If Metrobus service is cut back, as WMATA has threatened, several Alexandria lines could be on the chopping block.
General Manager Randy Clarke warned that bus service cuts and job cuts are imminent if the transit agency doesn’t close its $750 million budget gap, adding that he said it’s time for a regional tax to permanently fund WMATA.
Under the drastic cuts proposed by Clarke, all stations would close at 10 p.m., train frequency would drop, and ten stations would be shut down. Among the stations being considered for a shutdown is Alexandria’s new Potomac Yard station, which is also the centerpiece of transit plans for the new Monumental arena.
Clarke also released a list of bus routes, nearly half the Metrobus lines, that would be cut or have reduced service. Many of those routes in Alexandria go through the West End to connect to the Pentagon
The Metrobus lines in Alexandria that would be cut include:
- Route 8W runs through the West End to the Pentagon
- Routes 17B, 17G, 17K and 17M, also running through West End to the Pentagon
- Routes 18G, 18J, 18P, which go through Springfield, up into Alexandria’s West End, and finish at the Pentagon
- Route 21C from Landmark to the Pentagon
- Route 22A through Parkfairfax and the Bradlee Shopping Center up to the Pentagon
- Route 22F from Northern Virginia Community College up to the Pentagon
- Route 28F from S. George Mason Drive up to the Pentagon
- Route 29G from Annandale, through the West End, up to the Pentagon
- Route MW1 from the Braddock Road Metro station to Pentagon City
- Route NH2 from the King Street Metro station to National Harbor
Other routes in Alexandria could see reduced service, including:
- Route 7A from the Van Dorn Metro station up to the Pentagon Metro station
- Route 28A from the King Street Metro station to Tysons
- Route 29K from the King Street Metro station to George Mason University
- Route 29N from the King Street Metro station to the City of Fairfax
State Sen. Adam Ebbin previously said that Metro funding is a ‘prerequisite‘ for Potomac Yard plans and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget proposal includes the possibility for Metro to receive increased local funding.