Get on the Bus: RA Joins Call for Added Service

The Reston Association has written Fairfax County transportation officials a letter (PDF) asking for additional bus service once Metro arrives, in part to "encourage Silver Line riders to leave their cars at home."

The RA letter, among other things, calls for peak period service to the Wiehle Avenue station, improved bus service around Reston (we're still hoping for an express Macaroni Grill-McTacoHut route), elimination of long layovers at Reston Town Center (they should probably start with the wait times at Rio Grande), "bi-directional loop service" (whatever that is), and "automated information systems" (an iPad strapped to each bus stop sign).

The RA isn't alone. Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, after initially claiming that the 2,300-space parking garage at the Wiehle Avenue Metro station wouldn't affect traffic, has -- wait for it -- gotten on the bus as well, asking for $2.2 million worth of additional service, writing that:

"Many participants urged that the system not just focus on moving commuters to and from the Silver Line stations, but also create viable alternative transportation means for all residents in the community," Hudgins said in a memo. "The change in transit philosophy will take a great deal more investment and planning."

Our BFFs at the Reston Citizens Association have also written a report calling for similar improvements. RCA, which points out that it created Reston's first bus service some four decades ago, notes that Connector budget cuts and the service's own proposals for Silver Line bus routes "are inadequate to meet Reston's needs over the next five years."

Maybe it's us, but it seems a teensy bit troubling that all of this is starting to be talked about now, just nine months before the first Silver Line train will could pull into the Wiehle Avenue station. Here's hoping some progress is made sooner rather than later, before our trips to the Pentagon start looking like this: