I know a lot of people who read this blog (probably about 6 of the 10) think BRT is a bit of a cop-out -- an excuse to do as little as possible by using an unappealing mode of transport and creating another lane of road easily convertable to highway use when unrealistic ridership estimates aren't met.
But perhaps it's worth examining for a solution to the problem of getting to Dulles Airport.
The current version of the Dulles rail proposal has a train running from the West Falls Church Metro, which requires a transfer to go into the city and stops at points in between -- an express line to the city is not possible since there are only two tracks already at capacity running in the I-66 median. The trip will take too long and requires a transfer at WFC, which is never a good thing when carrying luggage. It will also take years to complete, with the accompanying construction woes.
If plans are already in the works to run a BRT line along K Street from Union Station to Georgetown, why not run a spur from K Street to I-66 (where it can run along the shoulder) to a special lane on the Dulles Toll Road. Sattelite technology allows for the use of Metrorail farecards with distance-based pricing instead of just exact change, and other spur lines could continue elsewhere. Service along K Street would increase due to the added spurs and service to Tysons and Herndon would be possible as well without slowing down Dulles riders.
Worried people won't use it? Mark it on the Metro map, perhaps with a thin purple line. As it stands now, Dulles isn't even on the map.
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rj3 | 10:49 AM |
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It would be an interim solution, but not a long term success.
1) Dulles BRT already exists in the form of the express bus from WFC. While it is slower, the lower numbers of riders prove that people just don't like taking the bus to the airport, especially when hauling lots of luggage.
2) People don't take buses, especially in D.C., where they've been conditioned that it's either Metrorail or nothing (for long trips, at least). Even if you did a light-rail type longer bus (what they're planning on running on K street, I believe) you're still going to have trouble convincing people to take it to Dulles. The business travelers will continue to take cabs, and personal travelers from Dulles rarely come from the city (they fly out of National most of the time), unless they're flying international, in which case they have tons of luggage and don't want to deal with a bus. (They may not want to deal with a train, either, but they definitely don't want to take the metro into the city, go above ground, transfer to a bus, and wait to get out to Dulles).
3) You'd have to create a dedicated lane on I-66 (the shoulder is currently only available to buses several hours a day) and, given the traffic congestion, convincing people to have a dedicated traffic lane for a bus that runs every 5-10 minutes is going to be difficult - why give up the lane that could otherwise reduce traffic congestion on I-66?
1. The current Dulles bus requires a switch at WFC, costs $8 and isn't marked on any map, nor is it well-marked at the airport itself. You really need to do your homework to even know it exists. It dosen't take farecards, either. A one-seat, well advertised solution could do the trick.
2. People don't take buses because they're icky, they don't accept farecards and it's hard to tell where they go. Problems all solved.
And tourists don't fly into national like they used to. The surcharges are insane, and a lot of discounters, like JetBlue, are setting up in Dulles.
3. Buses would most likely run every 15 minutes to Dulles, or 5 minutes on 66 if there are spurs to Tysons and somewhere else. Besides, most of the congestion on 66 takes place outside the beltway these days, which means the regular lanes would do. Just make the shoulder 24-hour bus-only, repaint the lines to give it more room by cutting a few feet from the inside shoulder and you're set. And making it bus-only wouldn't reduce congestion, since it lies unused most of the time anyway.
National is what I fly when I'm going on a short trip and don't want to have to take an extra half day off work AND I got really lucky on the airfare. Otherwise, it's the long haul out to Dulles. I had to do a lot of digging to find out about the Washington Flyer, only going on word-of-mouth that a bus between one of the VA Orange Line stations and Dulles existed.
It took an hour to get to West Falls Church by Metro (during which I got to haul a large suitcase with ski boots in it up and down the stairs of two Metro stations), then a 20 minutue wait for a bus ride that took a bit under half an hour. When we got there, we all stood around while our credit cards were run. In all, it took a bit over two hours. Even if BRT from Union Station took an hour, I'd have made it there over half an hour earlier.
