Study moves forward for Bus Rapid Transit in Tysons along Route 7

Fairfax County is in the middle of its next phase of a study on how to bring Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to Route 7 in Tysons.

The county is hosting a public meeting Wednesday evening and has a survey open until April 14 in order to seek public feedback on three potential BRT routes along Route 7 between Tysons and the I-66 interchange.

BRT combines the relatively low cost of buses with some of the efficiency of light rail or Metro by implementing features to make buses faster and more reliable. These features can include dedicated bus lanes (particularly median ones), off-board fare collection, and high frequencies.

An earlier report published in 2019 by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) recommended that much of the “Envision Route 7 BRT” route have dedicated, center-aligned bus lanes and stations along the median, a practice that can significantly speed up buses. The other large portions of the route would have “Business Access and Transit” lanes that would allow both buses and turning vehicles in the curb lanes.

The 2019 report estimates the project could cost between $344 million and $507 million.

Fairfax County’s current study is intended to complement NVTC’s work by providing more detail on how BRT would work within Tysons.

The study began in 2018 and is scheduled to be complete this summer. It will include information on the logistics of implementing BRT: alignment and route, whether and how buses will run in dedicated lanes, and station locations. It will also consider the relationship between BRT and pedestrian and bicycle activity and other transit in the area.

Fairfax County is asking the public to evaluate three potential route alternatives, determining where in Tysons the BRT line would run:

• Alternative 1 would run along along International Drive before looping around to the Spring Hill Metro station
• Alternative 2 would connect only to the Tysons station and nearby Tysons Corner Center mall
• Alternative 3 would extend along Route 7 to link to the Greensboro and Spring Hill Metro stations

The survey also asks residents to evaluate how much they would use proposed stations along each route.

BRT has been built elsewhere in the region, most recently in Montgomery County as Flash BRT. The transit mode has also been implemented in Richmond.

If you’re interested in learning more about BRT in Tysons or weighing in, Fairfax County’s virtual public meeting is set for 7 pm Wednesday (March 24). Register to attend here.