John Matthews
WMAL.com
ARLINGTON — (WMAL) With Metrorail shutting down in pieces over the next year, navigating your way around town is going to require patience, additional help by local jurisdictions and some outside-the-box thinking by commuters.
One “solution” local transportation planners don’t want to see is more people getting to work by driving alone.
“If everybody takes that solution, all the roadways that we already know are going to be congested are just going to be immobile,” says Fairfax County Transportation Director Tom Biesiadny.
Fairfax, along with several other jurisdictions including Prince William, Loudoun and Arlington Counties, is already looking to provide additional commuter bus service, and local officials are also identifying additional space in commuter lots in the hope that people will form car and van pools to commute into D.C. going forward. Biesandy says his office has been hearing from commuters hoping to do just that.
“There are options for them, and the people who choose those options are probably going to be more comfortable with their commutes than people who just jump in their cars,” he says.
The first “safety surge” – Metro’s term for extended shutdown areas – will begin Sunday along the Orange and Silver lines, between the East Falls Church and Ballston stations, with continuous single-tracking through June 16th.
“This is like having a year of sequential special events,” says Arlington Transportation chief Dennis Leach. “We’re really promoting all the options – learning the bus schedules, setting up car and van pools, teleworking, flexworking. But we’re really discouraging people from getting in the cars and driving alone.”
You can expect service plans and needs to change as the year progresses. Extra service being added now may disappear as Metro’s work schedule changes, and some services to be provided by the counties likely won’t be created until the need arises in the months ahead.
For now, both Arlington and Fairfax Counties have created web pages spelling out changes and additional services for commuters.
ARLINGTON COUNTY SAFETRACK PAGE
LOUDOUN COUNTY TRANSIT SERVICES
PRTC SAFETRACK PLANS
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