For the first time, OmniRide buses could roll in Stafford

STAFFORD — The Omniride commuter bus service is considering commuter expanding to Stafford County.

At the transit agency’s Board of Commissioner’s meeting on May 2, new options for OmniRide to help get cars off busy Interstate 95s and 395 during an expansion of the E-ZPass Express Lanes.

Long focused on providing commuter and local bus service in Prince William County, OmniRide officials are focused on a new service that would take commuter bus riders boarding at the Staffordboro Commuter Lot on Route 610 in North Stafford to points in Arlington and Washington D.C.

Two lines will run from Staffordsboro to both the Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza. These new lines will join other commuter options already available at the lot such as car and vanpool, slugging, and existing commuter buses privately operated by the Martz bus company which are contracted and paid for by Stafford County.

The two proposed OmniRide lines in North Stafford will have four buses on each route, they will both run at 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. The two new routes are expected to cost a combined $8 million and would be paid for with funds from The I-95/395 Commuter Choice Program, designed to get drivers out of cars into alternative modes of travel.

OmniRide will also seek grants from the I-395 E-ZPass Toll Lanes expansion project.

“In the past, the economics in the [Prince William County] couldn’t justify the costs of running routes in Stafford. With these grants, it’s now viable,” commented OmniRide Executive Director Bob Schneider.

If the new lines open Omniride hopes to offer additional commuting options for Stafford residents and improve regional connections, among them a dedicated service route to the Pentagon.

These buses would be the OmniRide buses to operate in Stafford County. Local bus riders in Stafford have been served by Fredericksburg’s FredBus since 2001, which provides service along Routes 1 and 610.

Stafford County has long had a seat on the OmniRide Board of Commissioners in spite of not having OmniRide bus service in the County. Stafford’s funding to the OmniRide and Virginia Railway Express commuter railroad parent organization, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, has been confined to funding VRE.

Stafford County’s membership on the board allows them to take advantage of the 2.1% Motor Fuels Tax, the tax is used for transportation improvements in the region.

Stafford County is currently represented on the OmniRide commission by Rock Hill Supervisor Wendy Maurer and Garrisonville Supervisor L. Mark Dudenhefer.

Officials will evaluate the project during May and June with a public comment period to be open through August and September. A final decision on the service is expected in October.