New bus stops signs to go up across county

The bus stops are getting a makeover —– or at least their signs are.

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission has begun installing new signs at 450 bus stops in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park.

The new signs are clearly marked with the words “bus stop” in bold, black lettering. The signs also indicate the buses that serve the stop, with color-coded decals to match the routes depicted in
OmniRide and OmniLink’s informational brochures.

For example, signs in Manassas will feature red decals, routes in Dale City will be marked blue and those in Dumfries marked green.

The agency is billing the new feature as cost effective because it gives them the ability to add or remove a listed bus stop on the sign by simply removing a decal.

On the old signs, if a portion of a service changes someone has to go to each individual sign, scrape off the old lettering and apply new lettering.

The new decals are easy to produce and can be stored for immediate access.

“Our bus stop signs, like our buses, are one of the first things people notice about the presence of public transportation. They need to be in good condition and easily intelligible to entice usage,” stated
PRTC Executive Director Alfred H. Harf.

The first new signs were installed on Tuesday at PRTC’s Transit Center in Woodbridge.

They replace the older teal signs the transportation agency has used for more than 10 years, some of which have become unreadable.

The old signs feature a cartoon depiction of a bus and route information for that particular bus stop. But over time the signs have faded and lettering has peeled off.

The new signs will cost the agency $70,000 and should all be in place by the fall, said PRTC spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo.

An additional 60 signs at OmniRide bus stops in Washington, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County should be replaced soon, said Rodrigo.

PRTC provides commuter and local bus service to passengers in Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park.

The OmniRide commuter bus service operates 10 routes from points in the above locations to Washington, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County.

The OmniLink local bus service operates five routes between destinations in Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as a cross-county connector route from Woodbridge to Manassas.

The agency also operates three Metro Direct buses, which run from Woodbridge to the Franconia–Springfield Metro station, and from Linton Hall and Manassas to the West Falls Church Metro station.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.