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| Subject: a SmartCard technology linked with Metro. | |
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Author: Sunday, February 8, 2004; Page C04 |
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Date Posted: Saturday, February 21, 04:29:08am washingtonpost.com > Metro > Virginia Fairfax County A Smoother Journey for Bus Riders Proposal for Route 1 Area Would Streamline Service By Leef Smith Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 8, 2004; Page C04 Major changes are proposed for bus service in southern Fairfax County along the Route 1 (Richmond Highway) corridor and in central Springfield. Transportation officials have a plan to overhaul routes and schedules, enhance pedestrian safety and introduce more continuous service to make bus travel mimic rail. The plan to restructure all South County Fairfax Connector routes and other commuter bus routes will be presented to the Fairfax Board of Supervisors tomorrow, when transportation officials will ask for approval to hold public hearings. The proposed changes, developed with Metro staff members, would enable the system to retain its current customers and save money while attracting new passengers, expanding ridership as much as 30 percent within two years once the changes take effect, officials said. "We're trying to simplify the system, giving people more service during more times of the day and more days of the week," said Andy Szakos, chief of Fairfax County's transit services division. Among the features of the proposed overhaul are plans to make the system more user-friendly by eliminating duplication of routes and one-way loops that complicate return trips. Additional consolidation would streamline service, officials said, reducing the number of routes from 21 to 17. Officials said travel times would be reduced for many customers while travel options would be increased, with expanded operating hours, more off-peak and weekend service and more transfer opportunities for peak-direction and reverse commuters. Improved continuity would make taking the bus feel more like riding Metro, they said. The plan, officials said, would concentrate on four major routes in the Richmond Highway corridor -- creating a core Fairfax Connector service between the Lorton Park and Ride and the Huntington Metro station. Other major elements would include a Connector loop linking key stops in neighborhoods on both sides of Richmond Highway with major employment and retail centers as well as the Huntington Metro station. Officials also want to create bus connections to the Kingstowne and Springfield malls. The final piece would create a bus rapid transit system as an extension of Metro's Yellow Line to Fort Belvoir. The bus service would be run by Metro and complement the changes being proposed for the Fairfax Connector, including a SmartCard technology linked with Metro. "Rather than today's sluggish, unpredictable service that largely serves those who don't have any option, we'll see over the next three years an express service that incorporates the latest in bus and 'intelligent transportation system' technologies resulting in service that's up to 30 percent faster with logically placed shelters, real-time service information and safe facilities for pedestrians who become our customers," Fairfax County Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee) said. Kauffman, who is among those leading the effort, said he first realized changes were needed while he was eating at a McDonald's on Richmond Highway in Hybla Valley. Looking through the restaurant's window, he watched a Connector bus and a Metro bus pull up to the curb almost simultaneously. "People were standing there trying to decide which one to get on," Kauffman said. "A week later, I'm watching the same thing outside a Popeye's. I had to ask myself, 'What are we spending [as a county] to engender such confusion?' " Rapid bus service, officials said, would use sensors to improve traffic signal timing so that buses stop at fewer lights. Also included in the plan to improve Richmond Highway are better lighting at bus stops, better pedestrian signals and the selection of 20 major intersections as models for the design of a better, safer system. The plans were developed using ridership data collected from Metro and the Fairfax Connector to see where people board and exit the system, as well as socioeconomic data about the riders gleaned through transportation studies. "We're very excited about the package that's been put together," Szakos said. "We're very hopeful we'll be able to continue to move forward with it." [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |