Arlingtonians may be more likely to travel on a Bird than any other brand of scooter and this year will have the option of using its e-bikes.
The number of Bird e-scooters in Arlington is increasing to a maximum of 667. The company was also selected to launch a fleet of 150 e-bikes here this year.
“This combined multimodal service will allow us to better serve the sustainable mobility needs of even more riders in the city,” according to Bird.
In a 2022 county evaluation of e-scooter and bike permit applications, Bird was allocated the most, followed by Spin with 650, LINK with 333, Lime with 245 and Helbiz with 105. There is a cap of 2,000 e-scooters and 1,000 e-bikes in the county.
Lime is also permitted to operate 200 e-bikes in Arlington.
Bird can deploy the most e-scooters because it ranked highest on meeting county goals, including to provide high-quality transportation services, advance environmental sustainability, promote safety and establish equity.
Bird was the first e-scooter to launch in the county in 2018 — prompting Arlington to figure out how to regulate two-wheeled electric transportation. Since then, it helped pilot e-scooters in Arlington and survived the whittling down of permitted providers in 2020. In 2021, Arlington was one of the first cities in the region to get a new model of its scooter.
Since 2018, nearly a million miles have been traveled on Bird e-scooters in the county, Bird says. Based on a study calculating the economic impact of the vehicles to small businesses, Bird estimated there was $750,000 in additional spending in 2021 in Arlington.
Proposed ramps and curb extensions for the intersection of 28th Street S. and 26th Street S. (via Arlington County)
Proposed ramps and curb extensions for 28th Street S. (via Arlington County)
Proposed ramps and curb extensions for 28th Street S. (via Arlington County)
A map of 28th Street S. “Complete Streets” projects (via Arlington County)
This week, locals can share their thoughts on a county project to make a segment of 28th Street S. near Gunston Park more walkable.
The proposed “Neighborhood Complete Streets” project aims to improve the existing sidewalk, curb ramps and transit stops between S. Meade Street and 26th Street S., near Gunston Middle School and the nearby community center, park and playing field space.
“The improvements seek to provide more comfortable, accessible pedestrian crossings and transit stops that will narrow the roadway and shorten the crossing distances,” according to the county.
Specifically, the county plans to install curb extensions and ramps that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act to increase access to and shorten pedestrian crossing distances. It will add pavement markings and signage to make pedestrian crossings more visible to motorists.
Folks can provide feedback on the project, still in a preliminary design phase, through this Sunday. The survey asks respondents if the proposed changes would make them feel safer walking, taking public transit, biking, scooting or driving along 28th Street S.
“This feedback will help inform a final design, prioritizing feasibility, safety and available funding,” the county survey says.
The county Neighborhood Complete Streets program, funded through the County’s Capital Improvement Plan, aims to make physical improvements that address safety and access problems on non-arterial streets. At this stage, estimated project costs aren’t known. After the public engagement period for this project ends, it will go to the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission for approval.
Then, it will advance to the Arlington County Board for approval, kicking off a more detailed design phase.
Meanwhile, renovations to the Gunston Bubble, which houses a year-round synthetic turf field, are scheduled to be completed soon, according to the county. The county embarked on energy efficiency and reliability upgrades to the “bubble” last summer.
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A pedestrian stands near construction at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A pedestrian near construction at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
As a 20-story apartment building by Greystartakes shape in Courthouse, the developer is poised to agree to take on some county-identified transportation projects around the site.
This Saturday, the County Board is slated to approve an agreement delegating to Greystar the design and construction of light transportation improvements near the “Landmark Block” at 2050 Wilson Blvd. The county will reimburse the developer up to $2.5 million.
These projects add to the streetscape improvements and community benefits that Greystar will provide through its approved redevelopment plans. The “Landmark” site was previously home to brick buildings that housed a handful of restaurants, including Cosi, Boston Market, Jerry’s Subs and Summers Restaurant.
After the County Board approved the project in March, demolition began last summer and construction broke ground in October. Greystar intends to complete the apartment building in the fall of 2023.
The pending agreement would task Greystar with some street repaving, signal upgrades and utility work. County staff say it will be cheaper, easier and more efficient for Greystar to handle these projects concurrent with construction.
“These needed transportation improvements… are either adjacent to, above, or beneath the proposed site plan improvements, and dovetail with the improvements already approved as part of the site plan project’s package of community benefits,” the report said.
Specifically, Greystar would relocate existing — or install new — traffic signal poles, traffic signal cabinets and other traffic-related items in the public right-of-way at three intersections: Wilson and Clarendon Blvd and N. Courthouse Road; N. Courthouse Road and 15th Street N.; and N. Uhle Street and Clarendon Blvd.
It will also add a “bike island” at the intersection of 15th Street N. and Clarendon Blvd in the westbound direction and install about 250 feet of a new 12-inch water main within N. Courthouse Road.
As part of the approved project, Greystar agreed to make the following streetscape improvements along Clarendon Blvd, Wilson Blvd and N. Courthouse Road:
widen sidewalks and improve street crossings for pedestrians
widen or add protected or dedicated bike lanes
widen the center median for Wilson and Clarendon Blvd
relocate the county parking lot entrance from 15th Street N.
screen in or buffer the 15th Street N. frontage of the county parking lot
Greystar also agreed to build part of a pedestrian promenade along N. Uhle Street and a shared street along 15th Street N. These community benefits were envisioned seven years ago as part of an effort to plan the next 30 years of development in Courthouse.
The National Weather Service says snow accumulations up to 1 inch would mostly be on grassy areas. Arlington Public Schools closed today, using the school system’s last traditional snow day, in response to the initial weather advisory that forecast up to 2 inches of snow following rain during the morning commute.
Arlington County Department of Environmental Services tweeted that crews would focus on preventing ice buildup.
“With expectations dwindling for any significant snow today, County crews will focus on preventing ice buildup as temperatures drop below freezing this p.m. and stay there into Sunday. Plan for a slow Friday,” DES posted.
The National Weather Service said to plan on hazardous road conditions, slow down and use caution while driving.
“When venturing outside, watch your first few steps taken on steps, sidewalks, and driveways, which could be icy and slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury,” the NWS advisory reads.
Wires were also down in the Lyon Park area, closing a section of Washington Blvd. between 2nd Road N. and 4th Street N., Arlington County Police said.
6:30a update: Switch from rain to snow may be DELAYED until 8 to 10a in DC area. This could lower accumulation potential somewhat to more like a coating to 1" (rather than closer to 2"). But quick burst of snow still possible after switch. Details: https://t.co/QzFeGlwLwVpic.twitter.com/WTeKasytP4
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC
732 AM EST Thu Jan 20 2022
DCZ001-MDZ011-013-014-016-504-506-508-VAZ052>056-502-201800-
/O.CON.KLWX.WW.Y.0008.000000T0000Z-220120T1800Z/
District of Columbia-Southern Baltimore-Prince Georges-
Anne Arundel-Charles-Central and Southeast Montgomery-
Central and Southeast Howard-Southeast Harford-
Prince William/Manassas/Manassas Park-Fairfax-
Arlington/Falls Church/Alexandria-Stafford-Spotsylvania-
Southern Fauquier-
732 AM EST Thu Jan 20 2022
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON…
* WHAT…Rain briefly changing to snow by the end of the morning
commute, with snow accumulations of up to one inch mainly on
grassy surfaces.
* WHERE…The Interstate 95 corridor from northeastern Maryland
through the Fredericksburg area, including the DC and Baltimore
metros.
* WHEN…Until 1 PM EST this afternoon.
* IMPACTS…Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous
conditions will impact the morning commute.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
When venturing outside, watch your first few steps taken on
steps, sidewalks, and driveways, which could be icy and slippery,
increasing your risk of a fall and injury.
14th Street Bridge in 2001 (via Wikipedia Creative Commons)
Today (Jan. 13) is the 40th anniversary of Air Florida Flight 90 crashing into the 14th Street Bridge, a tragedy that killed 78 people.
