing of buses between Herndon-Monroe Park & Ride and the Wiehle Metro station.
• Trips will be added during the busiest rush hour travel times to reduce passenger crowding between the Wiehle Metro station and Herndon-Monroe Park & Ride.

FCDOT is holding just two community meetings this coming week to present these changes and take comments, which must be submitted by November 7, 2014--less than a week from now.  Here is the schedule for the two meetings"

 Tysons – Monday, November 3, 2014
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Fairfax County/Tysons Community Room
Tysons Corner Center – Level 2
1961 Chain Bridge Road; Tysons, VA  22102
Presentation at 12:30 p.m.
Transit access: Fairfax Connector 401, 402, 463, 721; Metrobus 2T, 23A, 28A; Tysons Corner Metro Station

Reston – Wednesday, November 5, 2014
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Southgate Community Center
12125 Pinecrest Road; Reston, VA  20191
Presentation at 7 p.m.
Transit access: Fairfax Connector 551, RIBS 1, RIBS 3

Please attend and make sure the County understands the impact on your use of the Fairfax Connector. 

Help Shape Reston's Future Bus Network! Participate in Connections 2015.

Buses will become a more important element of transportation in Reston in the years ahead as its corridor area becomes more urbanized and suburban residents seek access to the Metrorail stations and shopping areas. This is especially important as we anticipate the arrival of the Silver Line at Town Center and Herndon-Monroe in 2018. 

Now Restonians have an opportunity to contribute to the effort as the County Department of Transportation puts together a new ten-year transit plan.  Restonians played an important role in the developing of the detailed plan for buses with the arrival of the Silver Line at Wiehle, and now you have a chance to look further into our future.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) has begun work on its Comprehensive Transit Plan (CTP), a ten-year aspirational plan for Fairfax Connector and Metrobus service within the County. The CTP builds on the County's 2009 Transit Development Plan (TDP), our previous ten-year plan, and will extend our ten-year plan's horizon year from 2020 to 2025.

This plan will be supported by information collected through an extensive outreach effort, Connections 2015. We want you to help us develop the next ten-year plan through participation in Connections 2015. Your ideas and suggestions will help us develop bus service recommendations and an implementation plan. We will be collecting feedback from County residents, workers, and visitors from September 9th through October 14th. We will use your input to help us develop draft recommendations that will be released to the public for comment in the spring of 2015. Your input is an important element in crafting the recommendations for improving bus service so that the plan can better reflect your needs.

There are multiple ways to get involved:

1) Go online to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/Connections2015 to find out more about the existing and future bus systems.

2) Join FCDOT online during the Ask Fairfax! online chat!

Wednesday, October 8 from 12:30-1:30

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/askfairfax/

3) Attend a workshop where you will learn more about the County's existing transit network and help plan for the future through small work groups.  Upcoming works shops include:

Thursday, October 9 from 6-8pm

Chantilly Regional Library

4000 Stringfellow Road

Chantilly, VA  20151

Tuesday, October 14 from 6-8pm

Mount Eagle Elementary School

616 N. Kings Highway

Alexandria, VA  22303

Silver Line Heralds Longer, More Expensive Commutes For Some Fairfax Residents, WAMU 88.5, July 22, 2014

Martin Di Caro reports:

Metro rail riders were hit with a 3 percent fare increase on June 29. When the Silver Line embarks on its first weekday rush hour trips next Monday, some commuters will pay even more.

Thousands of commuters in the Herndon and Reston area in Fairfax County could experience a more expensive and longer commute when Metro’s first new rail line since 1991 opens for passengers. These commuters currently take Fairfax Connector buses from park and rides to the West Falls Church Metro station, then hop the Orange Line to complete their trips. . .

So a roundtrip, rush hour commute that costs $10.70 today will cost $14.30 next week for anyone who takes the Fairfax Connector to Metro rail from the park and rides in Reston and Herndon. . .

The more expensive commute could also take longer.

John Spencer, who also takes the bus from the Reston South Park and Ride, said his current commute takes 50 minutes.

His Fairfax Connector bus departs at 6:20 a.m., arrives at West Falls Church at 6:41, and then he usually boards an Orange Line train at 6:45. He arrives at the Smithsonian Metro station at 7:10 — barring any delays.

Starting next week, Spencer said the bus trip from the park and ride to the Silver Line station in Reston will take only 14 minutes, but the Silver Line trip to the Smithsonian station will take 44 minutes, for a total commute time of 59 minutes (if he waits only one minute on the platform for a train). If he misses the Silver Line connection, he would have to wait six more minutes for the next train. . .

