Fairfax Connector is a public transit agency owned and managed by Fairfax County, Virginia. The system operates within Fairfax County and connects to WMATA Metrobus, Washington Metro, and the Virginia Railway Express, as well as other local bus systems. It serves several Fairfax Metro stations and the City of Alexandria. Limited service is also provided to the City of Fairfax, Washington Dulles International Airport, and The Pentagon. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Fairfax Connector services are operated under contract by Transdev, and it operates the third largest bus fleet in Washington Metropolitan Area.
History
1980s Beginning in 1973, Fairfax County had paid the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to provide bus service in the county. By the early 1980s, the county had become one of several local jurisdictions unhappy with the high cost and unpredictability of cost increases for the service, and in 1981 had commissioned a study—at the cost of $58,000—on creating a feeder bus service in the south-east portion of the county. This service was to be based around the Huntington Metro station then being constructed in that area of the county.
Based on three consultant studies, the last of which proposed that the county might achieve savings of $750,000, and the recommendations of county staff, the county in July 1984 directed implementation of this service. The county purchased 33 Orion buses from Bus Industries of America in January 1985 for $4.2 million, and awarded the $2.2 million contract for startup and first-year operations to National Transit Services in May of that year.
The first buses rolled out in September 1985 as a lower-cost alternative to the Metrobus service of the regional Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The original routes connected the southern part of the county (near the Mount Vernon Estate) to the Huntington Metro station which borders Alexandria. This area continues to be the core of the system, and is noted for the number of residents in the Richmond Highway area who use the service at all times of the day. It had ten routes, and numerous routes served Huntington Station. These first 10 routes were previously served by Metrobus. In 1988, The Connector began to operate express routes to connect to Pentagon station. It also expanded through the southeastern portion of Fairfax.
1990s In 1990, The Connector took over the operation of the RIBS (Reston Internal Bus Service). Service continued to be provided through the southern portion of Alexandria when Van Dorn Street station opened in 1991. In 1994, the service was extended to the high-technology industrial areas of suburban Reston, and Herndon, located between Washington, D.C., and Washington Dulles International Airport. Along State Route 267 (the Dulles Toll Road), express buses carry commuters from free park-and-ride lots to the Washington Metro system. In 1999, the Herndon-Monroe Park & Ride and the Tysons Westpark Transit Station opened, extending their operation within the county.
2000s In 2002, the Connector ordered its first buses operating on Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel fuel. The network expanded three years later with the opening of the Lorton Park-and-Ride, followed by the Gambrill Road Park-and-Ride in 2005. During this period, the system began integrating with the SmarTrip payment system, allowing passengers to utilize the WMATA run fare network. MV Transportation assumed operations from Veolia Transport on July 1, 2009.Fairfax County to sign $200M Connector bus service contract Washington Examiner March 30, 2009
2010s Major changes began in 2010, when the Reston East Park-and-Ride closed to make way for the Silver Line construction. After the Silver Line opened in 2014, The Connector modified its service by providing three circulator routes within Tysons Corner, as well as new service to McLean. Many routes were modified to give riders the ability to transfer with the Silver Line and other portions of the network.
On July 1, 2019, Transdev commenced a five-year contract to operate the network with an option to extend for a further 10 years.Transdev wins Fairfax bus contract Metro Report International May 16, 2019 In December 2019, Fairfax Connector workers operating under Transdev went on strike, reducing system operations to Sunday schedules and impacting approximately 30,000 daily riders.
2020s On February 22, 2024, Fairfax Connector employees initiated a strike against Transdev, suspending almost all fixed-route services. Regular operations resumed the next month following a new collective bargaining agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union.
Fares Fairfax Connector fares are paid in cash or via the WMATA owned SmarTrip system. Fares paid using SmarTrip also include free and discounted transfers between various services.
Routes , the Fairfax Connector bus system consists of 93 routes.
