WASHINGTON — Looking around at the trees, cul-de-sacs, and wide, traffic-clogged roads that run through Loudoun County, it may be hard to imagine a future where many more people are crisscrossing the area by bus or rail. But the county is looking for input on how to make that big change happen to draw in more people and jobs.
The county is putting together a Transit Development Plan that Transit & Commuter Services Division Manager Paul Mounier believes will have a big impact on Loudoun’s future.
“This is going to be a very important one, because it’s a six-year plan, and that goes through Metrorail starting here in the county, so this is probably one of the most important updates that we will ever do here because it is going to set the course for how transit is going to be thought about and provided in the future of Loudoun County,” Mounier says.
Part of the work on this plan is to establish a cost and plans for the future. When the first Silver Line station opens in Loudoun, certain tax dollars will go to pay for rail, as opposed to bus or local paratransit service. Mounier projects there could be a gap of about $8 million to cover bus service. That could lead to some fare increases in the future on commuter buses. Loudoun commuter bus fares already cover about 75 percent of the cost of the service, so future fare hikes, combined with state funding, could make the service self-sustaining.
The fares seem more reasonable for many people than paying Greenway and Toll Road tolls, and then finding parking downtown.
“It gets cars off the road, so if you’re going to be driving around, you’ll actually have an easier time,” Mounier says of expanded transit options.
Although he cannot confirm a direct link, he says a commuter bus route that used to swing through Dulles Airport for a faster trip down the Dulles Access Road rather than the Toll Road no longer needs to do that, ever since the first phase of the Silver Line opened to Wiehle-Reston East.
“Originally, Arlington wasn’t a place that jumped out as a place you got around with transit,” he says, hopeful that Loudoun can make similar changes, especially near the new Silver Line stations set to open in late 2018.
The county is looking for any type of feedback on transit. Its already heard lots about maintaining commuter bus routes from park and rides to the Pentagon and D.C. even after the second phase of the Silver Line opens. Those buses are Loudoun Transit’s most popular routes, with about 4,000 riders each day.
Other broad groups that are reaching out to the county include those asking for local bus service that will connect to rail stations for trips to Reston, Tysons, Arlington or the District, and a group of potential riders who say there should be more service available on nights and weekends or for reverse commutes.
“You can do all the planning in the world…but if it isn’t actually what people want, it’s not going to be effective, so we’re looking for input from everybody to help us make this plan work,” Mounier says.
The county is still accepting comments through an online form and via email at transitcomments@loudoun.gov.
“This isn’t just to get our residents here in Loudoun County to the station, we also want to look at this as an opportunity to have people come out to Loudoun County and work, and get the businesses out here,” Mounier says.
“Not only are we providing a service for the people who live here now to get to their businesses and Reston and Tysons and down in the city, we are going to be providing opportunities for people who live in Arlington and Alexandria and Tysons to come out here and have an opportunity to look for jobs out here, and have the same kinds of amenities in terms of transit that they have in those other areas,” he adds.
The county hopes to come up with service recommendations this summer for another round of public comment before finalizing the six-year-plan this fall.
