A Metro Orange Line shuttle bus waits for riders at Ballston Metro station.  Image by the author.

Metro, Fairfax Connector, MARC, and other local transit agencies increased service during the month of August, restoring some of the service cut earlier in the year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But while transit service slowly returns towards the “old” normal, few other things in life are. As coronavirus cases and deaths continue, life remains upside-down for many.

Reopened stations, progress on the Silver Line

Metro first restored rail service on the Silver Line and partially restored train frequencies on all lines on August 16. Trains on all but the Red Line are now running every eight minutes at peak and every 15 minutes off-peak. On the Red Line, trains run every five minutes at peak and every 12 off-peak. On weekends Red Line trains run every 12 minutes, and all other lines run every 15 minutes.

Hours were expanded as well back to their normal openings — 5 am on weekdays, 7 am on Saturdays, and 8am on Sundays — but closings are still earlier than usual. Trains stop running at 11 pm every day of the week.

A Metro train in DC by Jeremy Segrott licensed under Creative Commons.

Six of the stations west of Ballston which were closed since May 23 reopened (Wiehle, Spring Hill, Greensboro, Tysons Corner, McLean, and West Falls Church) after the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) completed Automatic Train Control tie-in work at Wiehle in preparation for the Silver Line Phase II extension. MWAA’s contractor, Capital Rail Constructors, is building Phase II of the Silver Line.

East Falls Church and Arlington Cemetery reopened on August 23 (though Arlington Cemetery station closes at 10pm during the summer). Metro used the reopening to also open it’s long-awaited secure bike parking facility at East Falls Church.

The tie-in work, which MWAA says was completed successfully, was required to allow trains to run west of the Wiehle station. The two phases of the Silver Line (Phase I, which opened in 2014, runs from East Falls Church to Wiehle) were built by different contractors, and the ATC signaling software and hardware were from two different vendors, requiring extra verification.

With the ATC tie-in work complete, MWAA remains on track to hand control of the line over to Metro in late December or early January. However, a report expected to be issued by Metro’s Office of Inspector General looking into “concerns around the quality of concrete used in the project” could lead Metro to require changes or delay acceptance of the work.

MWAA expects three more one-day shutdowns at Wiehle to impact Silver Line rail service later in November and December. As MWAA spokesperson Marcia McAllister explained, Metro was performing extra work near Wiehle during the summer shutdown, and some additional time will be needed to verify their changes.

Since the partial Metrorail service restoration on August 16, data through Thursday, August 20 show on average an additional 8,000 trips were taken per weekday, up from 63,400 per weekday the week prior to 71,500.

While up fairly significantly from the week prior, rail ridership remains down nearly 90% compared to the same period of 2019 when Metro was averaging around 601,000 trips per weekday.

Unlike Metrobus, which has been free during the pandemic, Metrorail has continued to charge fares - including peak fares during the mornings and evenings.

Some bus service restored this week

Bus service cuts during the pandemic were severe. Service was cut back overall by 60%, and a significant number of lines were suspended. Beginning on August 23, Metro brought back some of the bus lines and frequencies which the agency cut back at the beginning of the pandemic, but not all. Bus service on weekdays is now about 75 percent of normal and 85-90 percent on weekends.

As a result of the changes, “weekday service will improve on 174 routes,” Metro says. Most of the routes operating are scheduled to run “close to normal,” 109 are running Saturday service, and 99 are on Sunday service schedules. Seventeen additional routes have had their schedules modified in other ways: 5A, 83, 86, C8, C11, C12, C13, C14, D2, G2, L8, N6, P6, R4, W4, V2, V4.

Metro implemented previously-approved bus service changes on the 23rd as well, which were unrelated to the pandemic. Service changes that include reroutes, converting stops from one bus line to another, and some cuts went into effect on the 7F, 42, 43, 74, 79 MetroExtra, 96, NH2, S2, S4, S9 MetroExtra and X2.

On the S2/S4 on 16th Street in DC, for instance, all S4 service was converted to S2 (local) and S9 (limited-stop) service. The NH2 bus will no longer run down to Huntington rail station, but will end its western service at King Street Metro. Part of the 7F in Fairlington is being discontinued.

Metrobus ridership has remained significantly higher than rail ridership during the pandemic, partially due to Metro’s suspension of bus fares. With backdoor boarding required on all buses so bus operators can stay distanced from riders, Metro has no way of collecting fares; only the front door of each bus has a box to collect SmarTrip taps and cash.

The Metrobus system averaged 140,000 daily weekday trips the week of August 16th, prior to the new service ramp-up. While still down 65% compared to last year, bus ridership has consistently been about twice as high as rail ridership since service reductions were implemented in March.

Metro’s public planning documents don’t expect service to be completely restored back to normal until sometime in the spring of 2021. The agency thinks that would be around when a vaccine might be available, making social distancing guidelines unnecessary, allowing riders to freely return to the system.

The Fairfax Connector by Osvaldo Zamora licensed under Creative Commons.

A system of systems — other agencies restore service

While Metro is the region’s largest transit provider, it’s far from being the only ones. August saw service increases from a number of other transit agencies as well:

  • Arlington Transit: The majority of ART bus service was restored on August 23/24, coinciding with Metro’s service increase. Not all routes were restored though - the 53, 61, 62, and 74 remain out of service, while the 41, 42, 43, 45, 51, 52, 55, 75, 77, 84 and 87 are running regular service. Like Metro, buses remain free with rear-door-only boarding.
  • Fairfax Connector: All Fairfax Connector bus service is being restored this upcoming Saturday, August 29. In addition to the service restoration (rear boarding and mask requirements remain in place), the agency is adding a new route between Stringfellow Road Park and Ride and L’Enfant Plaza, and adding service on three other routes: 699, 334, and 340/341.
  • RideOn: All of Montgomery County’s bus lines were restored earlier in the month on August 2, though not all are operating at normal frequencies.
  • Loudoun County Transit: Loudoun restored some limited bus service into DC earlier in July, but service is still significantly off its regular schedule. Some Metro Connection buses are suspended until further notice, including the 993/994, and some local routes including the 72 and 81 are running less frequently.
  • VRE: VRE continues to operate at a reduced S+ service. Only the trains that run on the reduced “S” schedule plus the 300 and 307 on the Fredericksburg line are running. The agency says service may be restored in phases, either by adding cars to trains or more through more round trips.
  • MARC: Commuter rail service into DC from Maryland was restored back to normal on July 13. All MARC trains are running on their normal weekday/weekend schedules. As with all other local transit agencies, face coverings are required onboard.
  • CUE Bus: The City of Fairfax’s bus system is running its normal schedules.

What other service changes have you seen?

Stephen Repetski is a Virginia native and has lived in the Fairfax area for over 20 years. He has a BS in Applied Networking and Systems Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology and works in Information Technology. Learning about, discussing, and analyzing transit (especially planes and trains) is a hobby he enjoys.