Arlington Transit (ART) is a
bus transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
system that operates in
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, and is managed by the county government. The bus system provides service within Arlington County, and connects to Metrobus, nearby
Metrorail stations,
Virginia Railway Express
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line fro ...
, and other local bus systems. Most ART routes serve to connect county neighborhoods to local Metrorail stations, as well as the Shirlington Bus Station. It includes part of the
Pike Ride
Pike Ride is a combination of bus routes along Columbia Pike in Northern Virginia, United States. It consists of service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ( Metrobus) and Arlington Transit (ART), connecting the Pen ...
service along
Columbia Pike, which is shared with
WMATA
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
ART is operated by
First Transit
First Transit is an American transportation company.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Transit operates over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Panam ...
and currently operates 81 buses. ART provides a fixed-route bus service within Arlington County on sixteen routes and carries almost three million passengers annually. As part of the Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emission project (AIRE), the entire ART bus fleet runs on clean-burning Compressed Natural Gas in order to be environmentally friendly in Arlington County.
ART's purpose is to supplement the regional rail and bus service provided by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), providing local bus service, and connecting to neighborhoods, businesses, and departments within Arlington County.
History
Before ART's inception,
WMATA
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
was the only transit agency that served Arlington County, providing both bus and rail service. Some
Metrobus routes served the neighborhoods of Arlington County, connecting them to the Metrorail system. In November 1998, the Arlington County board created the ART service, as part of their effort to improve transportation in the county.
ART's first route served Crystal City, while other routes were still operated by Metrobus.
On September 7, 2003, a new service was started along
Columbia Pike, known as
Pike Ride
Pike Ride is a combination of bus routes along Columbia Pike in Northern Virginia, United States. It consists of service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ( Metrobus) and Arlington Transit (ART), connecting the Pen ...
. It was first operated by Metrobus and served by the 16 line, heading to
Pentagon Station
Pentagon Transit Center is a split platform station on the Washington Metro located adjacent to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authorit ...
. On April 7, 2003, ART began providing Pike Ride routes by introducing ART Route 41. Route 41 started serving points west of
South Glebe Road, including the neighborhood of Arlington Mill. Service was then increased with ART routes 74 and 75. Route 74 provided service to the eastern portion of the area, and the neighborhoods of Arlington Village and Arlington View. Route 75 served the neighborhood of Arlington Mill, along with Route 41. ART Route 73 was also part of the Pike Ride system, which served the eastern portion of Columbia Pike, along with Route 74, and the neighborhood of Arlington Heights. Route 73 was discontinued on September 30, 2005, due to low ridership.
In 2006, ART began increasing service, both by acquiring Metrobus routes and by bringing service to more neighborhoods. Metrobus Route 24P was the first route to be converted to ART, as Route 42. In 2009, route 42 was expanded to full week service, replacing the 24P. The GEORGE bus system was originally operated by Metrobus, until the City of
Falls Church
Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area.
Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Churc ...
transferred operations to ART. This bus system served as a feeder to Metrorail stations at the east and west ends of the city. The GEORGE service was ultimately suspended in 2010 due to budget constraints.
In 2008, the
Shirlington Bus Station, also known as the Shirlington Transit Center, opened in
The Village at Shirlington
Shirlington is an unincorporated urban area, officially called an "urban village", in the southern part of Arlington County, Virginia, United States, adjacent to the Fairlington area. The word "Shirlington" is a combination of "Shirley" (from the ...
. The Shirlington Transit Center is located at South Quincy Street near the intersection of South Randolph Street and 31st Street South. This bus station is also located near
Shirley Highway
The Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, often shortened to Shirley Highway, consists of a portion of Interstates 95 and 395 in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Shirley Highway was the first limited-access freeway in Virginia. Begun in 1941, th ...
(
I-395 Interstate 395 may refer to:
* Interstate 395 (Connecticut–Massachusetts), a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts
*Interstate 395 (Delaware), a proposed portion of I-95 in Delaware, when it was under construction
*Interstate 395 (Florida), a sp ...
). This bus station is accessible from Shirlington Circle, having buses heading to and from Pentagon and Pentagon City Stations. With the opening of the new bus station, ART and Metrobus began using it as major transfer point. Shirlington Station connects most bus routes to nearby Metrorail stations, as well as the neighborhood of
Fairlington. Shirlington Station also provides access to the Village at Shirlington, as it provides local restaurants, arts and entertainments, Shirlington Branch Library, and stores. In addition to bus service, the Shirlington Transit Center houses the Arlington Commuter Store, where it sells WMATA SmarTrip cards and iRide SmarTrip cards. In 2014, the Alexandria Transit Company's
DASH
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
bus began serving this station with the AT9 route (now Line 36A/B), connecting it to the City of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
between
Mark Center and
Potomac Yard.