It was a snowy January day in 1982, with a number of flights being delayed by the winter weather and National Airport even closing for a period of time. After a nearly two-hour delay, Air Florida Flight 90 took off right before 4 p.m., but after only getting 350 feet in the air, it came right down — a victim of pilot error and ice buildup.
The aircraft carrying 79 people crashed into the barrier wall of the northbound span of the 14th Street Bridge, between Arlington and D.C. It struck seven occupied vehicles and plunged into the icy Potomac River below.
The crash killed 78 people in all, including four people on the ground, with another nine people injured. Five people onboard the plane survived.
Arlington firefighters were among the first on scene, navigating treacherous road conditions and heavy traffic en route to assist with the rescue operation.
Arland D. Williams Jr. was a passenger himself who survived the initial crash and needed saving, but kept handing the rope to others to save themselves before him. By the time, a rescue helicopter came back to save that one last person, Williams, he had fallen into the Potomac and drowned.
He, too, was hailed as a hero by President Ronald Reagan. When the northbound span of the 14th Street Bridge was repaired and reopened in 1985, the bridge connecting D.C. to Arlington was renamed the “Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge” in his honor.
WTOP spoke recently with one of its reporters who was covering the story that day, Dave Statter. Rhetorically, Statter questioned if a crash of this magnitude and in such a public setting happened today, would there have been heroes of this nature?
“Would people be so focused on getting those images, and so detached, that we wouldn’t have a Lenny Skutnik or Roger Olian, jumping in the river, trying to save those passengers?” Statter asked.
Some good did come out of unspeakable tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash was likely caused by bad anti-icing practices and operations. This led to dramatic improvement in how airplanes are operated in cold and icy weather, including new and innovative technology used to de-ice planes.
In an almost-unbelievable cruel twist, another terrible accident happened in D.C. that day. Less than 30 minutes after the Flight 90 crash and only a few miles away, a Metro train derailed killing three people and injuring 25 more.
The lonely utility pole at Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street in Sept. (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
The lonely utility pole protruding into a Columbia Pike intersection has not come down yet, the county confirms, despite assurances it was going to by the end of last year.
In September, ARLnow learned that an errant utility pole sitting a few feet from the sidewalk at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street was scheduled to be removed. But that has yet to happen, due to at least one utility company not completing work to bury wires as part of the Columbia Pike multimodal project.
“Dominion Energy crews have completed removal of their overhead lines, with [the] exception of one property. Comcast’s contractor has completed removal of their overhead wires. Verizon is dealing with material shipment delays, which have deferred the process of scheduling their undergrounding work,” reads the county’s Jan. 6 project update. “When all three companies have removed their overhead wires, the utility poles along the roadway will be removed.”
The update on the website was made shortly after ARLnow reached out for more information based on a reader tip that the pole was still there.
There’s no timeline as to when the pole will be removed, a county spokesperson tells us.
The work may eventually result in the temporary closure of Columbia Pike lanes between the Arlington/Fairfax County line and the Four Mile Run Bridge during construction hours, they note.
In the fall of 2020, a traffic signal was installed at the intersection of S. Frederick Street and Columbia Pike near Arlington Mill. It was in response to a years-long request from residents and advocates to improve the intersection’s safety, which had seen a number of crashes and accidents over the years, including some involving pedestrians.
As part of that construction, the driveway to Arbor Heights — an affordable housing complex with an entrance right off Columbia Pike — was redone to align with S. Frederick Street. Previously, a cement island with a strip of sidewalk held the pole but that island was removed, leaving the pole all alone.
It’s surrounded by bollards and, though the county says it hasn’t received any complaints about it blocking or being dangerous to traffic, ARLnow has received several notes about it from concerned motorists.
A new underground duct bank was built and the utility companies are using it to bury the lines.
The goal is to “make Columbia Pike a safer, more accessible route for all users” as well as to transform “this main thoroughfare into a complete street that balances all modes of travel and supports high-quality, high-frequency transit service.”
