News

Regional transportation news stories compiled by CommuterPage.com. Subscribe to a daily email with the most recent news, recent ACCS blog posts, and upcoming events. Every CommuterPage.com News email includes an "unsubscribe" link.

2025 election results: More than 80% of U.S. public transit measures pass

Ballot measures ranged from bonds, millage funding and taxes to enshrine funding for agencies, to the establishment of a new regional transportation authority and adjusting policy to make building transit more streamlined.  Read more...
Noah Kolenda, November 7, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

HRT's OnDemand transit extended through end of year

Hampton Roads Transit is extending its OnDemand microtransit pilot program through the end of the year after seeing strong ridership in Virginia Beach and Newport News. Read more...
Marta Berglund, November 5, 2025, 13 News Now

Public transit agencies offering free fares for SNAP recipients as U.S. government shutdown reaches record high

Many public transit agencies offer reduced fare programs for SNAP members to remove transportation as a barrier for accessing food, employment and medical services. With the shutdown reaching a record high, some transit agencies have decided to offer free fares for those with SNAP benefits.  Read more...
November 6, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

State legislators propose $400M more in annual Northern Va. transit funding

The $400 million would cover additional funding to support Metro, Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and local transit agencies in a swath running from the inner suburbs west to Loudoun County and south to Spotsylvania County. Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, November 6, 2025, FFXNow

Metro honors veterans with patriotic trains and buses for Veterans Day

Metro is especially proud of the many veterans who work for the agency. As one of the region’s largest employers, nearly 25% of its workforce has served our country in the military. In recognition of their service and the contributions of all veterans in our community, Metro will feature red, white, and blue stars and stripes vehicle wraps until the end of November. Read more...
November 6, 2025, WMATA

Virginia's blue wave raises hopes for progress on Metro funding, regional transit projects

When it comes to funding Metro, Stanford said partisan politics are less likely to impact a tri-jurisdictional initiative to equip the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority with $460 million in new capital funding in 2028.  Read more...
Nate Doughty, November 6, 2025, Washington Business Journal

DASH begins construction on facility expansion for battery-electric bus charging

The project is also getting additional support from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) in the form of land, providing space for DASH’s growing fleet and electric vehicle infrastructure. Read more...
November 5, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

D.C. Streetcar operator RATP Dev laying off 52 workers ahead of service shutdown

The streetcar layoffs were expected after DDOT announced in October that the service would be discontinued in March, more than a full year earlier than previously planned.  Read more...
Alan Kline, November 5, 2025, Washington Business Journal

Commuters lost nearly 8 work days in 2024 to record-high traffic levels, report finds

The institution’s 2025 Urban Mobility Report found that auto traffic resulted in an average of 63 hours lost per driver, as well as a 16% increase in national congestion costs over the previous five years, topping $269 billion per year. Read more...
Ryan Golden, November 3, 2025, Smart Cities Dive

DC Streetcar to shut down service March 31, 2026

DC Streetcar will begin reducing service prior to the full shutdown. Those service adjustments will begin Jan. 4, 2026, and feature the elimination of Sunday service, as well as revised operating hours with 20-minute headway.  Read more...
November 4, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

How the Transit app is redefining what it means to move without a car

Although Transit's success is in telling people when their bus is coming, it's also in listening. Most of the time, people need more than just accurate transit service updates. Through constant app engagement and user feedback loops, the platform has become a direct line between riders and the agencies that serve them.  Read more...
Elora Haynes, November 3, 2025, Metro Magazine

MDOT launches new rewards program to encourage transit use

The rewards program encourages commuters and new transit users and employers take advantage of services offered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), including local bus, metro subway, light rail, commuter bus and MARC train.   Read more...
November 3, 2025, Mass Transit Magazine

Is a 'Life After Cars' really possible?

What will it take to wake more of the world up to the dangers of mass automobility — and could a book be help Americans imagine a future beyond car dominance?  Read more...
Kea Wilson, November 4, 2025, Streetsblog USA

Comments now open on DDOT's Columbia Heights crosstown bus priority project

The Columbia Heights crosstown project will make improvements to 14th Street NW, Irving Street NW, Mount Pleasant Street NW, and Columbia Road NW, as well as a small section of streets around Raubat Park. Read more...
Pete Rodrigue, November 3, 2025, Greater Greater Washington

Average gasoline prices in Virginia have risen in the last week: GasBuddy

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Virginia was priced at $2.39/g on Sunday, while the most expensive was $3.99/g, a difference of $1.60/g. The lowest price in the state on Sunday was $2.39/g while the highest was $3.99/g, a difference of $1.60/g. Read more...
Kaylee Shipley, November 3, 2025, ABC7 News

Ride for Your Life: Join us November 16 to demand safer streets

The 2025 Ride for Your Life will rally support for the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act (HR 2011 / S 944)—a bill in Congress that would give states more flexibility to use federal highway funds for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.  Read more...
November 2, 2025, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling

County board OKs eminent domain to acquire land along Route 1 BRT project

County officials already have reached agreements with a number of property owners in the first of what will be multiple rounds of land acquisition paving the way for the BRT project, to be known as “The One” in a nod to Richmond Highway’s designation as U.S. Route 1. Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, October 31, 2025, FFXNow

