Express bus to serve Tysons, Pr. William

Reduced fares are offered as officials look to ease congestion during construction on the Beltway

An express bus service between the Prince William area and Tysons Corner will begin next month as local and state transportation officials look to alleviate congestion during construction on the Capital Beltway.

The bus service, operated by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, is scheduled to begin Nov. 9 and take riders between the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express station and the Route 123/Interstate 95 commuter lot and 15 destinations in the Tysons Corner area.

The service is being sponsored by Virginia Megaprojects, an initiative established by the Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation that encompasses several large-scale construction projects taking place to mitigate congestion in Northern Virginia.

"The new Tysons bus services provide commuters with more transportation choices to get to work," VDOT Megaprojects Communications Director Steven Titunik said in an e-mail. "For the first time, commuters will have an option of taking an express bus . . . directly to Tysons."

The buses are being funded by Fluor-Transurban, a company working with VDOT to build the four HOV/HOT lanes on the Beltway between the Springfield interchange and Dulles Toll Road. PRTC received slightly more than $3 million to purchase four OmniRide commuter buses, all equipped with wireless Internet, and operate the service until construction is complete, Titunik said, noting that the new lanes are scheduled to open in late 2012 or early 2013.

PRTC spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo said the service will be free for the first week. After that, fares will be roughly half-price through April 16. Typical fares for OmniRide buses are $4.75 per one-way trip when paying with a SmarTrip card or $6.50 when paying cash. For the first six months of the Tysons service, however, tickets will be $2.40 for SmarTrip and $3 for cash.

Monthly VRE pass holders boarding at the VRE station, or the closest stop to one, can ride free to Tysons, but must pay the return fare.

Rodrigo said buses will leave Prince William between 6:10 and 8:05 a.m. and will return to the county between 4 and 6 p.m. The buses, which will not operate on weekends, will stop at the transit center in Tysons Corner and along Greensboro and Jones Branch drives. Depending on where riders head, the trip can take an hour and 25 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes.

"The commute is a little longer than the typical OmniRide commute," Rodrigo said. "But this is a potential solution to take traffic off the Beltway during the construction."

Virginia Megaprojects plans to sponsor two similar services from Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The services will be funded by state, local, federal and private dollars.

Starting Nov. 23, the Fairfax Connector will provide free lunchtime bus service between other parts of Fairfax and Tysons' two large malls and nearby employers. The service, which will run every 10 minutes between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., comes with a $6 million price tag for the next four years.

Next fall, a Tysons Express bus will run between Loudoun and Tysons Corner. The route is not finalized, but buses will make seven morning and seven evening trips between the two areas. The service is expected to run for three years and cost about $5 million.