Politics & Government
Expanded ART Route 45 Connects Rosslyn, Courthouse with Columbia Heights West
Schedule changes and route extensions to several ART buses allow riders to travel further faster.
The Rosslyn and Courthouse urban villages now have direct public transit to Columbia Heights West, thanks to the recently expanded ART bus route 45.
Arlington Transit implemented several schedule and routing changes to the ART 41, 45, 51 and 52 bus routes this week.
The expansion of ART bus route 45 was by far the most costly routing adjustment. While the estimated total gross cost of all four route alterations was $350,000, the cost to reschedule and reroute ART 45 alone came to about $250,000, according to representatives from the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services Transportation Division.
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This comparatively high price is due to the operations cost of the addition of a third bus to the route.
County officials hope the benefits of the new, expanded route justify the expense.
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“By extending the route, we’re providing a direct one-seat ride from the Columbia Heights West community to (the Department of Human Services), and also to the Courthouse and Rosslyn stops on the Metro system,” said Transit Bureau Chief Steve Del Giudice.
“It makes a lot of sense,” said Katie Hudson, an Arlington resident.
Hudson said in the past she had looked into living in the Columbia Pike area, but eventually decided against it, partially due to what she saw as less-than-adequate access to public transportation.
Evidently, she wasn't alone.
“We had a number of requests from the Columbia Heights West neighborhood to have a one-seat ride to Human Services,” said Steve Yaffe, a Transit Services Manager for ART.
The route, which now extends along Columbia Pike to Carlin Springs Road, 8th Road South and South Greenbrier Street, will run every 30 minutes on weekdays from 6:03 a.m. to 7:12 p.m..
The ART 41, one of ART’s most successful lines, now has a new schedule designed to avoid crowding. Weekend service will now run earlier, later and more frequently.
The ART 51 and 52 are both experiencing schedule cost-neutral changes and have been re-routed to swap mid-route portions.
ART typically implements schedule and routing changes like these twice each year.
For more information on the new and expanded ART routes, click here.