NoVa's Metroway BRT

[The Davy Crockett]

You know about the Purple Line, the Columbia Pike Streetcar, the DC Streetcar, and Metro's brand spanking new Silver Line, but did you know there is another new public transportation option coming to the DC area?

From this article linked here at WTOP [which also has two pictures)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Like a rail line rolling on rubber, a game changing bus service is coming to Northern Virginia. The Crystal City/Potomac Yard Transitway, featuring bold blue Metroway buses, is expected to begin service Aug 24.

"We're really excited. This is the first regional transitway in dedicated travel lanes in this area," says acting Deputy Director for the City of Alexandria, Sandra Marks.

Initially, Metroway buses will connect the Braddock Road and Crystal City Metro stations with multiple stops between the two. The transitway eventually will extend to Pentagon City.

Service will run every 12 minutes Monday through Friday and every 20 minutes on weekends. Buses will run until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

Fares will cost the same as rides on Metro buses and at first they'll be paid using coins or SmarTrip cards.

Over the next year equipment will be installed at stations to allow riders to pay fares before boarding buses using either a SmarTrip card or a kiosk that works much like a multi-space parking meter that provides paper receipts.

"It's the honor system," Marks says.

Metro police will work the route with handheld devices to confirm payment by SmarTrip card or ask to see a rider's paper receipt.

Marks says Metroway will function much like any other part of the regular Metro system.

"There will be kiosks at each of the stations, so if you don't have enough money on your SmarTrip card you can refill it," Marks says.

The service in Alexandria includes travel lanes built exclusively for buses on U.S. 1 in Potomac Yard from Potomac Avenue to East Glebe Road. On some less busy portions of the Alexandria route buses will share travel lanes with regular commuters.

For now Metroway buses in Arlington will share the road with regular traffic.

Groundbreaking for construction of dedicated transitway lanes in Arlington is Friday.

"The first phases of construction will be in Potomac Yard, then work moves up to Crystal City," says Eric Balliet with Arlington County's Department of Environmental Services.

WMATA also has more information, a map and a picture of a blue bus at its website, which is linked here.

A streetcar was originally one proposal for this route, but Alexandria balked, and decided on BRT. As far as I know there is still a thought to turn this into a streetcar line one day, but I wouldn't hold my breath in an effort to make that happen!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

BRT stands for Baloney Rapid Transit.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

BRT stands for Baloney Rapid Transit.

You mean something like this?

 

[afigg]

A streetcar was originally one proposal for this route, but Alexandria balked, and decided on BRT. As far as I know there is still a thought to turn this into a streetcar line one day, but I wouldn't hold my breath in an effort to make that happen!

Arlington is still planning to eventually turn the Crystal City - Potomac Yard Transitway or at their portion into a streetcar line. The transitway project is a confusing one with multiple parts which has not gotten that much publicity I think because it is split between 2 jurisdictions with somewhat different views and goals. It is an interesting project because most of the route is to be a dedicated transitway and separate from car traffic unlike many other watered down projects that started as actual BRT.

However the segment through Potomac Yards will be in traffic until the PY development and build-out advances to where it can build the transitway through it. And that is tied up in the decision process for the location and design of the in-fill Potomac Yards Metro station which has been getting dragged out.

If you look at the Arlington website and map for the Columbia Pike streetcar project, Arlington's plan is to connect the Columbia Pike Streetcar line to the transitway at Pentagon City and ultimately extent the streetcar to Crystal City and the northern of edge of Potomac Yard which is in Alexandria. However, the city of Alexandria is not interested in running a streetcar over their portion of the route. I think that makes sense because there is not enough density to support a streetcar until the PY development is mostly built out. And there are major mixed-use development plans for PY which will have a new Metro stop and a BRT line for the sales pitch. Once a lot of people move in to the PY area and ridership grows on the CC-PY transitway, I expect residents will push for an upgrade to a streetcar on the Alexandria end, But this could be 10 or 15 years from now.