Click here for the rest of his report and listen to Di Caro's radio report.

New Silver Line Reston Bus Routes

This Fairfax Connector webpage displays the new Fairfax Connector bus routes for the Reston area when the Silver Line arrives.  It also lists the bus routes and you can obtain printable bus route and schedule information for each route by clicking on the route name.  For example, below is a copy of the detailed information for several of the south Reston Fairfax Connector routes after the Silver Line begins service.

 

RCA Comment on Versions 6 & 7 of the Draft Reston Comprehensive Plan Text, September 30, 2013

   RCA Comment on V6 & V7 of the Draft Reston Comprehensive Plan, September 30, 2013

Now they tell us: BRT is more cost-effective than rail for TOD!

Looks like we could have saved $5 billion or more (as many of us already suspected) by building a bus rapid transit (BRT) system down the Dulles Corridor, not to mention outrageous Dulles Toll Road rate increases to come.

The Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) has just issued a major study that, among other things, highlights that there is little or no advantage to spending big bucks on rail if your goal is to stimulate economic development in transit-oriented development (TOD) areas.

Here's what Atlantic Cities has to say about the report:

Today, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy released a report showing that bus-rapid transit can play a huge role in stimulating economic development — often leveraging more investment than rail projects do. Previous research already suggested as much, but the impact documented in the ITDP report is still eye-catching. . .

So what's the lesson here? Well, the basic takeaway is that cities seeking TOD investments should build that desire around a strong plan for government intervention first and foremost, then identify a corridor with great potential as a secondary act. The type or quality of the transit system itself need only be a third consideration; indeed, ITDP concludes that light rail, BRT, and streetcars "all led to similar TOD investment outcomes under similar conditions."

In other words, if your goal is economic development, then focusing on transit is besides the point.

But as usual the broader lesson is more complicated. The idea that TOD doesn't always require the T can be encouraging, since it frees up cities to invest in urban corridors for their own sake. But it's also concerning, because even if transit quality doesn't matter for TOD purposes, it certainly matters for mobility. Cities that see transit systems as a mere pretext for economic development are bound for some sort of disappointment, no matter the monetary gain.

There is no doubt that the Dulles Corridor has experienced HEAVY government intervention with the two new Comprehensive Plans for Tysons and the Corridor.  Moreover, the area has major potential.

Apparently, however, spending billions more to put in commuter rail will have little impact on the economic success of Tysons or the Reston as TOD areas.  BRT would probably have worked as well (as is outlined in the current Dulles Corridor Comprehensive Plan).  But of course, our Loudoun and Fairfax county governments picked the less cost-effective approach!

Click here to download the full ITDP report (161 pp).  

Is MoCo outdistancing Fairfax County on transportation again? This time its BRT.

Last week, we reported on how the Montgomery County Council was reducing planned density around two planned Purple Line stations to reduce traffic congestion and make more affordable housing available.  Now it turns out that MoCo is also planning bus rapid transit (BRT) as a more cost-effective way than rail to move its residents and employees. 

Here is the money section in an article by Matt Yglesias in Slate:

Montgomery County, an affluent Maryland suburb of D.C. with a strong tradition of anti-sprawl politics, is moving closer to a very ambitious BRT push that if successful should serve as a national model. According to the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s rating system, only five existing lines in the United States qualify as true BRT and none of them meet the high-end “gold standard” criteria. The current version of the Montgomery plan would create two gold standard corridors, with dedicated busways running in highway medians just as decent light rail lines do. Adding extra concrete to an existing roadway is substantially cheaper than building brand new tracks, so opting for a BRT option will let the county buy more transit bang for its buck.  

The article provides a fairly good description of the pros and cons of BRT as a cost-effective means of transportation.  Just wish someone in Fairfax County had thought of this before committing us to a $6 billion Metrorail line, half of which will be paid by Dulles Toll Road users.

'Transit' Might Not Be Essential to Transit-Oriented Development, The Atlantic Cities, June 10, 2013

By Eric Jaffee

Shutterstock

The first thing that comes to mind with transit-oriented development, and sometimes the only thing, is proximity to a busy rail station. The term begins with transit for a reason. But of course that's not the only component of effective TOD: density, a mixture of residences and services, walkability, and the general built environment all play key roles. What if some of these other factors proved as important as rail proximity when it came to TOD's sustainable impact? 

In other words, what if TOD doesn't rely on the T?

