There's an interesting article in today's Washington Post outlining Metro's desire to increase rapid-bus service in 18 regional bus corridors. Metro staff has recommended Leesburg Pike's (aka Broad St. where buses 28AB, 28 FG, 28T travel) Alexandria-Falls Church-Fairfax County corridor as part of the first wave for rapid-bus upgrades. Some excerpts from the Post article:
The improvements would make bus service along these corridors "much more reliable, shave 15 to 20 percent off your travel time, and make [rides] more pleasant," said Nat Bottigheimer, Metro's planning chief. Unlike the average subway rider, who rides the train to work, these key bus arteries have a more diverse ridership.
"These corridors serve every aspect of people's lives," he said. "There are kids riding, people going shopping and people going to work."
With the region's population forecast to grow 22 percent by 2030, Metro officials say better service on priority corridors will help unclog roadways and get people out of cars and into mass transit.
If Metro and its partners adopt the plan, transportation officials will have to make a fundamental shift in the way they think about traffic, Bottigheimer said.
They are used to thinking about traffic flow by getting the greatest number of vehicles, rather than people, through an intersection.
I think the last line, in conjunction with the statistic about 22% regional population growth by 2030 is telling; the need to start thinking about moving the greatest number of people and not the greatest number of vehicles on Falls Church's roads. Rapid-bus service will be a great addition to Falls Church. It has many of the positive attributes of light rail service, will make Falls Church a desirable location for both residential and retail/commercial uses along Broad St. and will offer a viable and effective alternative to car transportation for people coming in and going out of the City.
