News

Regional transportation news stories compiled by CommuterPage.com. Subscribe to a daily email with the most recent news, recent ACCS blog posts, and upcoming events. Every CommuterPage.com News email includes an "unsubscribe" link.

Service resumes after fallen fence causes Metro delays

Metro service on the Orange and Silver lines was affected after a chain-link fence fell on an overpass Saturday. The fence landed on the tracks and damaged part of Metro's fence. However, in an update early Sunday, Metro said service on the lines had resumed. Read more...
March 23, 2025, DC News Now

Beyond congestion pricing: strategies for revolutionizing urban mobility

Perhaps most significantly, the congestion pricing initiative has catalyzed a notable shift toward public transportation. Weekday bus ridership has grown by 6 percent, while weekend ridership has surged by an impressive 21 percent compared to January 2024. Read more...
Timothy Menard, March 24, 2025, Planetizen

DC Metro on target to exceed 1 million daily riders

The large growth in ridership comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office mandating all federal workers return to work in-person, but commuter traffic was already on the upswing prior to Trump’s order. Read more...
Elaine Mallon, March 23, 2025, Washington Examiner

DASH wants public input on bus expansion into Arlandria

The preferred alternative (out of four) would be to add bus service from the Potomac Yard Metro station to Arlandria and the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center. Read more...
James Cullum, March 20, 2025, ALXNow

DC Circulator buses hit auction block with bids starting at $1,000

With the auctions ongoing, there's still time for interested buyers to snag a piece of D.C. transit history. If you've ever dreamed of owning a Circulator-branded bus, now might be your chance. Read more...
Sophie Rosenthal, March 19, 2025, WUSA9

DOT takes aim at transit systems in NYC, DC and California

The Trump administration is ramping up its pressure campaign against Democratic-led states and cities, saying this week that it could withhold funding from New York City’s subways unless local officials turn over information about transit crime and safety funding. Read more...
Mike Lee, March 20, 2025, E&E News

Competitive mass transit: using technology and data to revolutionize city commutes

The program's immediate impacts have not only successfully reduced traffic congestion but also significantly boosted ridership on mass transit options. Read more...
Timothy Menard, March 19, 2025, Metro Magazine

How much money do motorists lose each year commuting on roads in Maryland?

The average driver in the D.C. area loses $3,464 each year due to driving on local and state roads that are deteriorated, congested or are without some safety features, according to a new report by TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit based in D.C. Read more...
Mike Murillo, March 20, 2025, WTOP

Letter to the editor: We need better transit before adding density

Having navigated all my life a transit landscape that was insufficient for my needs, I crave the time when our society embraces the aspirational vision of walkable, bikeable neighborhoods, towns and cities that are fully interconnected by frequent, affordable, fast, safe, accessible and reliable public transit. Read more...
Aaron B. Cohen, March 18, 2025, Evanston Roundtable

USDOT could pull green infrastructure grants

According to an explainer from Transportation for America, the memo applies to projects whose funding has not yet been fully obligated. “Projects that contain ‘flagged activities’ could be revised, even if they meet all requirements of law, to comply with this administration’s agenda.”  Read more...
Diana Ionescu, March 18, 2025, Planetizen

Metro expects cherry blossom ridership boom but faces budget constraints

While the cherry blossom crowds and return-to-office orders for federal workers are good news for Metro, ideas like opening the system an hour earlier and closing an hour later on the weekends may be a challenge given the current financial climate in the DMV. Read more...
Adam Tuss, March 17, 2025, NBC4 Washington

Up to $51B in transportation grant awards at risk, advocacy group says

Examples of programs that could be impacted include the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program: just $515 million has been obligated across 979 grants, leaving nearly $2.4 billion at risk.  Read more...
Dan Zukowski, March 17, 2025, Smart Cities Dive

OmniRide sees ridership surge, but funding challenges loom

With more passengers relying on OmniRide’s commuter services, the University Boulevard commuter lot has seen a significant increase in usage. Routes 611, 612, and 622 from the lot now carry over 1,700 passengers daily. Read more...
Uriah Kiser, March 17, 2025, Potomac Local News

COVID-19 and rail, five years later

Local rail transit was cut almost everywhere, with wider headways between runs. Many providers shortened the service day by shutting down earlier in the evening than under “normal service” times. Bus service was generally hit harder than rail service.  Read more...
David Peter Alan, March 17, 2025, Railway Age

Tell the US DOT to keep bike lane funding moving

If this freeze holds, many projects aimed at making our streets safer and more accessible may never break ground. Some projects already in progress will stop immediately, leaving dangerous streets unchanged and communities without the infrastructure they need. Read more...
March 17, 2025, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling

What the proposed federal budget means for transit, rail

The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed budget for FY 2025 increases public transit investment by under 1 percent from last year, while passenger rail funding is decreased by 1 percent.  Read more...
Diana Ionescu, March 16, 2025, Planetizen

Cherry blossoms, federal workforce and more: How Metro will handle more riders

Metro has seen an increase of riders since the pandemic and will now see even more as federal workers return to the office and people visit the cherry blossoms.  Read more...
Adam Tuss, March 16, 2025, NBC4 Washington

They met on Metro, got engaged on Amtrak and will ride forward together

The transit enthusiasts went on to roll through Reykjavik, Iceland, blaze through Britain and cruise around California — navigating every kink in the track, enduring each interminable delay and rerouting around changes in service side by side (including, to them, the heartbreaking closure of D.C.’s Circulator bus in December). Read more...
Dana Munro, March 15, 2025, The Washington Post

