Arlington Breaks Ground On New Home For Transit System Operations

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County officials broke ground Wednesday on a 3.5-acre site in the Green Valley neighborhood that will serve as the new operations and maintenance facility for Arlington’s ART transit system.

When completed in 2025, the facility on Shirlington Road will offer storage and maintenance operations for the entire ART fleet, which is expected to top 100 buses. The site also will include an administration building, a shop for preventative maintenance and a three-story employee parking garage.

Currently, ART operations are divided across a bus lot on Shirlington Road, a facility on South Eads Street, a temporary parking site on North Quincy Street and a leased industrial facility on Farrington Road in Alexandria.

"Having a home to provide this critical service is imperative as the County and region continue to grow in population and jobs,” Christian Dorsey, vice chair of the Arlington County Board, said in a statement.

The new project is being funded through partnerships with the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

ART’s 16 routes connect people to neighborhoods, commercial areas and Metrorail stations. In 2019, ART bus served 2.95 million passengers. In coming years, annual ridership is expected to reach 3 million passengers, according to Arlington County.