Regional Transit News Service Alerts | ART News | Subscribe Latest News Hampton Roads Transit adds light rail trips to connect with Amtrak On Sundays, two additional evening light rail trips will be added westbound from Harbor Park Station to accommodate Amtrak passengers arriving at 8:35 p.m. with service toward downtown Norfolk. October 7, 2025, City of Portsmouth The 5 safest cities for cyclists in America — and what they have in common As Ron Johnson explains in Momentum, “The study covered nearly 300 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000, comparing rates of pedestrian and cyclist deaths against state averages and matching them with Walk and Bike Scores to create an overall safety index.” Diana Ionescu, October 7, 2025, Planetizen Metro plans 2-month Red Line shutdown: Bethesda, Medical Center, Grosvenor stops affected Metro will also be closing the Crystal City stop on 10 separate weekends. Details of the planned shutdowns within the next year became public this week. Tom Roussey, October 7, 2025, ABC7 News County to seek $463 million in regional funds to boost Route 1 bus project The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized a number of procedural steps last Tuesday (Sept. 30) to advance plans for the nearly billion-dollar Richmond Highway bus rapid transit (BRT) initiative known as The One. Scott McCaffrey, October 7, 2025, FFXNow Speak up for safer streets in Springfield The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is hosting a virtual community meeting on Monday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. to present the proposed improvements and hear from local residents. October 7, 2025, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling Hampton Roads Transit to offer free rides on Election Day “With free access to HRT’s comprehensive transit solutions throughout Hampton Roads, we are once again doing our part to facilitate mobility on Election Day,” said William E. Harrell, President and CEO of HRT. Madison Pearman, October 6, 2025, Wavy.com Washington D.C. eyes Metro expansion Moving thousands of football fans into a new NFL stadium in Washington D.C. is sparking the stakeholders to explore options for expanding access to public transportation via a reported $2 million study commissioned by the city and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Scott Sowers, October 6, 2025, The Bond Buyer Week Without Driving : How transit can serve people in rural towns “Mobility is a human right” is a theme of the national Week Without Driving, an annual event that highlights how people struggle to exercise that right when driving is not an option. Abby Arnold, October 3, 2025, Streetsblog USA Dave Thomas Circle is dead. Long live Peanut Johnson Plaza. The $41 million renovation of Block 709 and its surrounding streets has reclaimed over an acre of asphalt, built a complete network of bicycle lanes and sidewalks, and rationalized traffic flow. David Edmondson, October 6, 2025, Greater Greater Washington Northern Virginia's unlikely transit-oriented-development success story By providing a direct Metrorail connection to the heart of Tysons, the station has transformed shopping trips, commutes, and daily errands, making car-free access to one of the largest retail hubs on the East Coast a reality. Diana Ionescu, October 5, 2025, Planetizen DoorDash plans to deploy delivery robots in suburban bike lanes According to the company, “The core sensor, hardware, and software approach is similar to that of robotaxis, enabling the kind of reliable, door-to-door autonomous deliveries that customers expect and merchants rely on.” Diana Ionescu, October 5, 2025, Planetizen How the federal shutdown impacts Amtrak and U.S. rail travel? Amtrak reassured commuters that it will keep its regular schedule despite Congress not voting for a spending bill. The Shutdown began October 1, 2025, yet trains continue to circulate in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and parts of Canada. October 5, 2025, Railway Supply This electric two-wheel vehicle by BMW may be the future of urban commuting Technology wise, the Vision CE comes with a groundbreaking self-balancing function which allows the bike to remain upright when not moving. This means the rider doesn’t have to put in any extra effort to keep it from falling when it’s not in use. Regina Sienra, October 3, 2025, My Modern Met MARC Penn Line Train 401 returns to service on October 14 The train was suspended back in April 2024 to support Amtrak's state of good repair and ADA accessibility construction work at stations between Baltimore and Washington D.C., according to Maryland Transit Administration. Meghan Curtis, October 2, 2025, Fox Baltimore DC pushes ambitious metro expansion for new commanders stadium, but major questions remain DC Councilmember Charles Allen, chair of the Council's Transportation Committee, is pushing hard to make Metro central to the gameday experience at the new stadium. His goal is for more than 30,000 fans to arrive by rail on gamedays, a dramatic increase from current ridership levels. Eric Flack, October 2, 2025, WUSA9 Fairfax Connector celebrates 40 years, salutes those who keep the buses running The original 10 routes have since expanded to more than 90 that carried over 9 million riders in 2024. The Connector even operates outside the county’s boundaries, connecting Fairfax with other Northern Virginia jurisdictions, Maryland and D.C. Scott McCaffrey, October 2, 2025, FFXNow Report: A third of Americans can't rely on cars — and 16 million have no access at all Altogether, that represents a staggering 36 percent of the U.S. population; only 25 percent of total transportation infrastructure spending, meanwhile, flows towards transit, biking, and walking. Kea Wilson, October 2, 2025, Streetsblog USA ART recorded improved ridership, on-time performance during FY25 For fiscal 2025, nearly all ART routes showed year-over-year increases in passenger totals, with the total passenger count up 9% year-over-year, and on-time performance rose 3 percentage points. Scott McCaffrey, October 2, 2025, ARLNow How the government shutdown could impact DMV travel From air travel to your Metro ride this government shutdown could have a big impact on how you get around. Adam Tuss, October 1, 2025, NBC4 Washington Free and low-fare transit programs fail to reach many in need: report “Reduced fare programs are a direct investment in the people who need it to get to their jobs, health appointments, and social connections,” Vanessa Barrios, co-author of the report and director of DEI initiatives at RPA, said in a statement. Dan Zukowski, September 29, 2025, Smart Cities Dive A week without driving … or biking? It’s