<p>For anyone planning travel to Va., an extension of the DC Metro system opened up this weekend. It now is much closer to Dulles Airport. The actual connection to Dulles won’t be done until 2018. However, there is a cheap public bus from the end of the new “Silver Line” to Dulles. </p>
<p>Once you get on the Metro system, you can get to Cville via Amtrak (from DC Union Station and Alexandria), from Greyhound buses, or from a commercial bus service that travels to the Metro system from the first year dorms on weekends. </p>
<p>I checked out the Silver Line today. Same old cars, but at least the escalators work in the new stations. However, only a couple of the new stations have any parking, and some don’t even have “kiss and ride” facilities. </p>
<p>The new Silver Line trains cannibalized time slots from the Blue and Orange Lines. They have maxed out the frequency of trains they can get through the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom.</p>
<p>Some of the new Silver Line riders previously drove or bused down to catch the Orange Line. Some are going in the other direction to work in Tysons Corner. </p>
<p>If your stop is EFC or closer in, you will see a net increase of available trains and a net decrease of passenger density per train. If you still take the Orange Line from WFC or farther out, you’ll see a net decrease in the number of trains, and probably similar passenger density as some riders are on the Silver Line now. If you take the Blue Line, you’ll see a net decrease of available trains for the same passengers, and thus an increase in passenger density.</p>
<p>The (very reasonably priced) private bus service to/from VT and UVA, Home Ride of Virginia, ends at Vienna Metro station (Orange Line).</p>
<p>I’m actually very surprised that they would build any new above ground stations without K&R lanes.</p>
<p>Interesting, FCC. A large number of bus routes were also changed in the area, which confused many riders.</p>
<p>Here’s some info on the $5 bus route from Dulles to the Metro station. It is not hard to transfer to the Orange line to go west to the Vienna station from the Silver Line.</p>
<p>I commute from Arlington to DC and overall, the SL is having a positive impact. Previously jammed to the max Orange Line trains in the morning and afternoon are now full, but folks don’t have to be packed like sardines/shove on&off trains/have to wait for another train. The SL has less folks on the trains overall in the AM and PM than the OL, but the OL passenger density has definitely decreased, making me think that most SL riders are people that have shifted from OL to SL. The SL has gotten steadily more passenger density as the week wore on, also leading me to the conclusion that people who didn’t previously Metro are starting to use it. It will be interesting once the fall comes to see the density on both lines as folks return from summer vacations. The BL, from what I’ve heard, hasn’t been as terrible as folks were expecting.</p>