It’s been nearly 6 months since the Fairfax Connector bus service was realigned to take into account the new Silver Line extensions to Tysons and Reston. It was apparent, after only this short amount of time, some of the plans on paper would not function well in reality. We have been persistently highlighting some of these routes in Tysons, many of which were created too serpentine in nature to effectively provide transit service that is more functional than walking.
Fairfax Connector, in an effort to consistently provide better service (which is very much appreciated), is now relooking at those routes which could be better aligned.
The proposed changes are presented on the Fairfax Connector website for public input. They include one of the biggest demands from North Tysons residents to realign the 423 to more directly serve the Tysons Corner metro station, which is tantalizingly close but out of typical walking distances for many.
The changes will retain the high frequency headways, every 10 minutes at rush hour, for the bus but will also cut down on the total travel time from North Tysons to the station by several minutes, making it faster than walking. Avoiding congested arterial roads like International Drive will also assist in keeping the bus on-time percentage acceptable, though we still believe GPS tracking and NextBus would help avoid long waits for many.
Additionally, some Connector services in Tysons will begin operating different routes starting on January 24th, in line with the modifications that have been completed at the Tysons Westpark Transit Center. This includes the return of 401/402 services connecting North Tysons to Central Tysons as well as Merrifield. Excellent news for folks who work at Freddie Mac, Kaiser, or Gannett and live in Merrifield.
The public has until February 5th to provide comments. Two meetings will be held on January 28th and 29th, the latter in Vienna. The planned changes are to be enacted for Spring of this year.