Mass_Transit_March_2020 - 16

DASH
for Fiscal Year 2020-2021. Service
enhancements on these routes began in October 2019.
The AT1 route was rebranded with specially wrapped buses to the AT1 Plus route thanks
to these service improvements,
which increased peak headways
from 15 minutes to 10 minutes
and off-peak headways improved
with longer hours of service. Solar-powered, real-time displays
were installed to provide bus arrival information.
The AT9 route also saw an
increase in peak headways from
30 minutes to 20 minutes and
off-peak headways improved with
longer hours of service. Funding
also allowed DASH to begin a
brand-new Sunday service on the
AT9 route, which has been averaging more than 250 riders per day.
"The effects of that funding
and that expansion of service are
a demonstration of the goals of the
ATV Plan," Baker said. "[This is
the] first step for us in the implementation of the plan and [it
has] already shown what an impact that makes on the usability
of that service."

And there's more
service to come

The AT1 Plus route serves as a
precursor to the West End Transitway BRT and is meant to build
ridership in the corridor before
the BRT is scheduled to open in
2028. This route is planned to
run between the Van Dorn Street
Metrorail station and up to the
Pentagon area with key stops at
Landmark Mall/Van Dorn Street
commercial areas, Kingstowne,
the Mark Center and Shirlington.
This route has received preliminary funding and is starting to
move forward, according to Baker.
The other BRT corridor, Duke
Street, is in the early planning stages and would connect Alexandria
to Fairfax County to the west. This
corridor would serve the Eisenhower East area, Landmark Mall,
Foxchase, Alexandria Commons,

16 |

portions of Old Town and the King
Street Metrorail Station.
Alexandria's inaugural BRT,
Metroway, began service in 2014
and is operated by WMATA. This
corridor runs between Pentagon
City, Crystal City and Alexandria.
Since Metrorail runs along city
limits, it's difficult to serve the
broader population, and with Alexandria being a densely populated area, DASH needed to identify
key areas of where it could provide
frequent, quality service to more
residents. DASH identified these
three BRT corridors in a feasibility
study completed in 2012 as the best
areas to provide enhanced services
in more areas of the city.
"We have a lot of density [and]
the city is growing," Baker said.
"We're working hard to try and be
focused on the future and being
prepared for that."

Providing more than
better service

With these service improvements
coming to fruition, DASH is
working to ensure the community can make use of the system
easily and efficiently. Specifically,
DASH has diverted resources to
improve its real-time offerings to
provide more useful information
for riders. So far, DASH has installed real-time passenger displays throughout the system at
bus stops and transit centers.
"[We're really] trying to reduce
the barriers of not knowing when
your bus is coming," Barna said.
"We're also trying to improve the
accuracy of our real-time information [because] if the information is not accurate that can often
be a hindrance."
DASH is also expanding
into the mobile ticketing realm
thanks to a year-long pilot with
the DASH bus app, which allows riders to purchase bus fares
from their phone. With the mobile ticketing pilot coming to an
end, Barna says DASH will look
into how it can expand that to a
more regional offering and incor-

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | MARCH 2020

A DASH employee
explains the
mobile app to
a rider. DASH
piloted a mobile
ticketing app for
one year and is
now looking to
add additional
rider amenities to
the app.

porate other rider amenities into
the app such as trip planning and
real-time information.
"We are, as far as I know, the
first bus agency in our area to do a
mobile ticketing app," Barna said.

Building towards a
greater transit vision

Whether it's creating a transit
system that works for everyone
or providing more useful information to make use of said system,
DASH keeps the community in
mind. From the conceptual design
of the network to the individual
routes, the community informed
DASH of how it wanted to see the
service evolve to serve the average rider, not just the nine-to-five
commuter.
"Providing higher quality service will draw more people to the
system," Baker said. "...We expect
a lot of people to locate themselves
in Alexandria. It's an easy commute; it's a great community [and]
they're going to have to ride DASH
and Metrorail to get to work."
By providing more relevant
service and more useful information, DASH is working to provide
a system that is by the people and
for the people.

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