This Saturday, the Arlington County Board is slated to set a public hearing for Feb. 22, 2022 to hear comments on and consider adopting the plan. It envisions Pentagon City as a greener, more urban and less car-centric neighborhood and outlines what new county facilities will be needed to support a growing population.
“The new Pentagon City Sector Plan contains a new vision for a dynamic downtown and neighborhood where everyone is welcome and able to live regardless of race, income, age, and immigration status,” per a county report.
“Emphasis on strengthening the entire 22202 (zip code) community through diverse housing options, multi-modal transportation improvements, and embracing biophilic design are intended to guide future development and policymaking in Pentagon City,” it continues.
In February, the County Board will also consider a number of amendments to zoning ordinances and land use and transportation plans that county staff say are needed to implement the sector plan.
Pentagon City Planning Study Area (via Arlington County)
Amazon’s 2018 decision to build in Arlington not only prompted the planning effort, it also provoked concerns among residents about how the county will manage future growth and any potential strain on county facilities.
Those concerns — especially about stalled plans to add nearly 1,000 units to the RiverHouse Apartments on the neighborhood’s western side — have remained throughout the planning process and resurfaced this fall.
“Ongoing community concerns relate to the character and quantity of envisioned open space and guidance with respect to future public facility needs in and density levels at the RiverHouse site,” per the county report.
The plan lists other proposed projects in the pipeline through 2041, if developers come through. These include: the Transportation Security Administration headquarters, infill development at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall, an additional Regency Care rehabilitation center building, infill development at Westpost (formerly Pentagon Row), and the Drug Enforcement Agency site.
Mentioned as having “long-term potential” for redevelopment are the entire Fashion Centre site and the Costco site across from the mall.
In response to the concerns of residents, county staff added information about how they will address potential strains on county facilities, including potentially adding a fire station and an elementary school, the county report said.
A Metro train heads east as traffic heads west along I-66 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Arlington County continues to be one of the top localities regionally and nationwide for residents using public transit to commute to and from work, recent census data shows.
Arlington is No. 10 among U.S. counties, with 27% of residents using public transportation for work commuting, according to one researcher’s parsing of the data.
Counties by % of workers using public transportation to work:
1. Kings, NY (61%) 2. Bronx, NY (60%) 3. New York, NY (59%) 4. Queens, NY (51%) 5. Hudson, NJ (43%) 6. San Francisco, CA (35%) 7. Washington, DC (35%) 8. Suffolk, MA (32%) 9. Richmond, NY (30%) 10. Arlington, VA (27%)
A county official said the data does line up with the county’s own findings.
“The numbers, overall, don’t surprise me because Arlington has been focused for a really long time on building a community that maximizes travel options and has really rebuilt itself around rail and more recently, focused on bus,” says Arlington’s Transportation Bureau Chief Dennis Leach.
In 2010, according to Census data, an estimated 28.5% of Arlingtonians used public transportation to commute to and from work. By 2019, that number ticked up slightly to 29.7%.
While preliminary 2020 data shows a nearly 3% decrease in public transit use by Arlington workers, Leach notes that it’s really hard to make an apples to apples comparison to previous years due to remote work, a shift in commuter patterns, and the lack of travel in general — all of which are related to the pandemic.
“I don’t think we’re actually to see really good [transit] data… until sometime in 2022 or even maybe as far out as a full year later, in 2023,” Leach says.
What is clear, according to Leach, is that Arlington is much less auto-dependent than other local jurisdictions.
While D.C. remains number one locally in terms of use of public transit, with more than a third of residents using it to commute, Arlington is number two, well above nearby localities like Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Montgomery County, Md.
Dr. Delario Lindsey, a professor at Arlington’s Marymount University who is studying urban development and equality, agrees that there’s been a considerable effort to make public transportation more accessible in Arlington in recent years. He says the county is currently doing a “decent job” in developing and building infrastructure that’s more accommodating to non-car-related travel, driven by the desires of a younger generation.
