Article was in today's Washington Post, as soon as I get some calls that I need to make finished I'll dig up the article and post the text here.
And here is the article:
QuoteFalls Church to end George bus service amid grim budget forecast
[size=-1] By Kafia A. Hosh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 16, 2010; B06
[/size]
Falls Church is terminating its local bus service after eight years because of a bleak budget forecast.
The George bus service (http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/CultureRecreation/GEORGEmain.aspx) runs two routes during rush hour between points in the city and the East Falls Church and West Falls Church Metro stations. During its meeting last week, the City Council voted to end the service Sept. 27.
"There was no readily available means of continuing the service," Falls Church Mayor Nader Baroukh said. "Those are the tough decisions we have to make in a very challenging economic climate."
Falls Church budgeted $30,000 to operate the buses for the first three months of the fiscal year, which began July 1. But the city is facing a grim budget forecast and does not have additional money for the service. Officials said they could no longer afford to maintain the aging bus fleet. To cut costs last year, the city transferred operation of the bus service from Metro to Arlington County, raised the fare from 50 cents to $1 and cut midday service. On July 1, fares rose to $1.50.
Since the bus service launched, it has been popular among commuters. In a letter to the council, Christine Sorenson, who lives just outside the city limits, said she relies on the bus to get to and from work.
"I do not have a car and the GEORGE Bus is the best way to get to the East Falls Church Metro station," Sorenson wrote.
The city pays for the service through a combination of its funds and money from a trust fund that includes gas tax revenue and transit funding from the state. The trust fund is managed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (http://www.thinkoutsidethecar.org/). Dipping further into the trust, which also pays for Falls Church's portion of Metro funding, would result in a $347,000 shortfall next year.
"We're anticipating that we could potentially be in a deficit," Baroukh said. "That was our worry. You don't know what that exact balance is going to be."
George launched in 2002 as a pilot program with four buses that operated on diesel fuel with reduced emissions. It was financed through grants from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, the Virginia Transportation Department (http://www.virginiadot.org/) and the Federal Transit Administration. Metro (http://www.wmata.com/) operated and maintained the buses. Falls Church began funding George in 2005, and Metro continued to operate the system.
The council considered cutting the West Falls Church route and reducing the hours of the East Falls Church route before making its decision to terminate the bus service.
Vice Mayor David F. Snyder was alone among seven council members when he opposed eliminating the bus service. He said the move could jeopardize funding opportunities.
"It seemed to me they're going to be reluctant to assist us in the future when we abandoned something against pretty strong citizen support," he said. "I thought it was shortsighted."
Wonder who gets the buses?
Quote from: Antozilla on August 16, 2010, 01:10:37 PM
Wonder who gets the buses?
When ART took over service last year, ART got the SLF's and has repainted at least one in ART colors. I've seen one in the last week on the 53 crossing Lee Highway to get from Military to Quincy.
Oh wow, the SLFs in ART colors! I'm glad I went out to photograph and ride GEORGE when I had the chance. Tis sad that the service is being discontinued, but that's the reality of the industry today. WMATA ain't the only one with problems.
Quote from: Tritransit Area on August 17, 2010, 09:25:41 AM
Oh wow, the SLFs in ART colors! I'm glad I went out to photograph and ride GEORGE when I had the chance. Tis sad that the service is being discontinued, but that's the reality of the industry today. WMATA ain't the only one with problems.
Those buses were crap to begin with. Those aluminum bodies are no match for the streets around this area. That was why Baltimore got rid of theirs. ART is supposed to be getting some DesignLine buses which may replace these.
As for GEORGE, I only rode it once during the midday as the 26A. We only might have picked up a couple people just wanting to go to West Falls Church. Something about circular buses in Virginia don't seem to attract many riders. Maybe a few years in the future, there might be demand for it again but as of now, it's a dead horse.
The 2009 ridership stats on the WMATA site indicate that the 26A and 26E (listed under the same entry) had a daily average ridership of 199. The 26W had its own entry, average ridership there was 107. The 16L and 24T had similar ridership numbers to the 26A/26E, but the 26W is the least used route in Virginia and in the entire Metrobus system according to the data. Two other NOVA lines had ridership in the low 200s.
The only time I ever rode GEORGE was with the gang several years ago and we had that 3900 series WMATA Orion V on it.
LOL I remember that! That was also when Oren decided to test the penney in the farebox!
The ridership was never great on this route, so I'm not surprised that it's going honestly.
Quote from: rideonrulez on August 18, 2010, 08:31:57 AM
LOL I remember that! That was also when Oren decided to test the penney in the farebox!
The ridership was never great on this route, so I'm not surprised that it's going honestly.
Yeah - That was pretty funny (and loud). Like Perry, that was my one and only time riding GEORGE. I'm rarely going through Falls Church, but many times I've seen GEORGE buses with less then 5 people aboard. Weren't we expecting a SLF that day and was suprised by the shorty Orion V showing up?
I rode it twice, once with the gang and a few weeks earlier on July 4, when I got an SLF. Neither trip was well patronized.
The trip I rode didn't have many people on board at all as well. What other ways are available to connect to the city (?) of Falls Church from the Orange Line?
Quote from: Tritransit Area on August 18, 2010, 02:23:41 PM
The trip I rode didn't have many people on board at all as well. What other ways are available to connect to the city (?) of Falls Church from the Orange Line?
2 line, 3 line, 28 line.