With Route 7 still years away from getting a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, regional transportation planners want to improve Metro’s existing service in the corridor from Tysons to Alexandria.
In response to feedback suggesting the process could be sped up, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) is developing a strategic implementation plan that considers short-term enhancements for Metrobus 28A, even as it keeps studying how to eventually convert the route into a higher-capacity, higher-frequency BRT.
Possible changes could include giving the bus priority at traffic lights and adding “queue jumping” lanes, NVTC Director of Programs and Policy Allan Fye told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a transportation committee meeting on June 18.
“There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit to make [the 28A] even better,” Fye said. “How does that morph into the big projects with the BRT, where we go from buses that are running right now in traffic and dealing with traffic to getting them the facilities they need to move faster, whether with signal priority, dedicated lanes, things like that?”
Traveling between the King Street and Tysons Metro stations, 28A boasts the ninth highest ridership in the Metrobus system, carrying 7,700 riders a day, as of April, according to NVTC. The route was successful before the pandemic, and it’s become even more so since then, seeing a 67% increase in ridership compared to 2019.
“It’s a strong, strong ridership route there, and there’s opportunities to make it even stronger down the road,” Fye said.
NVTC launched its Envision Route 7 study to identify a transit service option for Route 7 between Tysons and Alexandria in 2013, ultimately landing on a BRT connecting the Spring Hill Metro station and the Mark Center as preferable to light rail or operational improvements that wouldn’t require construction or significant capital investments.
A route for the Tysons portion of the BRT, which extends down to the West Falls Church Metro station, has been mapped out, but NVTC is still analyzing the segment from Seven Corners to the Mark Center in Alexandria — which might not be the system’s endpoint after all.
NVTC and Alexandria officials are now discussing whether the southern terminus could be the Southern Towers apartment complex instead, Fye told the committee.
NVTC anticipates awarding a contract for that analysis, known as phase 4.2, in winter 2024, according to Fye, who attributes the study’s prolonged timeline to Virginia’s typical six-year funding cycles and the amount of staff time needed.
On the county side, a lot of the staff that will help implement the Route 7 BRT are currently focused on The One, the BRT system planned for Richmond Highway (Route 1), Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) acting director Gregg Steverson said.
That project has been in the works for about the same amount of time, but it’s further along since it’s being coordinated with a road widening by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Even so, construction isn’t expected to start on the road until 2027.
In the meantime, Fye says NVTC is looking for service and infrastructure changes that can be made more immediately, comparing the Route 7 BRT to the Metroway that runs between Alexandria and Arlington.
“Even now, there’s work going on between Alexandria and Arlington to extend those dedicated lanes. You didn’t have to do it all upfront in one big project. You just do it over time,” Fye said. “That’s the approach we’re taking with this corridor: make the bus service great that’s here today because the riders need it and build up to those really, really bigger and honestly more expensive enhancements that will take a longer time to make sure we get them in place.”
Specific recommendations will be shared when NVTC submits its final strategic implementation plan for local officials to approve this fall. They could be influenced by Metro’s Better Bus network redesign, which renames the 28A as “F20” since it serves Fairfax County and Falls Church. Metro is currently gathering input on the proposed new network, which could be approved in the fall.
Also coming this fall will be a more detailed alignment concept for the Tysons BRT segment, according to FCDOT senior planner Sean Schweitzer. That design will give the county a better understanding of the project’s right-of-way impacts, intersection configurations and potential cost.
Staff have started to analyze the Seven Corners area through the Ring Road project intended to improve travel in the infamously congested and confusing Route 7, Arlington Blvd (Route 50) and Wilson Blvd interchange.
Word on whether that project and a widening of Route 7 in Pimmit Hills will receive funding from the Northern Virginia Transit Authority is anticipated in July.
“There’s a lot of staff resources tied up in the Richmond Highway BRT, so once we start getting that online more, hopefully, we can start to switch gears and start to look more at the southern segment,” Schweitzer said. “We’re continuing with the northern segment because the majority of it is in Fairfax, so it’s easier for us to implement it.”
