A better strategy for Orange Line shuttle buses?

Transit

A better strategy for Orange Line shuttle buses?

by Steve Offutt • May 25, 2010 2:31 pm

Metro will suspend service between East Falls Church and West Falls Church on Memorial Day weekend and the following two weekends for work on the Silver Line. Instead of shuttling passengers between these two stations, Metro could run sets of shuttles between East Falls Church and each of the three stations to the west.

Photo by Will Mitchell.

There are three stations west of East Falls Church on the Orange Line: West Falls Church, Dunn Loring and Vienna. Very few people travel between these stations. Almost everyone who is using these stations is traveling to or from closer in parts of Arlington, transferring at Rosslyn to the Blue line or traveling into DC. There is little reason to run trains back and forth between Vienna and West Falls Church.

A typical passenger during this disruption period would board at Vienna, ride two stops to West Falls Church, transfer to a shuttle bus, ride to East Falls Church, transfer back to Metrorail and continue her journey, requiring two transfers.

Also, Metro will still have to pay to operate this small western portion of the line. Instead, Metro could choose to not even open the stations. They would only open the bus bays, with good signage and attendants to help passengers understand what is happening.

Another solution would be a set of shuttle buses that will speed passengers more quickly and directly to and from the affected stations. Because of its easy access to I-66, a shuttle from Vienna directly to East Falls Church can make that journey in only a few more minutes than one from West Falls Church to East Falls Church (and vice versa).

Here are the shuttles they could run, requiring only a single transfer for almost all riders:

East Falls Church to West Falls church and return.
East Falls Church to Vienna to Dunn Loring and return. Although this is out of usual order, it would actually be faster and more convenient for a larger majority of passengers than the other way.

The only unserved routes are Vienna to West Falls Church and Dunn Loring to West Falls Church. I suspect that there are vanishingly few passengers who travel between these stations. Metro should analyze their data. Instead of offering a regular shuttle between these two stations, the managers should provide for special shuttle service upon request, like they do for elevator outages. It would probably only be needed a few times per day. If I am wrong and there are a reasonable number of passengers, then I would suggest these shuttles instead:

East Falls Church to West Falls Church and return.
East Falls Church to Vienna and return.
Vienna to Dunn Loring to West Falls Church and return.

With the savings from the station closures and operating costs for this section of the system, Metro could beef up its shuttles to provide more frequent and faster service to everyone. They wouldn't even need to charge for the shuttles; just provide them for free as compensation for the inconvenience to passengers.

Using a creative solution like this can be a win-win during an inconvenient time on the system, particularly during Memorial Day weekend, when there are lots of tourists. It can speed everyone's journey, reduce inconvenience and potentially save costs all at the same time.

12 comments

Tags: Fairfax, service disruption, Virginia, WMATA

Metro responds to Orange Line shuttle suggestion (Jun 1, 2010)
Getting more out of Metro with "skip-stop" (Mar 4, 2009)
New calendar shows scheduled Metro track work and delays (May 4, 2010)
Why the Blue Line needs to keep calling at Rosslyn (Jul 1, 2010)
Fairfax County proposes bus route cuts (Mar 24, 2009)

Steve Offutt has been working at the confluence of business and environment for almost 20 years, with experience in climate change solutions, green building, business-government partnerships, transportation demand management, and more. He lives in Arlington with his wife and two children and is a cyclist, pedestrian, transit rider and driver.

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That's a fantastic idea. Have you submitted this to Metro directly? I hear the new GM's email is easy to deduce.

by John Bennett on May 25, 2010 3:08 pm

I had figured for myself that if I needed to take metro any of these weekends that I would just go straight to WFC or EFC rather than deal with the hassle.

by Canaan on May 25, 2010 3:12 pm

Great idea.

I wonder why not run a continuous loop? V-DL-WFC-EFC-V
Trains only stop for 30 seconds or so at a station, why should the shuttles be that much longer? Since all of the stations are right off of 66, just run two or three shuttles on that continuous loop and you're good. You'd probably have shorter wait times than the train. You wouldn't have to worry about the one-to-two stop trips since it's a loop and not A-to-B. Labor costs would be offset by not having station managers in the stations. And fuel costs would be offset by having no trains running on that tiny useless stretch.