“There’s been an identifiable generational shift by millennials and post-millennials to not to be as car-dependent,” Lindsey says. “[They] want to live in communities that tend to be more accessible to public transportation, or be walkable, or bike-friendly.”
In Arlington, this is reflected in the immense growth of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor over the last decade, which has a number of rail and bus transit options.
While Lindsey notes as well that 2020 and 2021 statistics won’t be able to tell a complete picture, he fully expects that the number of Arlingtonians using public transportation to commute to and from work will only grow over the next several years.
“I’d bet on that trend to keep going up,” he says.
Metroway buses for the Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway (Photo via Arlington County)
A decade ago, when Arlington County was in the midst of planning the Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway for the future Metroway bus rapid transit line, the Route 1 corridor looked a lot different.
Development was still ongoing in the corridor, which encompasses Pentagon City and Crystal City, and Amazon was still years away from selecting the area for its HQ2.
There were just over 17,000 residents in the corridor and nearly three quarters of them lived in rental units, according to 2010 county census data. By 2020, that number had risen by about 15% to 20,000 residents. Renters now occupy 91% of the housing stock, according to county data.
Arlington’s section of the Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway opened in 2016 with the Pentagon City extension aiming for a 2023 opening.
A station for the Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway in 2018 (via Arlington County)
While there have been plenty of bumps along the road, including the continued delay of the Potomac Yard Metro station and low ridership during the pandemic, at least one transportation advocate praises the county for looking ahead.
“To do this later, after the development happens, would have been 20 times harder. 100 times harder,” Chris Slatt, Arlington Transportation Commission chair and founder of Sustainable Mobility for Arlington, told ARLnow. “I really give Arlington a lot of credit.”
In terms of Potomac Yard, Slatt made the point that this was an extremely rare opportunity where urban and transportation planners had the ability to start anew and could try out their best laid plans without dealing with already existing infrastructure.
“Potomac Yard was this kind of special opportunity that we don’t have very often,” said Slatt. “I’m sure there are a lot of other places in Northern Virginia where we can say we’re basically a new neighborhood from scratch.”
Local officials agree, which is why the Metroway is such an exciting project for them.
“For mass transit planners… it is a lot easier to design the infrastructure when you’re starting from scratch rather than trying to retrofit it into a pre-existing system, particularly if you want dedicated [transit] lanes,” said Eric Randall, principal transportation engineer with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG).
Plus, he noted, it’s easier for residents to get in the “frame of mind” to use the mass transit option if it is there initially, as opposed to needing to break their previous habits.
ARLnow has received reports of cars entering the Transitway’s bus lanes, often even driving the wrong direction in the lanes, which parallel Crystal Drive for about a mile. It seems to mostly stem from confusion over the roadway configuration.
Mark Stack lives in the Concord Crystal City apartments, directly across from a Transitway bus station at 27th Street S. and Crystal Drive. From the high-rise building he can see cars in the lanes that are intended only for Metroway buses.
“Just today, [there was] one car on the wrong side of the road and two other vehicles traveling down the bus lane,” he told ARLnow. “It’s a daily, hourly occurrence. It’s not like once or twice. It happens pretty often.”
Walking in his neighborhood, Stack has also seen cars entering the lanes near the bus stops located 33rd Street S. and 26th Street S. along Crystal Drive. He’s fearful that drivers going the wrong direction will hit buses head-on or kids bicycling, which he also sees often in the lanes (which, technically, is also not allowed).
“I’m just surprised there’s never been any accidents,” Stack said. “It’s a miracle.”
ARLnow also checked out several of the intersections and Transitway bus stops that Stack spoke about. While no unauthorized vehicles were observed in the lanes at the time, it’s evident confusion could be possible, particularly at night.
There are right and left turn lanes leading directly into the bus lanes, as well as dark red markings that may not be clearly visible at night. There are, however, “do not enter” signs and medians that do prevent mingling of traffic.