Blue Line Corridor Coalition aims to keep revitalization alive in this part of Maryland

A group of developers, elected leaders, business owners and residents came together Wednesday to celebrate the creation of the Blue Line Corridor Coalition. It’s a group that aims to bring together all the stakeholders focused on revitalizing the area closest to the D.C. line and make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction. Read more...
October 31, 2025, Maryland Matters

DC Streetcar service ending on H Street

DDOT said DC Streetcar service will end on March 31, 2026, encouraging people to look into other travel options to use after that date, including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA’s) D20 Metrobus. Read more...
Brian Farrell, October 31, 2025, DC News Now

Task force recommends increasing Metro funding, starting at $460M

The DMV Moves task force approved a nonbinding framework yesterday (Wednesday) for increased, dedicated capital spending in support of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).  Read more...
Scott McCaffrey, October 30, 2025, FFXNow

Reflections on the National Week Without Driving

During the National Week Without Driving (September 29 to October 5, 2025), we invited public officials in DC and members of the public to share their experiences using non-car modes of transportation, highlighting what works well (or not) in our transportation system.  Read more...
Kai Hall, October 29, 2025, Greater Greater Washington

Study: Electric scooters boost rideshare trips but reduce bikeshare demand, raise new safety concerns

Using data from more than eight million rideshare trips, 750,000 bikeshare rides and detailed crime reports across 866 census tracts, they applied a statistical method known as “generalized synthetic control” to measure how e-scooter access changed travel and crime patterns compared to similar neighborhoods without them. Read more...
Phil Ciciora, October 27, 2025, University of Illinois

Alexandria City Council approves $513,000 for paratransit program after staff presents cost-saving measures

DOT Paratransit is a specialized transportation service for residents and visitors who cannot use fixed-route public transit due to a disability. To use the service, residents must submit an application to the paratransit coordinator. Read more...
Ryan Belmore, October 29, 2025, ALXNow

Proposed $460M funding plan promises streamlined Metro travel in DC, Maryland and Virginia

There are 14 separate transit operators in the region, which can make travel complicated. The DMV Moves plan aims to streamline that, creating one coordinated vision for regional transit across three states. Read more...
Kelly Vaughen, October 30, 2025, WUSA9

Flying ferries could speed commutes across Potomac

In the D.C. area, it says it could take passengers from Georgetown to Reagan National Airport. It says the ferries would be faster and cheaper to operate than the water taxis that run from Alexandria, the Wharf and National Harbor. Read more...
Rachel Weiner, September 29, 2025, The Washington Post

CaBi sustains annual growth as September ridership dips

Members carried the system in September, accounting for 70.2% of all trips. E-bikes again proved dominant, as 64.1% of all rides were on the electric models rather than the classic red bikes. Read more...
Samuel Littauer, October 29, 2025, Greater Greater Washington

Officials celebrate $11M overhaul of bike and pedestrian infrastructure on Army Navy Drive

“By reducing congestion, expanding transportation options, and enhancing safety, this project helps everyone traveling through Arlington and beyond enjoy a more reliable and connected regional transportation network,” NVTA Chair Phyllis Randall said in a release. Read more...
Dan Egitto, October 29, 2025, ARLNow

Metro seeks funding boost to replace outdated rail signaling system, promises fewer delays

On Wednesday, a group of regional leaders called the DMVMoves Task Force plans to vote on a plan to help Metro get the extra funding the transit agency says it needs to replace the aging signaling system and to pay for other future priorities. Read more...
Tom Roussey, October 28, 2025, ABC7 News

More buses, fewer riders? Thoughts on the ridership vs coverage tradeoff

Generally, if transit is frequent, it has the potential to be useful to a lot of people. The less frequently it comes, the more it loses that opportunity. A focus on ridership means a focus on frequency, and frequency is what makes transit service useful to the most people.  Read more...
Joshua Woods, October 28, 2025, Planetizen

Feedback wanted on proposed Fairfax Connector service changes for 2026

A detour would be made permanent on the Fort Belvoir Express, while Route 983 would see more frequent service on weekends, shortening the gap between buses from an hour to anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. Read more...
Jared Serre, October 28, 2025, FFXNow

DC Streetcar service to end in 2026, a year earlier than originally planned

In a statement, DDOT officials said the decision comes after years of low ridership. They also cited the system’s operational challenges because it ran in mixed traffic, and it also racked up higher costs to maintain and extend the system. Read more...
Diane Morris, October 29, 2025, WTOP

Metro officials say Red Line tech needs major upgrades

Metro compared the scale of the renovations needed on the Red Line to switching from an eight-track tape to a streaming service. Metro Chief Infrastructure Officer Theresa Impastato said they have to teach new employees the “old way” of operating the systems. Read more...
Adam Tuss, October 27, 2025, NBC4 Washington

We're spending more time stuck in traffic than ever

The average U.S. car commuter is spending a record 63 hours annually stuck in traffic amid changes in when and why we drive, a new report finds. Read more...
Alex Fitzpatrick, October 28, 2025, Axios