An interesting aspect to the CC-PY transitway is that, when complete, it will connect to to the DC Metro systems at 4 stops: Pentagon City, Crystal City, Potomac Yards, Braddock Rd, providing local connections between the Metro stops. Like the Purple Line in MD and the DC Streetcar lines, it is leveraging off of the DC Metro system with the heavy rail Metro system serving as the regional backbone. Without the DC Metro, these projects would have far less value and likely not be built.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Arlington is still planning to eventually turn the Crystal City - Potomac Yard Transitway or at their portion into a streetcar line. The transitway project is a confusing one with multiple parts which has not gotten that much publicity I think because it is split between 2 jurisdictions with somewhat different views and goals. It is an interesting project because most of the route is to be a dedicated transitway and separate from car traffic unlike many other watered down projects that started as actual BRT.

You are correct that I ignored the larger, more complicated picture to focus on the BRT scheduled to start operating this month. Thanks for enlarging the scope!

In the short term it will be interesting to see how the BRT does in terms of ridership, reliabilty, perception, etc. When the decision was made, I was disappointed that Alexandria went with BRT instead of the streetcar, but I do understand why the city saw an immediacy for some 'enhanced' form of public transportation to serve the rapidly developing PY projects and therefore did not want to wait for Arlington County to figure out its long term transit plans. I know Arlington County is planning to do some work to enhance the BRT service as well in Crystal City, but I'm not sure of the details and I don't know if Arlington is planning to use the transitway that has been set aside in Crystal City or not.

In the long term, as far as I know, this project has some unanswered questions, and it will be interesting to see how they pan out. For example, if Arlington builds the Crystal City Streetcar Line, where will it connect with Alexandria's BRT? At the county line, or at the proposed Potomac Yard Metro Station? If the line becomes two different modes of transit, how will that impact ridership? Will Alexandria ever convert the BRT to rail? Will all these transit options keep Route 1, and surrounding roads from becoming hopelessly clogged with traffic?

I agree that Metro and these other systems have/will have symbiotic relationships that are greater than the sum of the individual parts.

 

[afigg]

You are correct that I ignored the larger, more complicated picture to focus on the BRT scheduled to start operating this month. Thanks for enlarging the scope!

In the short term it will be interesting to see how the BRT does in terms of ridership, reliabilty, perception, etc. When the decision was made, I was disappointed that Alexandria went with BRT instead of the streetcar, but I do understand why the city saw an immediacy for some 'enhanced' form of public transportation to serve the rapidly developing PY projects and therefore did not want to wait for Arlington County to figure out its long term transit plans. I know Arlington County is planning to do some work to enhance the BRT service as well in Crystal City, but I'm not sure of the details and I don't know if Arlington is planning to use the transitway that has been set aside in Crystal City or not.

In the long term, as far as I know, this project has some unanswered questions, and it will be interesting to see how they pan out. For example, if Arlington builds the Crystal City Streetcar Line, where will it connect with Alexandria's BRT? At the county line, or at the proposed Potomac Yard Metro Station? If the line becomes two different modes of transit, how will that impact ridership? Will Alexandria ever convert the BRT to rail? Will all these transit options keep Route 1, and surrounding roads from becoming hopelessly clogged with traffic?

I agree that Metro and these other systems have/will have symbiotic relationships that are greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The portion of the CC-PY transit in Arlington has only just started construction. Arlington county's website on their part of the project and a May 29, 2014 construction update viewgraph presentation (11 page PDF) that provides an overview of the planned construction with a projected Spring 2015 completion. What WMATA is doing on August 24 is starting the Metroway service, but only the segment south of Potomac Yards along Rt. 1 will use a dedicated transitway and the rest will be in traffic, using regular bus stops in Arlington I expect. Will have to wait until next Spring before most of the transitway will be in place.

As for the streetcar plans, it appears that Arlington will run the Columbia Pike streetcar to terminate at or near the CC-PY transitway stop at Pentagon City. Then plans to eventually extend the streetcar service to the county line, maybe just south of it to the new PY stop with both buses and streetcars running on the Arlington half of the CC-PY transitway. But I expect those plans will be refined and changed once the CC-PY transitway is completed and the buses run to Pentagon City, so I would not pay much attention to them. Yes, this is complicated. The key is that there will be a dedicated transitway from Crystal City to where the route turns off of Rt. 1 to the Braddock Rd Metro station which will be configured so it can be upgraded for a streetcar line in the future.

