The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved changes to the way bus routes will operate, as the county looks for ways to optimize ridership and reduce costs. At a transit summit on May 29, supervisors approved changes that will eliminate the $1 fare on local bus routes, while raising the cost for commuter buses that run to Washington, DC.
Free Local Bus Routes
The county’s local, fixed-route buses will be fare-free as of 2025. Service runs from Purcellville through Leesburg and eastern Loudoun County, including some routes that bring riders directly to Silver Line Metro stations.
Buses are in service on weekdays, plus limited service on Saturdays. Currently, rides have a flat fee of $1. Officials hope that this move to a fare-free system will increase ridership and help low-income and elderly riders who rely on the routes.
Eliminating fares also means the county can avoid implementing pricey new fare-system upgrades on the buses. Cutting the fares will mean an estimated $162,000 loss of revenue, but it will also help reduce the budget by $388,491 that the county would have spent on electronic fareboxes.
Supervisors also approved plans to eliminate or consolidate 10 of the routes with the lowest ridership.
Increased Commuter Fares
The fare-free system will not apply to commuter bus routes that take riders from Loudoun County to Rosslyn, Crystal City, the Pentagon, and Washington, DC. These fares, currently $10 one-way, will increase to $11 in 2025 and $12 in 2026.
These routes have an average daily ridership of 1,064 and remove 552 vehicles from area roads daily.
Part of the proposals also would have reduced park-and-ride lots from six to two lots, but supervisors opted to cut only the Brambleton lot.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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