Running trains there was about as pointless as running the trains between Wheaton and Forest Glen during the snow storm. Instead of parking trains underground up there in suburban Maryland, Metro decided to park trains IN L'Enfant Plaza, causing single-tracking in the core of the city whenever trains were actually running...seemed like the worst managerial decision possible.

Anyway, back to the point - good post.

by SDJ on May 25, 2010 3:26 pm

Dunn Loring does not have access to I-66 at all.

by inlogan on May 25, 2010 3:29 pm

Here's a WMATA googlenope:
"Using a creative solution like this ..."

I think this post shows some inciteful and creating thinking. Sadly, this sort of thinking is rigorously squashed and discouraged at WMATA. Keep it up; there is hope.

by Joe on May 25, 2010 3:40 pm

@ Steve: Great idea. I hope Mr Sarles reads this blog, and even if its too late to reschedule things for this weekend, perhaps could be done for the following 2 weekends.

@SDJ: While all the stations involved are next to I66, there is no access from 66 to the Dunn Loring station, so unfortunately the continuous loop idea will not work.

Today there were announcements in the stations about the upcoming work. However, the announcements begin with "Attention customers traveling on the Orange Line". This makes it sound like there is some current problem on the orange line. One would think they could change this to "Attention customers traveling on Metro this upcoming weekend" or some such so people know its not a problem at the moment.

by rextrex on May 25, 2010 3:41 pm

Yeah, I agree. Maybe contact Zimmie? The Zim-dog. Zimmeister.

As Canaan points out, many riders from farther west that weekend are just going to drive to EFC or just drive to their destination.

I think a few more than 2-3 would be necessary to avoid lengthy delays, especially when 66 crowds up. 4-5 should be enough to keep a ten minute or so headway.

by Josh S on May 25, 2010 3:41 pm

FX Connector may run their Reston buses to East Falls bypassing West Falls altogehter. Will I-66 have any lanes closed just east of the West Falls Church station area? If so this will be a traffic disaster.

by Transport. on May 25, 2010 4:13 pm

Have you traveled 66 west or east on a weekend? Oftentimes it's a parking lot. Much better to use the rails and get people and buses off the road. The traffic is especially bad at the 66/495 area where the HOT lanes project has eaten up the earth. Trains must be used, otherwise, those "express" buses you propose won't be so express.

by G on May 25, 2010 11:42 pm

I live across from the Dunn Loring metro station. On weekends with track work on the orange line, we either change our plans to avoid riding Metro, or we drive to EFC. It's always a long delay to try it Metro's way, with the shuttles between EFC & WFC. I support Steve's idea because it makes great sense. I do hope decision-makers at Metro are reading this and will try it out. We already know that the current plan does not work well, why not try something different?

Several people have commented about Dunn Loring being far from I-66; I agree with Steve's suggestion: "East Falls Church to Vienna to Dunn Loring and return. Although this is out of usual order, it would actually be faster and more convenient for a larger majority of passengers than the other way." Drive up and down Lee Hwy between Vienna and Dunn Loring.
I also like SDJ's idea of a shuttle "V-DL-WFC-EFC-V". That shuttle could take the back way between DL and WFC, going up Gallows Rd to Idylwood to reach WFC.

by PS on May 26, 2010 9:04 am

The variant that you suggested that I thought most workable was the suspension of V-WFC rail operations combined with a looping bus route EFC>WFC>DL>V>DL>WFC>EFC This idea is much better, and probably more cost effective, than just the one shuttle between WFC and EFC. But Metro would have to commit to using full size buses. And I think that the holiday weekend traffic is going to take using 66 out of the game. at least for the first weekend.

by Rando on May 28, 2010 2:43 am

One idea to supplement this service would be to allow the buses to use the rush-hour shoulder lanes on I-66 outside the beltway. That would help speed the service.

What we would hope for from Metro is to think like a passenger. A passenger arriving at Vienna is best served by expressing directly to EFC. The V-DL-WFC-EFC shuttle would be no better than the original plan in terms of time--maybe worse. That's why I proposed the separate V-EFC-V shuttle: to maximize customer convenience. That is rarely Metro's thinking, however.

@Rando Metro is going to need the same size buses regardless, since they have to carry all the passengers from somewhere to somewhere else. I hope they have analyzed ridership from past years, so that they have adequate capacity.

I like the idea of letting Chris Zimmerman know, so I have invoked his name in the knowledge that his staff keep their eyes out for mentions.

by Steve O on May 28, 2010 3:57 pm