Transit agencies continue to add zero-emission buses to their fleets

More than 7,000 full-size battery and fuel-cell electric buses are in use or on the way, according to Calstart’s latest report, but shifting federal policies could affect future growth. Read more...
Dan Zukowski, March 14, 2025, Smart Cities Dive

Transitway expansion means yearlong road closure in Pentagon City

The work, which will take place between S. Eads Street and S. Fern Street, is not expected to impact pedestrian access. Parking garages for buildings fronting 12th Street will be accessible via side streets. Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, March 14, 2025, ARLNow

Metro facing $200M loss, layoffs if Congress forces DC budget cut

As the Friday deadline for a federal spending deal approaches, Metro is watching closely because the transit agency could be directly affected. Read more...
Adam Tuss, March 13, 2025, NBC4 Washington

Study: Drops in transit ridership linked to extreme weather

As extreme weather events become more common, this could hinder efforts to encourage transit use and reduce transportation emissions. Weather also impacts transit infrastructure. Read more...
Diana Ionescu, March 13, 2025, Planetizen

New approaches to procurement can drive innovation in public transit

The most common theme at the event was the transition from traditional commuter schedules — shuttling 9-to-5 workers into central business districts in the morning and out to the suburbs after work — to a regional rail model including more midday, evening and weekend service, accommodating both the modern workday rider and the leisure rider. Read more...
Gabriel J. Lopez-Bernal, March 13, 2025, Smart Cities Dive

More clarity on funding options for Metro and other transit expected this month

“We do expect information to be shared” at the next meeting of the DMV Moves task force, Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) Executive Director Kate Mattice told the commission’s board at a meeting last Thursday (March 6). Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, March 13, 2025, FFXNow

Virginia commissions approve $155 million Manassas rail line agreement

The ownership rights will also give VRE the Broad Run Corridor from Alexandria to Broad Run, the permanent easement to five station platforms and the permanent commuter rail operating easement along the Manassas Line. Read more...
Nathaniel Cline, March 8, 2025, Inside NoVa

All aboard the blossom express! Limited-edition cherry blossom Metro cards available Saturday

This is the third year Metro has wrapped a train and three buses in a special cherry blossom theme. The 2025 design features a bright blue background, pink blooms and a Japanese rising sun. The vehicles are expected to make their debut on March 21.  Read more...
Samantha Gilstrap, March 12, 2025, WUSA9

Amtrak, Rexmark reach settlement agreement on Washington Union Station

Amtrak notes Washington Union Station is one of the nation’s most historic and busiest multimodal hubs and serves the many travelers and visitors that use the station.  Read more...
March 12, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

U.S. DOT orders review of all grants related to green infrastructure, bikes

Those efforts were a centerpiece of previous DOT secretary Buttigieg's strategy to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, from which he allocated billions of dollars in discretionary grants to sustainable and equitable modes. Read more...
Gersh Kuntzman, March 12, 2025, Streetsblog USA

Transit services adjust for federal employees returning to work

Ride On bus fares are set at $1 per ride, with free transfers available for federal workers commuting via Metro. Additionally, the MCDOT has been working with federal agencies to expand parking availability near select federal installations. Read more...
Tariq Jernigan, March 11, 2025, Montgomery Community Media

USDOT, MTA, GCRTA take steps to improve safety on public transit

USDOT aims to improve the perception of public transit in Washington, D.C., as federal employees return to the office while the MTA has seen a decrease in crime on its subway system and GCRTA has brought in 14 new transit police officers. Read more...
Brandon Lewis, March 11, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

Cherry blossoms may boost Metro to a post-pandemic ridership high

“If all goes to plan, we’re hoping for our first combined one-million-trip day since the onset of the pandemic,” Paul Smedberg, first vice president of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), said on Thursday (March 6). Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, March 11, 2025, FFXNow

Climate change Is making waiting for transit worse — and it's hurting ridership

A recent study of 43 major U.S. transit networks revealed that ridership dropped during long stretches of rain, heat, or other prolonged extreme weather events that scientists link to climate change, at least in the 17 years between when the National Transit Database began collecting stats and 2019, the last year before the pandemic decimated ridership. Read more...
Kea Wilson, March 12, 2025, Streetsblog USA

No signal? No problem. Meet the new app for navigating D.C. transit

Last month, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority rolled out a partnership with Waymap, a wayfinding app that provides step-by-step audio directions for transit riders. Initially created for people with vision loss, the app aims to help anyone navigate indoor and outdoor locations without access to mobile data or WiFi. Read more...
Maylin Tu, March 11, 2025, Next City

With artificial intelligence, transit fare gates get smarter

Cubic has introduced gates for transit systems that are equipped with technology including artificial intelligence, to differentiate between a rider slipping through a gate without paying and a mother struggling with a stroller. Read more...
March 10, 2025, Government Technology

The tariff saga: How the North American bus market is navigating through the chaos

U.S. bus manufacturing and the larger North American transit bus supply chain has already been experiencing significant challenges, with several original equipment manufacturers planning or already closing operations. Read more...
Megan Perrero, March 10, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

Fairfax Budget Season: Speak up for trails, parks, and multimodal transportation!

Now’s the time to speak up and let county leaders know that investing in multimodal transportation, trails, and bike infrastructure must remain a priority. Read more...
March 10, 2025, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling