Metro Shutdown Report Finds Shuttle Bus Concern At 1 Station

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Tuesday was the first work day of the summer-long Metro shutdown of six Yellow and Blue Line stations, and Alexandria officials documented the impact in a report.

The first report from the Alexandria Department of Transportation & Environmental Services covers the Tuesday morning rush hour. A new report on Tuesday afternoon rush hour is expected to be released Wednesday morning.

The report found shuttle buses in Alexandria ran smoothly, for the most part. According to the city's report, King Street-Old Town, Van Dorn Street and Eisenhower Avenue stations had "moderate wait times with little to no crowding."

Meanwhile the Braddock Road Metro had lines with wait times of over 10 minutes. Officials said there was a long gap between buses, then with two shuttles arriving at the same time.

Braddock Road is only served by the Yellow Line shuttle. King Street-Old Town has both Blue and Yellow Line shuttles.

An ABC7 reporter on the scene at King Street Old-Town found riders generally had no issues.

But long lines could be found at Pentagon, where express shuttles ran to and from Franconia-Springfield and Huntington. There were reports of long lines to get on shuttle buses from Huntington in the morning, and one express bus supposed to drop off at the Pentagon reportedly stopped at the Anacostia Metro instead. According to an NBC Washington reporter, Metro contracted out shuttle drivers from other states, and some did not know the routes.

While many commuters were taking shuttles, another travel option the City of Alexandria promoted was underutilized on the first morning. The water taxis, which have a $10 one-way commuter fare, were at 10 percent capacity Tuesday morning. The city says residents can be reimbursed for $8 of the $10 by filling out a form.

As for traffic, the report found travel times increased during the morning rush hour. Travel times on northbound Washington Street were 20 percent higher than usual, and the peak travel time was 7:30 a.m. Northbound Route 1 had 30 percent higher travel times, while Van Dorn Street had 25 to 30 percent higher travel times. There was no difference for westbound King Street between the Metro station and I-395.

If you'd like to submit feedback to Metro on the impact of the shutdown, see the comment form here. Find alternative travel options on Metro's shutdown webpage.