PRTC to offer new bus service to Tysons

A new bus service bound for Tysons Corner will launch next month, complete with wireless Internet access, in an effort to get cars off of the Capital Beltway.

The new $4 million state-funded service, from Woodbridge to Tysons Corner, will start Nov. 9 and offer free rides during its first week of service.

Virginia transportation officials hope more drivers will use this bus and choose not to drive on the Beltway between Springfield and the Dulles Toll Road, where 14 miles of express toll lanes are being constructed.

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, the agency tapped to operate the service, purchased four new buses for the route at a cost of $2 million. They will be the first in OmniRide’s fleet to offer wireless Internet access, according to PRTC documents.

The transit agency agreed to install the amenity once it was determined the average one-way commute on the bus would take one hour and 25 minutes to one hour and 45 minutes — comparatively longer than other OmniRide routes which use High Occupancy Vehicle express lanes on Interstates 95 and 395.

After the first week of free rides, riders will pay $3 to ride one way — $2.40 if they use a SmarTrip card — for the first six months. One way fares will rise to $6.50, $4.50 with a SmartTrip card, afterward.

The bus will operate between 6:10 and 8:05 a.m. weekday mornings, departing from the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express station.

“This option opens up the transit shed for at least 8,000 riders on VRE who need to get to the Tysons Corner area,” said PRTC Director Alfred H. Harf.

After leaving the commuter rail station, it will then pick up more passengers at the historically under-used commuter parking lot at Va. 123 and I-95 before entering the highway.

The lot was chosen for its open space and close proximity to the highway, said Harf.

Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Titunik said commuters who live west of I-95 that have historically used the commuter lot at Va. 123 and Old Bridge Road will have another option.

“It’s certainly not difficult to access. The lot is fine and will make a good bus stop,” said Titunik.

When in Tysons Corner, the bus will serve major businesses along International and Jones Branch drives, as well as the Tysons Corner Center mall. Buses will leave Tysons bound for Woodbridge weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m.

The new bus service is offered as part of Virginia Mega Projects — an office developed by VDOT and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Virginia’s “mega” transit projects include the I-95 Fourth Lane Widening project, extending Metro to Dulles, adding HOT lanes to I-495, rebuilding the interchange at Telegraph Road and I-495 in Alexandria, and widening Fairfax County Parkway near Ft. Belvior in anticipation of the military’s base realignment and closure process.

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