VA Funds Help Keep Arlington Buses Running During Coronavirus

ARLINGTON, VA — Bus riders in Arlington trying to make it to work during the coronavirus pandemic are getting a boost from the State of Virginia, thanks to an agreement between the county and Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

The Arlington County Board on Monday accepted $420,926 in state grant funds to help pay for local transit operations during the pandemic.

“This assistance will help us all get through this crisis by supporting our much-needed transit operations,” Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said, in a release. “To those of you who still must go to work, and must use transit to get there, remember that ART rides are free during this emergency. Please stay safe as you ride, by washing your hands before and after you ride and maintaining distance from other passengers. If you are sick, do not ride the bus.”

Board members voted 4-0 on Monday to accept the funding.

Earlier in March, Arlington Transit (ART) altered its services in response to the the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. This included asking all riders to board its buses using the rear doors only and suspending all fare collection on all its buses since the fare box is located at the front door.

In addition to these changes, ART will continue to deep clean and sanitize each of its buses at the end of each night in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority also started the same procedures for its buses. All Metrobus riders must enter and exit buses through the rear door. The decision to instruct customers to enter through the rear doors of a Metrobus was made at the request of the leadership of the union that represents Metro bus and train employees.

On March 26, Metro closed the East Falls Church, Virginia Square and Clarendon and Metro Stations, impacting riders of ART 41, 42, 55 and 77. Buses will stop at/near these stations, but riders will not be able to enter the stations to access Metrorail.

ART will continue to operate Saturday service on ART 41, 42, 45, 51, 55, 77 and 87 with the following changes:

• ART 42 & 87 will terminate at the Pentagon instead of Pentagon City
• ART 45 will start on hour early at 6:30 a.m.
• ART 43 will operate every 20 minutes from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. following its weekday route

All other ART routes will not be operating. For more information, call 703-228-RIDE (7433) or visit the Arlington Transit website.