Darren Buck, a member of Arlington County’s Transportation Commission, also has seen unauthorized cars going into the dedicated bus lanes. While the danger does concern him, he additionally worries that drivers are intentionally entering them to bypass traffic
“If that’s the case, the success of the Transitway is at risk,” he says, since one of the major selling points of rapid bus transit is that it removes buses from car traffic. “[There] probably needs to be a broader conversation about enforcement in bus-exclusive facilities.”
The county acknowledges that unauthorized vehicles using the bus lanes, intentionally or not, is an ongoing issue that dates back to the Transitway’s opening.
“[Arlington Department of Environmental Services] staff have been made aware of issues with operations on the Crystal City – Potomac Yard Transitway, specifically regarding private vehicles using and misusing the dedicated transit lanes in 2016,” DES spokesperson Nathan Graham wrote in an email to ARLnow. He noted that they have received reports of this happening recently.
In response, transportation staff earlier this year applied red pavement markings to highlight the bus-only lanes at several of the Transitway segments, Graham said, including at 27th Street S. and Potomac Avenue, 33rd Street S. and Crystal Drive, and 26th Street S. and Crystal Drive.
“Moving forward, we will enhance this practice of clearly denoting entry points for bus-only lanes and at areas where there are reports of driver confusion with additional paint and signage, as appropriate,” wrote Graham. “We will also reach out to our colleagues at ACPD to review options for enforcement at these locations.”
All of these are issues that the county will keep in mind as the build-out for the extension to Pentagon City begins next year.
When Metroway, the region’s first rapid bus transit line, launched in 2014 it was hailed as the future.
Dedicated lanes, more frequent service, covered stations, and bigger, newer buses along a 4.5-mile route connecting Arlington and Alexandria would boost bus ridership in sections of both jurisdictions that were rapidly developing.
The price tag was big — more than $42 million, split nearly evenly between Arlington and Alexandria — but officials believed it was worth it and could have the added benefit of revving up rapid bus transit elsewhere in the D.C. area.
“A lot of people will be looking to this project as a test concept to find out what lessons they can learn from it,” said Eric Randall, a senior transportation engineer at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), at the time. “It offers us an opportunity to apply some concepts for the first time — things like off-board fare collection, a design of bus stops with higher platforms and custom design shelters, a new branding and frequency of buses.”
It’s now 2021, seven years since Metroway’s launch, and it seems like a good time to ask the question: what have we learned from Metroway, the region’s first rapid bus transit?
Despite less-than-stellar ridership numbers and outside factors, rapid bus transit with dedicated infrastructure remains a worthy investment, according to local officials and public transportation advocates.
“I live in Alexandria and take Metroway monthly, from my perspective as a user, I think it’s a success,” Randall told ARLnow earlier this fall. He remains a transportation engineer with MWCOG.
“[Metroway] is doing what it’s supposed to be doing,” said Lynn Rivers, Arlington County’s Transit Bureau Chief. “Which is getting people out of their cars and onto the transit lanes.”
“Metroway is great,” said Sustainable Mobility for Arlington founder and Arlington Transportation Commission chair Chris Slatt . “It’s fantastic to have an example in Arlington of a dedicated space for transit. We really want to make transit time competitive with other ways to get around… and I think it does that.”
What’s more, the county is investing further into the needed infrastructure. In September, the county unveiled designs to extend the Transitway by an additional five stations and 1.1 miles so that it connects with the Pentagon City Metro station (not to mention areas close to Amazon’s new HQ2). While some advocates expressed their frustration about the lack of community engagement on street designs, their complaints were not necessarily about the concept of rapid bus transit or Metroway.
The extension is costing nearly $28 million, though most of it will be financed by the state and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. Arlington itself is spending about $1.8 million, according to Rivers, which is only about 6% of the project’s total cost.
Construction on the first segment is expected to start in the winter of 2022 with completion in late 2023.
That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges. Off-board fare collection, even though it was promised, has not been implemented yet. There’ve been sightings of confused motorists, as reported by ARLnow readers, driving their cars the wrong way in the dedicated bus lanes, despites signs and marked roads. Ridership hasn’t been as high as perhaps expected, leading to 2016 reports that shutting it down was being considered.
