Tysons Express bus going underused

WOODBRIDGE, Va. -- Four commuter buses from Woodbridge bound for Tysons Corner are running less than half full, leaving transportation officials hoping more people will ditch their cars for the bus.

The Tysons Corner Express runs four weekday morning trips, with stops at the Virginia Railway Express station in Woodbridge and a commuter lot at Va. 123 and Interstate 95. Each weekday afternoon, the bus runs four return trips, picking up passengers at points in Tysons Corner and bringing them back to Woodbridge.

Each bus has wireless Internet access – a first for public transit buses in Virginia – and open seating where riders can use their laptops while easing their way to work without the headaches of driving their cars in Beltway traffic, said Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo.

But with all of the amenities, the $3 million state-funded bus service is running at only 14 percent capacity, carrying an average of 66 passengers per day, an average of 17 riders per trip. Now PRTC officials are looking at ways to make the bus more attractive to riders.

Beginning in May, PRTC may adjust the schedule for the Tysons buses, possibly scheduling more time between the buses, making their morning and afternoon runs less frequent, adding an additional bus run or adding a later bus, sometime after 6 p.m., to catch riders who need to stay at work later, said Rodrigo.

The service began Nov. 9, and is a partnership between PRTC and Virginia Megaprojects – the agency overseeing construction of High Occupancy Toll lanes on the Capital Beltway between Springfield and Dulles Toll Road. The bus aims to get more drivers off the Beltway, making the construction zone less congested.

Because the Beltway doesn’t have express lanes like I-95 and I-395, officials know the bus trips would take longer than other OmniRide buses bound for Arlington and Washington. The free wireless Internet access is supposed to make the trip more enjoyable.

“We’re calling it ‘found time,’” said PRTC spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo. “It’s time that can be spent doing online banking, updating your Facebook page, e-mailing – it’s time that we are trying to give them back in their schedules, so when they get home they can concentrate on something else.”

While transit officials search for more ways to get riders onto the bus, they also blame last month’s snowstorm and blizzard for keeping ridership numbers down, as buses were kept off roads for a week, said Rodrigo.

PRTC also plans to wrap the four Tysons Express buses in a bright orange and blue color scheme, replacing the teal color scheme currently on the buses.

“It’s designed to stand out and catch the attention of people in the HOV lanes, and they’ll see the Tysons Express bus zooming along,” said Rodrigo.

When the service launched last year, officials also wanted to make sure riders who used the bus could get around Tysons Corner to run errands, and launched a $1 million lunchtime circulator shuttle bus. That bus is running with an average of one passenger per trip, according to a Washington Examiner story.

One Fairfax County official told the Examiner that until Metro rail comes to Tysons there will not be a market for such a service.

PRTC’s Tysons bus will continue to offer reduced fares through May 7, where riders who pay cash will pay $3 per trip, those who pay with a SmarTrip card with pay $2.40.

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