Last year saw the highest DASH ridership in the bus service’s history. This year, DASH beat its own record.
DASH said on Twitter that the final ridership figure for FY 2024 was 5.3 million, up from 4.5 million last year, which in turn beat the network’s record of 4.3 million in 2015.
A cyclist sustained a non-life threatening injury after being struck by a Metro Bus at a busy Alexandria intersection on Sunday afternoon.
The incident occurred at around 4 p.m. in the area of King Street and S. Walter Reed Drive, according to the police scanner. The area is west of the ramps to Interstate 395.
Alexandria’s DASH bus network is getting a new pilot that could make buses less of a hassle for those who use wheelchairs or scooters.
A small number of DASH buses will have the Q’Straint’s Quantum system installed. The system is designed to help those who use mobility assistance devices easily and quickly secure themselves on the bus. According to the release:
If Alexandria wants the transit corridors it dreams of, Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek said it’s going to need to do more to secure federal funding.
In a budget discussion at the Planning Commission meeting last week, Macek noted that there is “no plan to pursue federal money” for two of the major transit corridors in the city budget.
Alexandria is getting $3.5 million in federal funds to pay for public safety, transit, affordable housing and flooding infrastructure projects, Northern Virginia Congressman Don Beyer (D-8th) announced today.
“Even in the minority amid a divided and chaotic Congress, I am laser focused on helping my constituents and benefitting Northern Virginia,” Beyer said in a statement.
The Alexandria School Board approved its fiscal year 2025 $384.4 million combined funds budget request on Thursday night and it is asking City Council for $21 million more than the previous budget. If it goes forward, Mayor Justin Wilson says that the request could mean a reduction in city services.
School Board Members tacked on more than $10 million in additions to Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s proposed budget, a move that prompted Board Members Meagan Alderton and Chris Harris to vote in opposition to it.
Alexandria’s DASH bus system is seeking state funding for a project to add new information screens inside the city’s buses.
A pilot program would install information screens that would help show things like upcoming stops, transfer connections, service alerts and more.
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.
While the plan is to eventually create a new transit hub in the Landmark Mall redevelopment, the city is looking for grant funding to make the key transfer point more bearable in the near term.
The Transportation Commission is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to endorse a grant application to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation for up to $544,000.
Alexandria’s DASH bus network ridership is growing faster than bus networks in Arlington and Fairfax, though not as quickly as local rail ridership.
A report to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission showed that DASH had a 17% increase in ridership from August 2022 to August 2023.
Alexandria parents are up in arms over a staffing crisis within Alexandria City Public Schools.
Kelly Organek says that her ninth-grade son at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus hasn’t had a geometry teacher since school started in August and that he only recently got a new biology teacher.
