OmniRide is proposing an overhaul of local routes in eastern Prince William County, including adding service to new destinations. The purpose is to create a streamlined, efficient, and more direct service.
New destinations and routes include areas that have been highly requested by passengers.
- New routing in Dumfries will include routing along Route 234/Dumfries Road, down to Waterway Dr.
- Dumfries residents will have access to medical offices along Fettler Park and access to the Target in Fortuna Plaza.
- Lake Ridge residents will have direct access to Potomac Mills and the NOVA campus with new routing along Minnieville Road between Tackett’s Mill and Caton Hill Road.
- Prince William Parkway between Route 1 and the Chinn Center will have dedicated routing.
OmniRide local routes will continue to serve all current service areas.
Flex routing that permits off-route trips will be discontinued and replaced with fixed-route service, which is a more direct and reliable point-to-point service. OmniRide will supplement fixed routes with OmniRide Access paratransit service for people with disabilities operating within three-quarters of a mile of the OmniRide Local bus routes.
OmniRide will hold public hearings and stage various listening events in the community to gain public feedback on the proposed changes. Residents can find dates/times of these hearings and view details of the proposed changes at OmniRide.com. They can email comments to: [email protected] or complete the online public hearing form.
Local commuters who use OmniRide buses to get to Washington, D.C., the Pentagon and Tysons Corner will see their fares rise from $6.90 to $9 each way on July 1, as part of an effort to raise more revenue for the bus system, which is pressed by lower commuter ridership and rising costs.
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OmniRide's board of directors, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, will meet on Thursday, April 6, and is expected to authorize a $1.6 million micro-transit service for the Dumfries and Quanitco areas.
According to OmniRide, the service would work alongside regular OmniRide Local buses, which service Route 1 in the Dumfries and Woodbridge areas.
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A groundbreaking ceremony signaled the start of work on a $54 million, seven-story parking garage near Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge.
The garage will sit in an area once earmarked for a Minor League Baseball stadium built eventually in Fredericksburg in 2019. The garage will serve as a transit hub in eastern Prince William County, replacing the nearby OmniRide transit center as a central bus transfer point.
Officials said that a soon-to-be-built ramp from the Interstate 95 E-ZPass Express to Opitz Boulevard would provide easy access to the garage.
Work on the new garage comes after union drivers at OmniRide ended a month-long strike, leaving commuters who rely on the bus to get them to and from Washington, D.C., without a ride.
Workers ended the strike after OmniRide agreed to pay them $12 million more over four years.
More in a press release:
OmniRide will restore more services on Monday, March 13, 2023, after union workers voted to end a month-long strike, demanding $12 million more from the transportation agency over four years.
OmniRide commuter buses serve Prince William and Stafford counties, while the agency’s local buses serve Prince William County and Manassas.
OmniRide says:
Union members have voted to accept the latest Keolis contract offer. OmniRide buses will resume service on Monday, March 12. Service will operate as described below.
These Express commuter routes will run:
D-100 Dale City – Washington
D-200 Dale City – Pentagon/Rosslyn/Ballston
D-300 Dale City – Navy Yard
MC-200 Montclair – Pentagon
942 Stafford – Pentagon
611 Gainesville/Manassas – Washington
612 Gainesville – Pentagon/L’Enfant/Navy Yard
Other Express commuter routes will operate as manpower is available.
Metro Express, Local, East-West Express, Connect microtransit and Access paratransit services will operate according to regular published schedules. For Local routes in eastern Prince William, the transfer hub will return to the OmniRide Transit Center.
OmniRide is happy to welcome all our riders back!
It's been nearly a month since OmniRide drivers went on strike, leaving those in Prince William and Stafford counties without a guaranteed ride.
Today, Teamsters Local 639 is set to take a vote on a new contract that could end the strike today at noon.
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A bus driver strike at OmniRide, the regional transportation commission, is four weeks old, but there are signs of limited restored service.
Buses began rolling this afternoon from the transit center in Woodbridge to serve the route between Horner Road Commuter Lot, near Potomac Mills mall, to the Pentagon.
It’s the first time commuter buses have rolled since workers walked off the job last month, demanding higher pay despite a 17% pay increase in the upcoming annual budget.
OmniRide says it’s working to restore more commuter service as manpower permits. Additionally, some local routes have service.
Many commuters have been left stranded by the transit system boasting rebounding ridership levels after massive declines during the pandemic.
From OmniRide:
Good news…first OmniRide Express bus rolls off the lot! OmniRide Express commuter bus will resume service between the Pentagon and Horner Road Commuter Lot this afternoon — acting as shuttle for passengers. The first trip will leave the Pentagon at 2:15PM. It’s a small one but still a step in the right direction. See the shuttle schedule here.
OmniRide, the regional commuter bus provider, hinted at expanding service in Stafford County and offering service in Spotsylvania County for the first time.
The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reports the transit service plans to expand its operations in Stafford County from the Staffordboro Commuter Lot off Route 610 in North Stafford to commuter lots on Courthouse Road and off Route 17 and in the county's central and southern sections, respectively.
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Here's a full list of schedule changes. The biggest on the list -- OmniRide Express buses in Prince Willliam and Stafford counties, with service to Washington, D.C. -- will not operate today due to an "extreme" shortage of drivers.
We asked Victor Angry, chairman of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, which oversees the operation of OmniRide and Virginia Railway Express trains, about the strike.