The big fight in Arlington County in the near term is to advance the Columbia Pike streetcar project and get it built in the face of a noisy local opposition. But we have a No VA streetcar thread to discuss that project.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The portion of the CC-PY transit in Arlington has only just started construction. Arlington county's website on their part of the project and a May 29, 2014 construction update viewgraph presentation (11 page PDF) that provides an overview of the planned construction with a projected Spring 2015 completion. What WMATA is doing on August 24 is starting the Metroway service, but only the segment south of Potomac Yards along Rt. 1 will use a dedicated transitway and the rest will be in traffic, using regular bus stops in Arlington I expect. Will have to wait until next Spring before most of the transitway will be in place.

Thanks for the links! I've looked into the project before, but its been a while. Now that the first part of the project - the BRT - is imminent, its been good to relook into the project, as it seems much more real.
A couple of things I came across I thought were interesting:

First, according to this article at the Washington Post from February 18 of this year, is that when Arlingon's BRT starts running it will not be an extension os the Alexandria BRT, but its own service...

Buses would turn around at Four Mile Run, just over the bridge from Alexandrias bus transitway... [emphasis added]

REALLY? Is Four Mile Run the equivelent of the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin during the Cold War? That ain't good! Are riders paying the price for leftover hard feelings when Alexandria decided to push ahead with BRT and not wait for Arlington to get it together?

I realize that the two jurisdictions have pursued this project in their own way, and I believe their funding of the project is different, but this sure won't help the project to reach its potential.

The article goes on to say:

Ultimately, Arlington and Alexandria hope to connect the two bus routes so that passengers can travel from the Braddock Road Metro station in Alexandria to just beyond the Crystal City Metro station at 18th Street South.

Ummm, yeah! C'mon you two, let's play nice and work together for the benefit of all involved!

The other thing I noticed was that the Spring of 2014 was the projected start of the BRT service, with Arlington's trasitway portion projected to be finished in August of 2014. Obviously those projections slipped to later dates, with Arlington's slipping the most. I wonder, is this a sign for the future of this project? There certainly is an ongoing battle over the Columbia Pike Streetcar. I wonder what impact that will have on the Arlington portion of the CC-PY Transitway. I know the Crystal City situation is different, and I believe it has different funding, but the two projects have enough interconnection for their to be repercussions from the fight.

However, as you say,

The big fight in Arlington County in the near term is to advance the Columbia Pike streetcar project and get it built in the face of a noisy local opposition. But we have a No VA streetcar thread to discuss that project.

 

[afigg]

Ultimately, Arlington and Alexandria hope to connect the two bus routes so that passengers can travel from the Braddock Road Metro station in Alexandria to just beyond the Crystal City Metro station at 18th Street South.

Ummm, yeah! C'mon you two, let's play nice and work together for the benefit of all involved!

The other thing I noticed was that the Spring of 2014 was the projected start of the BRT service, with Arlington's trasitway portion projected to be finished in August of 2014. Obviously those projections slipped to later dates, with Arlington's slipping the most. I wonder, is this a sign for the future of this project? There certainly is an ongoing battle over the Columbia Pike Streetcar. I wonder what impact that will have on the Arlington portion of the CC-PY Transitway. I know the Crystal City situation is different, and I believe it has different funding, but the two projects have enough interconnection for their to be repercussions from the fight.

No, the Metroway service will run from Braddock Road to Crystal City in its initial implementation. WMATA's website has a press release: Metroway premium transit service starting this summer with 2 maps. The first map is the service route starting on August 24, the second is the full route starting next Spring after the transitway construction is completed on the Arlington end.

If you look at the maps, the parts of the route that are in dedicated lanes are marked. I'm inserting the map for the CC-PY transitway as of next Spring below for reference for anyone interested. The section from the South Glebe to East Glebe stops by the Potomac Yard shopping center will be re-routed into a dedicated transitway when the PY development gets underway. Which, of course, is waiting in large part on a decision on the location and design of the future PY Metro station.