The county has been converting its bus fleet to
Compressed Natural Gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
, to follow the Arlington County AIRE project, and to be environmentally friendly. ART began this project by starting with its order of
NABI LFW buses in 2007.
Older buses, as well as the GEORGE buses, ran on diesel fuel. Since the GEORGE bus system was suspended, the ART fleet run only on CNG fuel. From 2007, ART increased and improved on its bus routes to reduce crowding. In 2011, ART ordered the
Designline EcoSaver CNG-Electric Hybrid buses.
These buses are different than the other buses, as other agencies ordered
Diesel-electric Hybrid buses, although the CNG-Electric Hybrid buses are expected to reduce emissions and noise pollutions in the county. In 2013, ART removed them from service due to brake failure issues.
Since these buses didn't return in service because of reliability and safety reasons, ART returns to provide CNG fueled buses only.
On December 29, 2019, Arlington Transit announced that
First Transit
First Transit is an American transportation company.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Transit operates over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Panam ...
commenced a five-year contract to operate the network, ending its partnership with
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
Transit Corporation which had operated ART since 2009.
ART's operator switch went into effect in order to improve service with the on-time performance.
In August 2022, ART began operating as shuttle buses for the Arlington County Fair, a summer annual event, within the fair and the Arlington Career Center and
Washington-Liberty High School
Washington-Liberty High School, formerly known as Washington-Lee High School, is a public high school in the Arlington Public Schools district in Arlington, Virginia, covering grades 9–12. Its attendance area serves the central third of A ...
parking garage.
In September 2022, Arlington County began testing electric buses, as part of the plan to go carbon neutral by 2050.
Arlington Transit is partnering with 3 to 4 bus manufacturers for the Zero Emissions Bus from Fall 2022 to Winter 2023.
Ridership
ART carries over 10,000 passengers per weekday
within Arlington County. Route 41, which runs through Columbia Pike, is ART's busiest route with about 2,000 rides per weekday, with the 15 minute peak period. In 2017, ART ordered 13 new 40'
New Flyer Xcelsior
The New Flyer Xcelsior is a line of transit buses available in 35' rigid, 40' rigid, and 60' articulated nominal lengths manufactured by New Flyer Industries since 2008. In addition to the different available lengths, the buses are sold with a ...
CNG buses, which are different from its fleet, as NABI discontinued its LFW models in 2015.
These buses went in service in September, 2018 on routes 41, 43, and 55 to provide reliable service, and reduce crowding.
Fares
As of June 25, 2017, the ART
fare structure is as follows:
* All bus routes are $2.00 for riders using
cash
In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.
In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...
or
SmarTrip
SmarTrip is a contactless stored-value smart card payment system managed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) uses a compatible payment system called CharmCard. A reciprocity ag ...
cards.
* Virginia Hospital Center employees and Arlington employees that carries a hospital ID rides routes 51 and 52 for free.
* Per paying adult, children under five years of age rides ART for free.
* Students, senior citizens and disabled patrons only pay $1.00.
Transfers and passes
, ART no longer issues or accepts paper transfers. Riders must use a SmarTrip card to get the rail-to-bus discount or to transfer free from bus to bus. Bus-to-bus free transfer time from ART to ART is within a two hours period. Bus-to-bus transfer between ART to/from Metrobus is also free. Transfers from ART to/from Metrorail receives a $0.50 discount. Starting September 3, 2013, students of
Arlington Public Schools that attends middle, or high school may obtain an iRide SmarTrip Card that allows students of Arlington County to ride ART Buses for the discounted student rate of $1.00. On June 25, 2017, the iRide SmarTrip Card half-fare program extended to elementary school students, instead of having them paying a full fare.
SmarTrip Cards and iRide SmarTrip Cards can be purchased at the Arlington Commuter Stores, located at Shirlington Transit Center, Ballston-MU Station, Rosslyn Station, Crystal City Station, and Pentagon Station. Arlington Mobile Commuter Stores also sells SmarTrip and iRide SmarTrip cards within Arlington County, as well as
Washington, D.C. and
Alexandria Union Station
Alexandria Union Station is a historic railroad station in Alexandria, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. To avoid confusion with nearby Washington Union Station, the station is often referred to as simply Alexandria. Its Amtrak code is ALX.
...
. iRide SmarTrips are sold exclusively in Arlington Commuter Stores, while regular SmarTrips are also available in WMATA Metrorail stations.
Fleet
ART's fleet is entirely
compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
-fueled.
On Order
Retired fleet
Routes
Former routes
These routes have been served by Arlington Transit at one point but have since been discontinued due to either low ridership, simplification to other routes, or combined into another route.
References
External links
*
Washington Commuter Page information on ART
{{Transit In DC
1998 establishments in Virginia
Bus transportation in Virginia
Northern Virginia
Transit authorities with natural gas buses
Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia