Who Benefits From the Proposed Buses and Streetcars on Route 1?

On Dec. 15, the City’s High Capacity Transit Corridor Working Group will meet to discuss the feasibility of implementing a new transit service north and south along Route 1.

This initiative is in conjunction with similar efforts along Duke Street and Van Dorn/Beauregard Streets to evaluate new transit services such as bus, enhanced bus, rapid bus, and streetcars that would run in dedicated or mixed-traffic highway lanes. Yes, that means removing and dedicating one lane on these highways to a new transit service or adding large new public transportation vehicles to existing traffic.

For the uninitiated, bus and enhanced bus are similar to today’s existing DASH service with slight upgrades to the latter such as GPS-based arrival times which are updated real-time at bus stops and online. They typically run in mixed traffic, stop at every block or two, and arrival frequency at bus stops varies widely. Rapid bus by contrast runs in mostly dedicated lanes, stops two to three times per mile, arrives every ten to fifteen minutes, and requires purpose-built stations for boarding. Streetcars generally run in mixed traffic, stop as often as DASH with headway similar to rapid bus, and require purpose-built stations as well.

Due to the number and frequency of stops as well as overall ridership capacity, these services meet the needs of different customers. DASH and streetcars are designed for local commuting; the latter carrying a higher number of riders more quickly and conveniently. Rapid bus is designed to quickly move regional traffic over larger amounts of area.  

Here lies the rub. The City has secured federal stimulus dollars for construction and implementation of rapid bus running from Potomac Yard to the Braddock metro (no further north or south).  It is moving forward now and may leave open the possibility of converting to streetcars (Arlington’s approved transit mode) in the future.

City consultants claim that rapid bus will serve local residents wishing to shop at Potomac Yard as well as move regional traffic through the City to the Pentagon and into the District. However, we know that rapid bus is ill suited to move locals around the City; stops are inconvenient and mirror other existing public transit routes. The second claim is also dubious given that regional commuters will have to commute to the Braddock metro, board the rapid bus, and then move on to subsequent destinations via other transportation modes once they enter Arlington. Never mind that the route parallels the more convenient and higher capacity planned metro line from Braddock Road to Potomac Yard.  

In both instances, rapid bus is ill conceived and impractical for sure.  It can’t be all things to everyone. Indeed, it doesn’t even suit the regional commuters from whom this type of transportation is best designed. So what problem is this solution trying to solve?

The City is largely aware of these issues and the corner into which it has backed itself. But hey, who doesn’t want free funds from the federal government to do... something? The debate has raged in public and private over whether the City should continue its support of rapid bus (as it has for the Beauregard/Van Dorn Streets corridor), seek a streetcar alternative linking local commuters to Arlington, or simply do nothing. Doubling down its bet on rapid bus, the City’s Transportation and Environmental Services Department floated the idea of extending the corridor further south along Route 1 into Fairfax in order to actually capture regional riders.

Residents of Old Town, like myself, cried foul. The neighborhood, with frontdoors sitting less than four feet from the proposed transit lanes, is already impenetrable during rush hour. It is not clear then why, in these fiscally constrained times, that Alexandria should spend its tax dollars to inefficiently move Fairfax County residents through a neighborhood that is unsafe for increased traffic only to have to transfer them to another unsuitable mode of transportation once they enter Arlington. Rather, the City should focus its attention on moving existing residents throughout the City more freely obviating the need for private vehicles in the first place. Let’s hope that the High Capacity Transit Corridor Working Group agrees, buries the idea of rapid bus south of the Braddock metro, and quickly moves on to other more pressing matters.