The Year Ahead for ART
February 23, 2011 -- Curious about upcoming plans for ART? The Arlington County Transit Development Plan: Fiscal Years 2011-2016 (TDP) describes the changes and improvements that Arlington County hopes to make in transit over the next six years. The plan, developed by the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services – Transit Bureau with the assistance of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), was adopted by the County Board on December 14, 2010, and will be updated annually.
The TDP will guide the growth of transit and paratransit services provided by the County through ART and STAR and by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) through Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess. This plan lays the framework for the expansion of transit services in Arlington County. While other jurisdictions have recently cut back service, we’ve been able to maintain, expand, and increase ART ridership.
In the upcoming years, ART plans to focus on improving the existing bus routes rather than adding a lot of new routes.
We will focus on:
• Better connecting bus routes to major transit hubs, such as Metro stations and Metrobus routes;
• Improving on-time performance;
• Increasing the frequency of buses;
• Adding more mid-day, evening and weekend services.
On February 15, 2011, County Manager Barbara Donnellan proposed the Fiscal Year 2012 budget, including the Department of Environmental Services’ Transit Program.
Proposed significant budget changes for ART in Fiscal Year 2012 include:
• The full year cost of improvements to the ART 41, 42, 74, 75 and 87 routes that took place in Fiscal Year 2011;
• The cost of additional weekend service on the ART 41;
• Additional costs for maintenance and support of the ART RealTime information system;
• Additional fuel costs; and
• Additional maintenance costs at the ART contractor’s facility.
The WMATA General Manager’s budget proposal is described in a January, 2011 press release and additional information can be found on WMATA’s website at wmata.com.
If you have any questions or concerns about the budget proposals, check the Arlington County website at arlingtonva.us or the WMATA website at wmata.com for dates and times of public hearings concerning the proposed budgets.
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