Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Public Transportation in Northern Virginia: Fairfax County Connector

For anyone who has taken Metrobus they probably have a few war stories.  I found Metrobuses to be perenially late, never on schedule, and containing poorly functioning A/C and heat.  I also found them to take the most nonsensical circuitous routes.  Quite often I could have walked faster than taking the bus.

You can only imagine my surprise then when I took my first bus run by the Fairfax County Connector (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/connector/).  Evidently the Connector took over from Metrobus a number of years ago because the County thought they could do a better job.  They were certainly right.  The Connector buses are clean, spacious, and modern.  They stick to a very strict schedule and are only late for reasons out of their control.  They also refuse to let their buses pile up leaving huge time gaps in service.

Furthermore, they generally only have 1 or 2 stops at most so they make for a quick and efficient ride.  It is such a nice atmosphere that I have met a number of people on the bus.  A few have even become friends.

Hopefully your experiences have been similar on the Connector.

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