The northern end looping pass the Pentagon City Metro stop and mall is not in a dedicated lane. There are wide roads on that loop, so there is space for a dedicated bus/streetcar lane IMO. Don't know if future plans are to upgrade that section to dedicated lanes or whether VDOT is blocking Arlington county from taking away a road or parking lane.

I don't think there is any risk from the Columbia Pike streetcar food fight to this transitway project. It is funded and construction should be underway on the Arlington half and be done by next year.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

[No, the Metroway service will run from Braddock Road to Crystal City in its initial implementation. WMATA's website has a press release: Metroway premium transit service starting this summer with 2 maps. The first map is the service route starting on August 24, the second is the full route starting next Spring after the transitway construction is completed on the Arlington end.

If you look at the maps, the parts of the route that are in dedicated lanes are marked. I'm inserting the map for the CC-PY transitway as of next Spring below for reference for anyone interested. The section from the South Glebe to East Glebe stops by the Potomac Yard shopping center will be re-routed into a dedicated transitway when the PY development gets underway. Which, of course, is waiting in large part on a decision on the location and design of the future PY Metro station.

The northern end looping pass the Pentagon City Metro stop and mall is not in a dedicated lane. There are wide roads on that loop, so there is space for a dedicated bus/streetcar lane IMO. Don't know if future plans are to upgrade that section to dedicated lanes or whether VDOT is blocking Arlington county from taking away a road or parking lane.

I don't think there is any risk from the Columbia Pike streetcar food fight to this transitway project. It is funded and construction should be underway on the Arlington half and be done by next year.

Okay... Thank you. THIS makes sense, and I had thought it was the case, but when I came across the incorrect Washington Post article while still drinking my first cup of coffee in the wee hours this morning I almost spit out a mouthful. In hindsight I obviously wasn't awake enough to take a deep breath, swallow some large grains of media digestive salts, and remind myself of the source.

My comment about the impact the Pike sreetcar fight might have on the PY-CC transitway has mostly to do with what impact it could have on the chances of having streetcars in Crystal City, as I'd think the money for the Arlington portion of the BRT has already been budgeted for this fiscal year.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

At 8:30 in the morning last Tuesday, the second day of 'normal' operations after the opening ceremonies on Sunday, Aug. 24, I boarded a blue and gray Metroway bus at Potomac Avenue and Jefferson Davis Highway* (US Route 1) in Alexandria where the 'bus only' transitway (non Metroway Metrobus routes also use the transitway) begins on the north side of the bridge that takes Route 1 over the CSX main in Alexandria. The first thing I noticed when I boarded was the 'new bus smell,' but after using my Smartcard to pay my fare (in the future one will prepay at stops before boarding) and saying 'hello' to the driver, the next thing I noticed was the fact that I was the only passenger! Although the ride up the transitway was quick for a bus, we did not keep up with traffic on Rt. 1, and when we got off the transitway, we kept an urban bus pace up to the Crystal City Metro stop, Metroway's current northern terminus. By the time we got there about 8:45, we had picked up a total of 19 passengers, mostly once we got into Crystal City. Once Potomac Yards is fully built out, I think there will be greater ridership, and once the Arlington County portion of the transitway is completed, the ride should be quicker. Speaking of the portion in Arlington County, construction has begun in earnest.

Getting off at Crystal City Metro, I grabbed a breakfast sandwich and headed over to the Crystal City VRE station, where I arrived with just enough time to settle on a bench and start eating my sandwich before the last NB VRE of the AM rush arrived. After watching the bustling horde detrain, I walked back to Crystal City Metro and NOT being in a hurry, rode Metroway all the way down to its southern terminus at the Braddock Road Metro stop. I was one of two passengers leaving Crystal City, with the other passenger getting off at the southern end of Crystal City.

While I'm glad I took the opportunity to ride Metroway, this initial ride sure lacked the excitement and ridership the opening of Metro's Silver line had. It got me thinking about the numerous studies I've seen that find BRT to be a much less expensive (at least to build) but still efficient alternative to streetcars or light rail. However, what these studies do not take into consideration, IMHO, is that many more people - not just 'railfans' - are drawn, for whatever reasons, to steel rails and steel wheels in ways they are not to BRT.

I'm still waiting for the streetcar in NoVa.

* Funny the same road - albeit on the other side of the country - came up in another thread this week. :blink:

... Also blue and gray on Jeff Davis? :wacko: Was somebody being too cute when they came up with this? :unsure:

Probably was a 'focus group!'

 

[AmtrakBlue]

At 8:30 in the morning last Tuesday, the second day of 'normal' operations after the opening ceremonies on Sunday, Aug. 24, I boarded a blue and gray Metroway bus at Potomac Avenue and Jefferson Davis Highway* (US Route 1) in Alexandria where the 'bus only' transitway (non Metroway Metrobus routes also use the transitway) begins on the north side of the bridge that takes Route 1 over the CSX main in Alexandria. The first thing I noticed when I boarded was the 'new bus smell,' but after using my Smartcard to pay my fare (in the future one will prepay at stops before boarding) and saying 'hello' to the driver, the next thing I noticed was the fact that I was the only passenger! Although the ride up the transitway was quick for a bus, we did not keep up with traffic on Rt. 1, and when we got off the transitway, we kept an urban bus pace up to the Crystal City Metro stop, Metroway's current northern terminus. By the time we got there about 8:45, we had picked up a total of 19 passengers, mostly once we got into Crystal City. Once Potomac Yards is fully built out, I think there will be greater ridership, and once the Arlington County portion of the transitway is completed, the ride should be quicker. Speaking of the portion in Arlington County, construction has begun in earnest.

Getting off at Crystal City Metro, I grabbed a breakfast sandwich and headed over to the Crystal City VRE station, where I arrived with just enough time to settle on a bench and start eating my sandwich before the last NB VRE of the AM rush arrived. After watching the bustling horde detrain, I walked back to Crystal City Metro and NOT being in a hurry, rode Metroway all the way down to its southern terminus at the Braddock Road Metro stop. I was one of two passengers leaving Crystal City, with the other passenger getting off at the southern end of Crystal City.

While I'm glad I took the opportunity to ride Metroway, this initial ride sure lacked the excitement and ridership the opening of Metro's Silver line had. It got me thinking about the numerous studies I've seen that find BRT to be a much less expensive (at least to build) but still efficient alternative to streetcars or light rail. However, what these studies do not take into consideration, IMHO, is that many more people - not just 'railfans' - are drawn, for whatever reasons, to steel rails and steel wheels in ways they are not to BRT.

I'm still waiting for the streetcar in NoVa.

* Funny the same road - albeit on the other side of the county - came up in another thread this week. :blink:

... Also blue and gray on Jeff Davis? :wacko: Was somebody being too cute when they came up with this? :unsure:

Probably was a 'focus group!'

Hey, I was at the Crystal City Metro...back in 2011. Went to a convention's Exhibit Hall in one of the hotels there and met up with some friends I made online. Much more refine people than ...

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Hey, I was at the Crystal City Metro...back in 2011. Went to a convention's Exhibit Hall in one of the hotels there and met up with some friends I made online. Much more refine people than ...

What were you expecting madam, chimes? :unsure:

Folks here at AU tend to foam about the mouth, not the classiest of behaviors. h34r:

...Or was the 2011 convention put on by USDA and about hoof-and-mouth disease?

:giggle:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Hey, I was at the Crystal City Metro...back in 2011. Went to a convention's Exhibit Hall in one of the hotels there and met up with some friends I made online. Much more refine people than ...

What were you expecting madam, chimes? :unsure:

Folks here at AU tend to foam about the mouth, not the classiest of behaviors. h34r:

...Or was the 2011 convention put on by USDA and about hoof-and-mouth disease?

:giggle:

Well, obviously I'm not refine like my friends at that convention since I haven't been to another. That's because I'm saving my moola for AU Gatherings.

Come to think of it, I was going to go to the 2012 convention in Providence, but something came up that summer...my first grand child's birth. Then the conventions began moving westerly. It will be back on the east coast in 2016, I believe.