West Ox Info.......

[Perry]

I don't know why it wouldn't be any different than what comes out of Arlington now. 

[79MetroExtraMD]

ARLINGTON will close on the 27th of March  and WEST OX will open start operation 3/29/09

There will be a fleet of 110 buses 4200's,4300's,4400's,2000's only.

Routes assigned are 1's,2's,4's,16's,17's,18's,19's,29N.  The old routes will go to royal and four mile more info to come.

What 19s? There is no 19 line. I wonder how long they'll alot for deadhead time going down 66 or 7100 since it's quite a ways from civilization.

[Antozilla]

Chris Zimmerman is actually a petulant child who is extremely vindictive and hold grudges for a very long time. 

[Tritransit Area]

Someone wanting them to have CNG buses doesn't mean they NEED them. Anyways, I like the Orion VIs and all, but they aren't THAT great. let's leave it as is. FMR should get some C40LFs and/or C40LFRs. i want to see these on the 16s, 9s, 7s etc.

A Politics Primer for you folks on the other side of the river:

Chris Zimmerman isn't someone, he just ended a term as WMATA Board Chairman and is a County Supervisor in Arlington...and still sits on the WMATA board.  If HE says CNG, he gets CNG. 

I was once in a room with him and he said Flxibles were horrible buses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRoYoExRMnU  There's some Compressed Natural Gas for Mr. Zimmerman, that Flxible hater....

Bringing this back on topic, how in the world (with Mr. Zimmerman's rule over Arlington) did this depot get built without CNG capabilities?!  It would have been great to house some Orion VIIs over there, and even use it as a depot for weekend service.  Will the Fairfax Connector use it on weekends?

[Perry]

The Arlington division was there for many, many years.  It's an old, antiquated garage that goes back to the days of the private operators in the DC era.  Not sure if it ever used to be a car house or not, but to add CNG would have been difficult since it was so small to begin with.

FMR, also in Arlington, was able to have this added due to the immense size and ability to add such a venture.  The new ART facility also has CNG.

[Tritransit Area]

I think I've seen the Arlington garage while riding the ART 41 to...somewhere in the Ballston area.

I was wondering, though, why West Ox wasn't built with provisions for CNG vehicles.  It might have been a way for the Fairfax to get CNG vehicles added to the fleet.

[Transport]

Fairfax Connector seems to have all of their rehabed RTSs parked at West Ox.  Some 30 foot Connector Orion Vs too.

I saw one WMATA Orion V but couldn't make out the fleet number.

Any updates on how the transition from Arlington -> West Ox will work this Friday/weekend?

[BladensburgB2]

Do anyone know what bus goes by West Ox or its not none?

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

Do anyone know what bus goes by West Ox or its not none?

The nearest one would be Connector's 605 or 621/622/623. That would be in the intersection of West Ox and Post Forest (near the Government Center).

Other than that, there's no bus that goes directly in front of West Ox.

[Perry]

I would assume buses will pull out of Arlington and pull in to West Ox. We're going to do that here in Vegas when Sunset opens and replaces Tompkins.  Buses will pull out in the AM from one pull in to the other in the PM and we'll shuttle the operators back to get their cars.

[BladensburgB2]

Thx NewFlyer

[Transport]

Do anyone know what bus goes by West Ox or its not none?

The nearest one would be Connector's 605 or 621/622/623. That would be in the intersection of West Ox and Post Forest (near the Government Center).

Other than that, there's no bus that goes directly in front of West Ox.

The walk to the front of West Ox (the garage is really along Alliance Drive south of the landfill transfer station across from the Costco and Home Depot) is about 10 minutes+ or so from the Post Forest/West Ox Road intersection.

The 621/622/623 run weekdays only (no weekend connection from Vienna Station); the 605 runs on weekends but not from Metrorail.

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

Do anyone know what bus goes by West Ox or its not none?

The nearest one would be Connector's 605 or 621/622/623. That would be in the intersection of West Ox and Post Forest (near the Government Center).

Other than that, there's no bus that goes directly in front of West Ox.

The walk to the front of West Ox (the garage is really along Alliance Drive south of the landfill transfer station across from the Costco and Home Depot) is about 10 minutes+ or so from the Post Forest/West Ox Road intersection.

The 621/622/623 run weekdays only (no weekend connection from Vienna Station); the 605 runs on weekends but not from Metrorail.

Yeah, but there's always a connection from Fair Oaks Mall. Just take the 2 line from Vienna to Fair Oaks Mall, then the 605 from there.

Otherwise, just take the 620s on a weekday

Now i'm not sure if you can get some good photos like you can in CET...I don't think the new garage is close enough to the I-66 ramp from Fairfax County Pkwy (and even if it was, there's no bus that goes there either)

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Here is a release from Metro, including which routes have been assigned to this garage:

Metrobus service to move from Arlington to new Fairfax County bus garage

For immediate release: March 27, 2009
Arlington bus garage closes and new West Ox facility opens Monday

About 100 Metrobuses will be moving from a cramped World War II-era bus garage in Arlington to a brand new 33-acre bus facility in Fairfax County, Va., this weekend.

On Monday, Metro will begin running 19 bus lines in northern Virginia out of the West Ox facility at West Ox Road between Route 29 and Route 88. Seventy-five Fairfax Connector buses will begin operating out of the facility in June.

"This new state-of-the art bus facility will provide critical infrastructure and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Metrobus and Fairfax Connector buses," said Metro Board Member Catherine Hudgins. "With transit use at record highs, this is good news for Fairfax County and northern Virginia."

The entire facility encompasses 130 acres of which 33 acres make up the bus maintenance, administration, cleaning facilities and employee parking. There also is room for future expansion to accommodate another 150 buses. A county 9-1-1 call center, emergency management and operations center, Virginia State Police Division 7 headquarters and Virginia Department of Transportation Smart Traffic Center also will be located on the campus.

Construction of the nearly $70 million county bus project began in January 2007. Metro's portion accounts for nearly $35 million as part of a 75-year lease with the county.

"This is a good investment," said Metro General Manager John Catoe. "Instead of spending money to update a 1940s-era small bus garage in a busy retail and residential area, we are getting a 21st century maintenance and operations facility with room to grow."

Metro has an agreement to sell the four-acre Arlington bus garage to Shooshan Company for at least $20 million. The developers plan to turn the property into an office, residential and retail project.

The following Metrobus lines and routes will operate out of the West Ox facility:

Wilson Blvd. – 1A,B,E,F,Z
Fair Oaks-Dunn Loring – 1C
Washington Blvd. – 2A,B,C,G
Tysons Corner-Dunn Loring – 2T
Vienna-Oakton – 2W*
Centreville South – 12A,E,F,G*
Centreville North – 12C,D*
Little Rocky Run-Vienna – 12L,M*
Stringfellow Rd.-Vienna – 12R,S*
Chain Bridge Rd. – 15K,L
GMU-Tysons Corner – 15M
Kings Park – 17A,B,F,M
Kings Park Express – 17G,H,K,L
Orange Hunt – 18G,H,J
Burke Centre – 18P,R,S
Chantilly-Greenbriar – 20F,W,X,Y*
McLean Hamlet-E. Falls Church – 24T
Tysons Corner-W. Falls Church – 28T
Alexandria-Fairfax – 29K,N

*Fairfax Connector will take over the 2W, 12's and 20's in June 2009, operating out of West Ox garage. The Connector will also operate some of its other routes out of West Ox.

[OrionFlyer]

It seems as though wmata employee didn't know what he was talking about regarding which bus routes are going to be assigned to West Ox division. The 16 line? Yeah right! I didn't even really believed that West Ox would do the 16. Its too far away. And why on earth would the 4 operate from that division? And there is no 19. Wth?