The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission on June 1 called an audible, opting to provide the Arlington County government $566,000 to enable free rides on certain Arlington Transit (ART) buses over a five-month period.
The plan aims to increase ART ridership, which was hit hard during the pandemic and has been slow to recover, staff of the regional transit body said.
Funding will be redirected from a previously approved and funded initiative that had provided Arlington officials with marketing funds to support commuter programs. The $566,000 in funding to support free ART rides is what remains of the $1.35 million in funding for the other effort.
“Besides moving more people through the I-66 corridor more efficiently through greater use of existing transit services, the free-fare campaign will help rejuvenate ART ridership that remains at about half of pre-pandemic levels,” Northern Virginia Transportation Commission staff said.
Arlington officials say the plan to provide free rides on peak-period, peak-direction morning buses is expected to add 67 additional riders per morning, up 10 percent, through the Interstate 66 corridor. No start date for the effort has been set.
The five-month program will provide free rides to all riders on the specified routes, not just new travelers. Given the roughly 6,700 new riders expected during the period, the cost of the initiative works out to $84.50 per additional trip expected to be taken.
The current fare for ART trips is $2.
