Subway leesburg metro meeting tonight

[Geo]

http://leesburg.patch.com/articles/m...g-monday-night

What ever your thoughts meeting tonight at 6.30

This meeting is important and your voice pro or con needs to be heard.

[Sic semper tyrannis]

Next stop Hollywood Casino?

[derricksonb]

Next stop Hollywood Casino?

Not quite, but as I understand the 25 year plan for Metro the proposed extensions will eventually run from Dulles to Leesburg along the Greenway (267) and then west on Rt 7 to Winchester.

[Kensey]

Not quite, but as I understand the 25 year plan for Metro the proposed extensions will eventually run from Dulles to Leesburg along the Greenway (267) and then west on Rt 7 to Winchester.

Winchester? That seems like a long way off. I have a hard time figuring where they'll get the ridership along that part of the line. Dulles is obvious and I'm surprised they didn't do that extension sooner (well, not really), and maybe Leesburg will be a bit more bustling by the time they get it run out there, but it just seems like the ride from Winchester to anywhere worth getting to would be too long unless that section were run as express service.

[derricksonb]

I thought it seemed like quite a distance as well, but the phase map I saw a few years back showed the extension running all the way out to Winchester. Which if you think about the possible stops located along the Greenway, Rt 7 west and agencies located in Winchester the extension and rail connectivity to DC and the NCR actually makes sense.

[Kensey]

I thought it seemed like quite a distance as well, but the phase map I saw a few years back showed the extension running all the way out to Winchester. Which if you think about the possible stops located along the Greenway, Rt 7 west and agencies located in Winchester the extension and rail connectivity to DC and the NCR actually makes sense.

Ah, that's true... and it also offers people in the middle a commuting option out to Winchester to go to work at those agencies. Which makes me wonder if they might not do a Martinsburg spur one day...

[derricksonb]

I can't see a real need for a Martinsburg extension in the foreseeable future. Most likely the next logical expansion would be the red line expansion from Shady Grove to Fort Detrick along I-270 or the southward expansion towards Stafford on I-95.

[KatherineA]

Kensey, if you saw the number of riders on the Loudoun Co. Transit buses each day you would see that there would be customers for a metro extension. There are even standees on some morning buses and most evenings there are standees, particularly on the buses than run from 4:30 - 5:30 through downtown DC. Many people I ride with come from the Winchester area and the 340/Berryville area.

I also recall reading that Mont. Co, MD is starting? an express bus thing on various routes like GA Ave, Colesville, and the area where that new science center is going to be built near Gaithersburg or somewhere out there.

[Kensey]

Kensey, if you saw the number of riders on the Loudoun Co. Transit buses each day you would see that there would be customers for a metro extension. There are even standees on some morning buses and most evenings there are standees, particularly on the buses than run from 4:30 - 5:30 through downtown DC. Many people I ride with come from the Winchester area and the 340/Berryville area.

How many people per bus and how many buses per day, though? An eight-car Metro train will hold about a thousand people (120 per car according to WMATA). I don't think I've ever seen less than a 4-car train, more usually 6.

I also recall reading that Mont. Co, MD is starting? an express bus thing on various routes like GA Ave, Colesville, and the area where that new science center is going to be built near Gaithersburg or somewhere out there.

Is that the "Purple Line" project they keep talking about? It's sorely needed...

[KatherineA]

No, the express bus thing is different. I think it was in this Sunday's paper. I think that the Purple line is far into the future and this express bus service is something that they can do financially now and something that more people support. The bus lanes will go down 270 and in some places may take a lane of 270. Here is a link to the Wash. Post article on the express bus idea: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...k9U_story.html

Re the buses - there are 24 runs in the morning from Purcellville, Harmony, or Leesburg and 26 runs in the evening. I am not including Dulles, Ashburn or Broadland, or Tyson runs.

As far as how many the buses hold, I am not sure, but it is your standard big bus

A report from a Loudoun Bus meeting in May of LAST year shows that per day, the buses have 5,200 passengers on average. And as of May 2011, (a year ago) it passed the 1 million rider mark. I cannot attached PDF or link to it for some reason right now but here is an excerpt from that meeting (found on Google search):

COMMUTER BUS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
Monday, May 16, 2011
Round Hill Room, County Government Center

Ridership Update

Scott Gross reported that ridership on the commuter bus service remains strong. On May 12, at about 7:30
AM the one millionth rider boarded a commuter bus. This is the first time that Loudoun County Transit has
achieved the one million rides milestone in a fiscal year. Ridership on peak days is approaching 2600, or
5200 passenger trips per day. Many buses continue to experience standees, and staff continues to receive
comments from riders regarding overcrowding.

. . . . ridership on the Tysons Express service continues to grow, and in less than one
year of service, has exceeded the ridership goals established by the Dulles Rail Transportation Management
Plan that is funding this bus service.

[Kensey]

Ridership on peak days is approaching 2600, or 5200 passenger trips per day. Many buses continue to experience standees, and staff continues to receive comments from riders regarding overcrowding.

Hm. That's more than I would have thought (and gives us a ballpark of 100 people per bus run, although maybe not so many going all the way from endpoint to endpoint). That's about 4 six-car trains every morning and evening, and then figure in tourists as well who right now aren't taking the commuter bus but would take Metro.

[KatherineA]

I think that the 100 is about right per bus. The line stretches down a long ways for the full buses. The only stop between Purcellville/Harmony/Leesburg and DC for people to get off is Rosslyn - which I would consider pretty much going all the way to DC.

There are separate buses that go to the Pentagon area, so Pentagon/Chrystal City people have the option to get off in Rosslyn, if they cannot get a "direct" Pentagon route bus. Most of the buses go through DC and about every other one has the Rosslyn stop option - others do not stop until they get to VA Ave and the State Department Building in DC.

Once in awhile there will be tourists on the bus or a day tripper (LFE song please) - usually a mom and 1 child or a couple or a single who is anxious all the way about when to get off the bus in DC. But for more than 2 people, the bus vs. driving probably doesn't pay.

[Chutney Daftcraft]

There would be way too negative of an ROI to run it to Winchester. The expense of it would take a century or so to be made up in fares.

[KatherineA]

I'm thinking Winchester and Metro by 2075.

[derricksonb]

There would be way too negative of an ROI to run it to Winchester. The expense of it would take a century or so to be made up in fares.

That would depend on which federal agency(ies) see the need for an alternative or direct path between their facilities in DC and their remote locations or alternate duty stations and can justify funding the expansion in lieu of ROI via fares.

[Mommyof3]

Loudoun BOS voted today to Opt In for the Silver Line to Ashburn. Yay! now i just hope my taxes don't increase. I don't know if they hashed out the payment option or not. I will have to research. They were tossing around the idea of a tax district that encompassed a 1 mile section and 2 mile section. I fall into the 2 mile section. It will suck if my taxes go way up...hoping they just tax businesses and not residences. :/

[KatherineA]

Thank goodness they did.
I hope your taxes do not go way up.
While I probably won't see the completion before I retire - It will still take a load off the highway commute.