That was the question asked by planner Daniel Chatman of the University of California-Berkeley for a study published in the winter 2013 issue of Journal of the American Planning Association. His answer may come as a bit of a surprise. Chatman found that proximity to rail was not the essential TOD element it's typically thought to be — and, in fact, that it's importance vanished in the face of other factors:

In these data, the lower auto ownership and use in TODs is not from the T (transit), or at least, not from the R (rail), but from lower on- and off-street parking availability; better bus service; smaller and rental housing; more jobs, residents, and stores within walking distance; proximity to downtown; and higher subregional employment density. . . .

And the implication of Professor Chapman's findings?

Current sustainability policies are often quite focused on investing in rail and developing housing near rail stations. ... Such a focus primarily on TODs to reduce greenhouse gases could miss the boat. These results suggest that a better strategy in many urban areas would be to incentivize housing developments of smaller rental units with lower on- and off-street parking availability, in locations with better bus service and higher subregional employment density.  (Emphasis added.)

. . . but we just committed to spending $6 billion and year's of effort on a rail line we may not need?!   Would BRT have done as well??  Makes you think....

Click here for the rest of this article.

New Fairfax Bus Routes Coming by December, Tysons Corner Patch, June 4, 2013

Ahead of Silver Line opening, Supervisors sign off on changes and new routes for 40 percent of the Fairfax Connector system.

• By William Callahan

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve a number of changes to the Fairfax Connector bus service, establishing new routes and shifting service throughout 40 percent of the bus system.

Forty routes are being changed or updated in order to meld bus service to the Silver Line Metro when the first batch of stations open in December 2013.

Supervisors unanimously approved the list of revisions, for which transportation officials have been soliciting public input for months in a series of public meetings. . . .

Click here for the rest of the story.

Reston Bus Service Changes on Board Agenda, June 4, 2013

The proposed changes in Reston bus service (as well as other service linked to the opening of the Silver Line in Tysons, McLean, and Vienna) are Action Item #1 at the Board of Supervisors meeting on June 4, 2013, at 9:30AM  (Board package--very large PDF file) in the Board Auditorium, County Government Center.  The Board discussion of the proposal is preceded by pro forma activities, including presentations to Fairfax citizens, and administrative items.  The discussion of the bus service is unlikely to start before 10:30AM. 

The current proposal is very similar to the proposal FC Department of Transportation presented to the public in early May.  A review of the presentation by Reston 2020 indicates that some gaps are still evident in the shift from various schedules throughout the day (eg--morning rush to mid-day, mid-day to evening rush, evening rush to late night).   For example, the final recommendations would end afternoon service on Route 558 one-half hour earlier than the county's last proposal in May (change from 3:30 to 3:00 p.m.).  As a result, the gap between mid-day off-peak and evening peak service on North Reston Routes 558 and 552/554 would increase from 30 to 60 minutes.  The corresponding gap on South Reston Routes 559 and 553/557 remains at 30 minutes.  This is a surprising change since the county's May 7th proposals presented to the Board's Transportation Committee reduced all the gaps between peak and off-peak service to 30 minutes, and standardized the hours of service in North and South Reston.

We have also heard, but not yet confirmed, that FC DOT plans to offer free bus service for the Tysons circulator system while charging normal fares for other routes covered in this change, including other services directly linked to use of the Silver Line.  Here is what a citizen observer reported from the May 7 County Transportation Committee (the Board meeting as a committee of the whole) reported:

A brief overview of proposed bus route changes was given. In response to a question from Supervisor Herrity, (County DOT Staff Chief Tom) Biesiadny declined to say if the County intends to have Tysons Circulator buses operate for free. I did not see any projected revenue and costs for the bus services changes. It appears that changes will benefit Tysons landowners at the further cost of Reston taxpayers.

If the County chooses free transit for Tysons, we believe this arrangement is grossly inequitable and unfair to the tens of thousands of County residents who pay for bus service everyday--and even the others who must pay added property taxes to subsidize Tysons transportation.  If true, it points again to the Board's tunnel vision obsession with Tysons at the expense of the rest of the County. 

On the last page of this action item is a summary of the net cost of each of the "optional services" proposed in the package.  The total one-year cost of these "optional" services is $2.5 million.  They do not include the Tysons circulator routes, which will cost $4 million per year according to the Washington Post.  Fare issues are not addressed in this presentation and Board action so far as we can determine.

