Six Routes Of Planned Bus Rapid Transit Action Plan Would Run Through PWC, Manassas

PRINCE WILLIAM, VA – A Bus Rapid Transit action plan for the development of region-wide bus rapid transit lines involves six routes in Prince William County and Manassas.

Northern Virginia Regional Transportation Authority CEO Monica Backmon recently briefed Prince William County supervisors on the organization’s blueprint for an integrated, connected BRT for Northern Virginia and the Washington Metropolitan area.

The plan lays out 28 BRT routes from Leesburg to Dumfries, linking out to Maryland and Washington, DC, with multiple connection points and routes in Prince William and Manassas.

Backmon detailed the routes that would run through Prince William County and Manassas:

• I-66 Express: Gainesville to Vienna Metro station

• Va. 28 South: Manassas VRE station to Dulles Airport Metro station

• Manassas Connector: VRE Manassas station to NoVA Community College Manassas campus to Manassas Park

• Prince William Parkway: Manassas VRE to Potomac Mills

• I-95 Express: Va. 234 Dumfries commuter lot to Crystal City
• U.S. 1 South: Potomac Mills to Fort Belvoir

According to Backmon, five of the 28 routes are already being advanced, in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria, with more than $880 million invested so far.

If completed by 2045, the NVTA anticipates seeing 47 million riders a year or 143,000 daily.

Backmon called on supervisors to incorporate the BRT plan into their strategic transportation and other plans for the county. She said the NVTA was in talks with state and federal bodies on funding.

Backmon also stressed that BRT is not meant to compete with current bus system, OmniRide, or the Virginia Railway Express. Rather, BRT is intended to build on and link existing county transit. She also asked the county to identify their priorities among the six planned routes in the county.

NVTA plans to adopt the next routes into its long-range planning for the region by late 2027.