County Steers Teens Toward Public Transit

Initiative Aims to Reduce Reliance on Cars

For most teenagers, riding the bus is not the preferred way to get around.

"Most people think it's not cool," said Afroza Hossain, a junior at Washington-Lee High School. "I guess it's because of how we're portrayed on TV and things like that, that it's cool to drive a car to school.''

Now, Hossain is joining with Arlington County officials to change that perception. A new program, begun by County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman (D) but inspired by local teenagers, is aimed at convincing more teenagers to use public transportation. The campaign, called I Ride, also encourages use of Metrorail, but its emphasis is on Metrobus and Arlington Transit (ART) buses.

"Kids need to get around. They need to be able to get to jobs, to be able to get to other schools in the county when there are after-school activities," Zimmerman said. "There aren't always ways to get around. If you are completely dependent on a car, that means you are dependent on somebody else."

It is unclear precisely how many Arlington teenagers ride the bus, but a recent survey of students in grades 8 through 11 showed a variety of obstacles to greater ridership.

"They said they didn't know how to ride the bus, didn't know where it went . . . that they needed more information," said Bobbi Greenberg, transit marketing manager for the county's Department of Environmental Services, which is coordinating the initiative. "Some said it wasn't cool to ride the bus. And some said their parents wouldn't let them, that it's a safety issue."

The survey, distributed in Arlington schools in late June, was the first step in a marketing campaign that is gathering steam. Working with an 18-member Teen Transit Advisory Board, the county recently sponsored an event at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center at which teenage board members handed out T-shirts and Frisbees, along with information about local transit. About 300 people attended.

"That was just sort of to create a buzz about it," Greenberg said.

Officials and teenagers are now trying to create a simplified transit map highlighting places where teenagers in the survey said they like to go, such as Ballston Common Mall and Clarendon. Plans call for putting a kiosk with transit maps and I Ride materials in each middle and high school and developing a Web site.

The county is also considering creating a 60-cent student fare on ART buses -- which now charge $1.25 one way -- and plans to ask Metro to introduce a similar student fare for Metrobus, which also charges $1.25.

Hossain, who serves on the advisory board and, with another student, recently made a presentation to the County Board about the program, said she is encouraged so far. "When we actually explain it to people, they are more interested," she said. "I have a few friends who have gotten tickets lately. If teens rode the buses, that wouldn't be a problem. It would save time, and you wouldn't have to depend on your parents.''

It would also create adult bus riders, county officials said. "I think if we start them as transit riders young, they are more likely to be transit users when they grow up," Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman began the initiative in January after hearing that some county teenagers had expressed an interest in riding the bus more often. The county budgeted $25,000 for the program this year and is hoping to make it permanent.

County officials said they have been pleased by how well the initiative has worked so far. "The teenagers are pretty much directing it," Greenberg said. "I've been really pleasantly surprised at their enthusiasm and willingness to show up for meetings and do some work. I didn't know how exciting transit would be to a teen."