Restonians have at least three opportunities to voice their views on the new routes and schedules:

• Send an e-mail to Supervisor Cathy Hudgins at hntrmill@fairfaxcounty.gov.
• Participate in Supervisor Hudgins'  "First Monday" session--an opportunity to interact directly with the Supervisor--on Monday, June 3, 1-3PM, Reston Regional Library.
• Send an e-mail to the full Board of Supervisors at bos@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Reston Bus Service: Good Work in Progress, RCA Reston 2020 Committee, May 22, 2013

This RCA Reston 2020 report highlights the significant improvements in the Reston transit plan since our last report on the plan and identifies a number of improvements for making it better.  

Our earlier paper, “Building on Reston’s Transit Tradition:  Enhancing Bus Service with the Arrival of Metrorail,” examined the state of the County’s planning and our recommendations for further improving that plan.   We greatly appreciate the openness and responsiveness of the County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) in presenting its draft plan and listening to the feedback we and many others provided. 

Like its predecessor, this paper follows up on the presentations staff made to the community in early May, the feedback we heard at those meetings, and our independent analysis of the transit proposal as it has evolved since then.  Besides noting the substantial improvements in the proposed transit plan, we identify some apparent shortfalls in bus service across Reston and some continuing gaps in coverage as service shifts from one period to another.  We appreciate that effort Supervisor Hudgins has made to garner additional funding for transit service and we make some suggestions on the options FCDOT has laid out for that service.  

   Reston Bus Service:  Good Work in Progress, May 22, 2013 by Terry Maynard

Fairfax County DOT Presentation on Updated Fairfax Connector Bus Routes Linked to Silver Line Service

   FCDOT Presentation to BOS Transportation Committee (May 7, 2013)

This presentation by the County's Department of Transportation (FCDOT) to the Board Transportation Committee--a committee of the whole--provides the department's updated recommendations for bus service linked to the opening of the Silver Line late this year.   It follows up on its earlier (April 2013) revised proposals recommending restoring service to the Pentagon and Crystal City on new Route 599 (replacing Routes 595 and 597, both previously slated for elimination), increasing service frequency (by reducing headways) on several Reston feeder routes to Wiehle Station, and adding new mid-day circulator routes to the station.  

In particular, this presentation also adjusts service hours on several Reston feeder routes, eliminating the long-time disparity between peak hours in North and South Reston.  It proposing reducing gaps between weekday peak feeder and proposed new off-peak circulator service identified by Reston 2020.

 

The presentation also selects five 'optional' services from the Connector’s April list.  These include restoring weekend service on Reston Route 505 (previously proposed for elimination), and adding new weekend service on existing Route 551 and proposed Routes 558-559 (new North and South Reston circulators).  Total cost for all the selected optional services would be $2 million, the amount Supervisor Hudgins requested be added to the Fairfax Connector budget.

 

The county’s target date for consideration of FCDOT’s recommendations by the Board of Supervisors is June 4, 2013.

Overall, FCDOT's presentation  includes virtually all the recommendations proposed by RCA in its report Building on Reston's Transit Tradition: Enhancing Bus Service with the Arrival of Metrorail.

Continuing Lengthy Gaps in Proposed Reston Bus Service

UPDATE:  If you use or plan to use Reston's buses--or know someone who does--please make sure they comment on the proposed bus transit service at  fairfaxconnector@fairfaxcounty.gov.  For further information on the proposed changes, please visit the Fairfax Connector Silver Line bus service website and review its updated presentation and other materials on the proposed bus service.  Fairfax Connector listened to what Restonians had to say in the first round and we believe they will listen again--but do it soon, time is running out!

This table highlights the continuing gaps in Reston area bus service as it shifts from AM Rush--Mid-Day Service--PM Rush--Night schedules.

 

According to FCDOT staff, the time ranges for hours of service in the Connector’s proposals represent the beginning and end of service on each route, and the second time is when the last bus will be ‘off the road.’  If this is correct, the last trip necessarily would begin 15-30 minutes earlier, perhaps more depending upon the length of the route, so the gaps shown in this chart may be even greater than stated.

 

In South Reston, modified all-day Routes 551 and 585 will provide some stop-gap coverage (although Route 585 will have a 60-minute headway), but there is no similar alternative in North Reston between the end of rush-hour service and the beginning of mid-day and nighttime service (60- and 80-minute gaps, respectively).

 

Probably the best solution would be to add at least one additional rush hour trip on all the feeder routes (552, 553, 554 and 557) to fill the gaps. Fairfax Connector staff have indicated that they cannot add additional trips, however.  Their solution is to spread out the mid-day routes, but this would increase the already lengthy 40-minute headways on Routes 558 and 559.