As I-66 Express Lanes Opening Nears, Commuter Options Outlined

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Interstate 66 Outside the Beltway Express Lanes are on track to open in December 2022, providing a faster travel option between University Boulevard in Gainesville and the Capital Beltway in Prince William and Fairfax Counties. On Wednesday, the I-66 Transportation Management Program briefed regional employers and commuters on travel options and incentives on the new Express Lanes.

The 22.5 miles of new Express Lanes will be located next to three regular lanes on I-66 outside the Capital Beltway. Solo drivers can pay a toll to use the Express Lanes, while vehicles with three or more people carpooling can use the lanes for free with an EZ Pass Flex on HOV mode.

It's possible a western segment of the Express Lanes — Gainesville to Route 28 — could open early in September, but the Virginia Department of Transportation has not yet made a decision.

The Express Lanes opening will pave the way for potential bus service improvements, vanpool and carpool incentives and new park-and-ride lots. Details on each transportation option presented at the briefing are provided below.

New Park-and-Ride Lots

Fatemeh Allahdoust, a transportation planning manager at VDOT, said new park-and-ride lots will provide direct access to the I-66 Express Lanes: Balls Ford Road in the Manassas area, Monument Drive in Fairfax (opening in fall 2023), University Boulevard in Gainesville, and 230 spaces in Haymarket (opened in 2018). The University Boulevard lot has 1,000 spaces that opened in 2019, and another 1,100 spaces are planned.

These park-and-ride lots could be an option for commuters who plan to carpool and use the Express Lanes for free.

"With all of that we will have about 4,200 park-and-ride spaces as these for park-and-ride lots, so quite a bit of availability, and quite a bit of opportunities for...carpooling," said Allahdoust.

OmniRide

OmniRide, a public transit agency serving Prince William County commuters, provides express bus service to employment centers and coordinates carpools. OmniRide currently has bus routes between commuter lots in Prince William County near I-66, but the opening of the Express Lanes will have an impact on those routes.

"Once the Express Lanes are operational, we'll be able to restructure some of our services potentially, because at that time we'll have direct access to the [High Occupancy Toll] lanes from the commuter lots on I-66," said Holly Morello, Transportation Demand Management program manager at OmniRide.

Staff will conduct ridership monitoring once the Express Lanes are open to determine if route adjustments are needed. A new bus route to Reston is also pending approval.

Currently, there are several OmniRide routes serving the I-66 corridor, according to Holly Morello, TDM program manager.

The 601 route the Manassas-downtown DC route with pickup at the Portsmouth Road commuter lot near Manassas Mall. The route serves the Departments of State and Agriculture in DC, with the earliest bus leaving at 4:45 a.m. and arriving at 5:29 a.m. The 602 sister route serves Manassas and the Pentagon, departing at 4:43 a.m. and arriving at 5:37 a.m.

The 611 route connecting Gainesville and downtown DC picks up at the Cushing Road lot next to I-66. It has eight runs to downtown DC with the first departing at 5:03 and arriving at 5:38 a.m. The 612 route connects University Boulevard in Gainesville with the Pentagon and Navy Yard. The bus picks up at the University Boulevard commuter lot with 10 runs (last run only to Pentagon). The first bus picks up at 4:53 a.m., arrives at the Pentagon at 5:38 a.m. and Navy Yard at 6:01 a.m.

The 622 route connects Haymarket to Arlington's Ballston and Rosslyn neighborhoods. There are three runs to Arlington, with the first bus departing at 5:24 a.m. and arriving at destinations at 6:08 a.m. and 6:18 a.m.

Two additional bus routes are express services from Prince William County to Metro stations. The 60 route connects the Portsmouth Road commuter lot in Manassas and the Tysons Corner Metro. The 61 route serves the Limestone commuter lot in Gainesville and heads to the Tysons Corner Metro.

Half-price fares will be offered on the OmniRide express service and OmniRide Metro express at least through June 2023, according to Morello.

Fairfax Connector

Fairfax County's Fairfax Connector is in the planning phase of service change proposals, according to Kyle Davis, a transportation planner with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

The county's transportation department started the planning process by releasing options of different route plans in 2020 and gathered public feedback. From there, a preferred route plan was refined and presented for more public feedback in 2021. Now staff are preparing a final recommendation for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

One of the Fairfax Connector planning areas, Centreville-Chantilly-Vienna-Tysons, includes routes that serve the I-66 corridor. The final plan will be informed by feedback from riders on what they want out of bus service. For this corridor in particular, the transportation department will balance needs to get to Metro stations and travel on local roads.

"A lot of the routes that are in this part of the county, they do center around Vienna Metrorail," said Davis. "However, part of what we are learning and finding out is that a lot of our riders have needs outside of simply getting to Vienna, getting to the Metrorail station. There's also demand for travel on local roads and between different parts of the county that don't have anything to do with traveling to Vienna Metrorail."

Updates on the Fairfax Connector plan will be provided on the county website.

Transform 66 vanpool program

One of the incentives offered for commuters is the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Vanpool Program. This is another carpooling option to use the Express Lanes for free with an EZ pass in HOV mode.

"Our program is designed to reduce the traffic congestion by offering a shared ride option for commuters traveling on i 66 between Haymarket and 495," said Theresa McMullin, the Transform 66 OTB Vanpool program manager.

By forming a new van pool with at least five new riders, the cost is $150 per person each month. All other costs for qualifying vanpools will be covered by the program.

"It's all-inclusive, that is your vehicle lease, your gas, your maintenance on the vehicle, your insurance, all of that is bundled so you have a flat fee for creating this van pool."

The vanpool program is also eligible for the Commuter Connections guaranteed ride home program.

For more information about starting a vanpool, contact McMullin at theresa.mcmullin@transform66vanpool.org.

Commuter Connections carpool matching

Not sure where to find a carpool? Commuter Connections has been providing ride matching services since 1974. The CarpoolNow app is a real-time app to find and schedule carpools, and there is an incentive program for participating drivers. For more information about ride matching, visit www.commuterconnections.org.

Arlington Sustain and Save

The Arlington Sustain and Save program provides an incentive for employees working in Arlington County within three miles of I-66. Employees at participating employers can switch from driving to an alternative form of transportation to receive the $100 incentive each month. Employers must sign up to participate.

"So any of the options that we've talked today, carpool, vanpool public transit, and walking and biking to work at least eight days out of the month, can receive $100 a month," said Katie Thompson, a business development manager at Arlington Transportation Partners.

Find more information about Arlington Sustain and Save here.

For the latest updates on the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project, visit outside.transform66.org.