both a personal challenge, and an opportunity to better understand what life is like for the one third of people in the U.S. who cannot drive whether due to age, disability or economic reasons. Tom Fucoloro, October 2, 2025, Streetsblog USA How the Silver Line has shaped transit-oriented development in Northern Virginia In 2014, the first leg of the Silver Line opened, providing communities in Tysons Corner, Reston, and beyond with frequent and reliable Metrorail service. Ten years later, and in a post-pandemic world, the Reston and Tysons areas have been drastically changed. Brian Shi, October 1, 2025, Greater Greater Washington Amazon to test its driverless Zoox vehicles on streets of DC Zoox said it specifically chose D.C. as a test market because of its complex and unique street layout with circles, diagonal avenues, and high pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Before the actual robotaxi rolls out streets will be mapped by SUVs loaded with sophisticated equipment. Adam Tuss, September 30, 2025, NBC4 Washington What is Good Transit? Good Transit sits in the background of the lives it facilitates. Because of this, people don't really think too much about it. If you bring up at dinner how smooth the bus ride was, you might get a polite “I guess it was.” Joshua Woods, September 30, 2025, Planetizen More transit means safer streets A study published in the Journal of Urban Health found that cities with a higher share of transit miles traveled per capita experienced lower motor vehicle fatality rates, even after accounting for factors such as climate, congestion, and economic costs of driving. Leslie Vasquez Guzman, September 30, 2025, Streetsblog USA Washington, D.C.-based Metro delivers $120M in savings, reaches record ridership Other accomplishments during the 2025 fiscal year include the deployment of 185 new MetroAccess minivans and 49 next-generation vehicles, the re-introduction of Automatic Train Operation, the modernization of faregates at all Metrorail stations, the installation of new fareboxes on 1,500 buses, and the launch of the Better Bus Network and Tap. Ride. Go. contactless fare payment. Melina Druga, September 30, 2025, Transportation Today DC's disability transportation time tax If DC and WMATA were serious about addressing the transportation time tax for nondrivers with disabilities, there would be more bus lanes or priority areas for buses to ease their movement with more frequent service citywide. Kelly Mack, September 29, 2025, Greater Greater Washington Alexandria city and school board debate bus proposal There are some DASH bus routes that already exist and that already provide direct service to the campuses of Alexandria City High School. In the proposal, if a high school student lives within a quarter mile of one of those routes, they would take the city's DASH bus instead of a school bus. Joseph Olmo, September 30, 2025, NBC4 Washington Electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid vehicle occupancy rules change Tuesday at midnight The federal law permitting electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to use the HOV lanes without meeting the occupancy requirements expires at the end of the month and the Republican-controlled Congress did not extend the law. Dan Ronan, September 30, 2025, WTOP Metro Navy Yard Station west entrance to close for months-long renovations Crews will replace a total of five escalators at the station, including three at the west entrance. Metrorail said in a statement that heavy equipment and cranes are needed to remove the old escalators and bring in the new ones. Dave Leval, September 29, 2025, DC News Now Alexandria City Council, School Board to discuss DASH pilot, long-range facilities planning The meeting addresses two initiatives that could reshape how the city educates and transports its roughly 16,000 public school students. September 29, 2025, ALXNow Ride for Your Life: Join the movement for safer streets Held this year on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, this event is more than just a bike ride—it’s a movement to remember those we’ve lost, stand up for the living, and press for urgent change on our roads. September 28, 2025, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling States have more power than they think to fund sustainable transportation That's because states have underutilized authorities to transfer highway funding to projects that give people healthier, easier, and cleaner options for travel, like public transit, biking, or walking. Liya Rechtman, September 29, 2025, Streetsblog USA Metro delivers $120 million in savings and record ridership in FY2025 Metro customers took 264 million trips, a 9% increase over FY24 and 16% above budget projections, generating $462 million in passenger revenue. Rail ridership rose to 139 million trips and Bus reached 124 million, both well above projections. September 26, 2025, WMATA Falls Church may try again to entice e-scooter firms In recent years, the governments of Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria and Fairfax have approved processes to regulate shared-mobility devices in their jurisdictions. Because Falls Church has not, the city is a “no-go zone” for riders renting the vehicles in neighboring jurisdictions. Scott McCaffrey, September 26, 2025, ARLNow Metro plans to boost bus frequency and rail capacity amid budget talks To afford this, Clarke said they plan to increase ridership. And will cut costs by returning to automatic train operations to increase scheduling efficiency, save money through bus schedule optimization, and will evaluate their current job vacancies. Kelly Vaughen, September 25, 2025, WUSA9 For drivers and transit users, job access in nearly all major US cities is on the decline Using detailed information about roadway speeds, transit service, bicycle facilities, and more, the researchers apply custom trip planning software to quantify how many jobs could be reached in a given amount of travel time from a specific starting point. Cirien Saadeh, September 26, 2025, Streets MN Feds open $5b in rail safety grants The FRA will evaluate projects based on projected benefits such as improved travel time and reliability, better integration with other transportation modes, and economic and employment benefits around stations. Diana Ionescu, September 25, 2025, Planetizen News4 takes exclusive test ride on Purple Line Although the line is a Maryland Transit Administration project, separate from Metro transit, the trains will connect with the Metro system’s Red, Green and Orange lines at various points between Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton. Adam Tuss, September 25, 2025, NBC4 Washington