Route Name Terminals Notes 101 Fort Hunt Huntington stationMt. Vernon Estate & Gardens 109 Rose Hill Huntington stationVan Dorn Street station 151 Engleside – Mt. Vernon Huntington stationMt. Vernon Estate & Gardens 152 Groveton – Mt. Vernon Huntington station Mt. Vernon Estate & Gardens 159 Engleside Huntington stationSacramento Dr & Richmond HwyWeekday limited-stop peak service 161 Hybla Valley Circulator Huntington stationInova Mt. Vernon Hospital Counter-clockwise loop 162 Clockwise loop 171 Richmond Highway Huntington stationLorton VRE Station 231 Kingstowne Circulator Franconia–Springfield station Van Dorn Street stationWeekday peak service Counter-clockwise loop 232 Weekday peak service Clockwise loop 301 Telegraph Road Huntington StationFranconia–Springfield stationWeekday peak service 305 Newington Forest – Silverbrook Road Lorton VRE StationFranconia–Springfield stationWeekday peak service 306 GMU – Pentagon George Mason UniversityPentagon station Weekday midday service 308 Franconia-Springfield – Mt. Vernon Hospital Franconia–Springfield station Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital No Sunday service 310 Franconia Road – Rolling Valley Rolling Valley Park & RideHuntington station 321 Greater Springfield Circulator Van Dorn Street stationFranconia–Springfield station Counter-clockwise loop 322 Clockwise loop 334 Newington Circulator Franconia–Springfield stationDefense Logistics Agency (DLA) Weekday peak service (and one midday trip) Loop service 335 Fort Belvoir "The Eagle" Franconia–Springfield stationFort BelvoirWeekday peak service Loop service 340 Patriot Ridge – Saratoga Franconia–Springfield stationFort Belvoir Weekday non-peak service Counter-clockwise loop 341 Boston Boulevard – Saratoga Franconia–Springfield stationSaratoga Park & RideWeekday peak service 371 Lorton – Springfield Franconia–Springfield station Lorton Park & Ride 393 Saratoga – Mark Center – Pentagon Saratoga Park & RidePentagon station Weekday peak service 394 Saratoga – Backlick – Pentagon Saratoga Shopping Center, Backlick North Park & Ride Pentagon station Weekday peak service 395 Gambrill Road – Pentagon Gambrill Rd Park & RidePentagon station Weekday peak service 396 Backlick – Pentagon Backlick North Park & RidePentagon station Weekday peak service 401 Backlick – Gallows Franconia–Springfield stationTysons-Westpark Station Northbound service 402 Tysons Westpark StationFranconia–Springfield station Southbound service 423 Tysons Circulator – Westpark Tysons stationLoop service 427 Spring Hill Metro – Farm Credit AdministrationSpring Hill stationFarm Credit AdministrationWeekday peak service 432 Old Courthouse – Beulah Spring Hill stationFarm Credit Administration Weekday peak service 461 Vienna – Oakton Vienna station Weekday loop service 462 Dunn Loring – Navy Federal – Tysons Dunn Loring station Tysons station Weekday peak service 463 Maple Avenue – Tysons Vienna stationTysons station 467 Dunn Loring – Tysons Dunn Loring stationTysons station Non-peak service 480 Wolf Trap Express McLean stationWolf Trap Filene Center Seasonal event service 494 Springfield – Tysons Franconia–Springfield station Tysons station Weekday service 495 Burke Centre – Tysons Burke Centre VRE stationTysons station Weekday peak service (and one midday trip) 507 Sunset Hills – Sunrise Valley Wiehle–Reston East station Weekday loop service 553 Kingstream – Herndon – Fox Mill Reston Town Center stationKingstream Dr & Kingsvale CirWeekday peak service 557 Reston South – Soapstone Reston South Park & RideWiehle–Reston East station Weekday peak service 558 Center Harbor – Wiehle Wiehle–Reston East stationCenter Harbor Rd & Wiehle Ave 559 Reston Town Center – WiehleReston Town Center Transit StationWiehle–Reston East station 574 Reston – Tysons Reston Town Center Transit StationTysons Westpark Station 598 Reston South – Pentagon – Crystal CityReston South Park & RideCrystal City station Weekday peak service 605 Reston – Fair Oaks Reston Town Center stationMonument Dr Transit Center 610 George Mason University – Centreville Centreville (Stone Rd) Park & RideGeorge Mason University No Sunday service 615 Fair Oaks – GreenbriarInova Fair Oaks HospitalMonument Dr Transit Center No Sunday service 625 Random Hills – Pender DriveMonument Dr Transit CenterFairfax County Housing Office Weekday midday service 630 Centreville – Monument Drive Centreville Park & RideMonument Dr Transit Center 642 Stone Road – Centreville North Centreville Park & RideSullyfield Circle & U.S Route 50 Weekday peak service (and one midday trip) 651 Chantilly – Monument Drive Conference Center Dr & Parkstone DrMonument Dr Transit Center 652 Chantilly – Franklin FarmSullyfield Circle & U.S Route 50Stringfellow Park & Ride Weekday peak service 660 Stone Road – Tysons Centreville Park & Ride Tysons station Weekday peak service 662 Stone Road – Vienna Centreville Park & RideVienna station Non-peak service 663 Stringfellow Road – ViennaStringfellow Rd Park & RideVienna station Weekday peak service 670 Chantilly – Franconia-SpringfieldAvion Pkwy & Stonecroft BlvdFranconia–Springfield station Weekday peak service 671 Chantilly – Inova Fairfax – Dunn Loring Avion Pkwy & Stonecroft BlvdDunn Loring station Weekday peak service 672 Chantilly – Dunn LoringAvion Pkwy & Stonecroft Blvd Dunn Loring station Non-peak service 697 Stringfellow Road – D Street SW Stringfellow Park & RideD St SW, Washington, D.C. Weekday peak service 698 Stringfellow Road – Vienna – Pentagon Stringfellow Rd Park & RidePentagon station Weekday peak service 699 Monument Drive Transit Center – Downtown D.C. Monument Dr Transit CenterDowntown Washington, D.C. Weekday peak service 703 Pimmit Hills West Falls Church stationMcLean station No Sunday service 715 East Falls Church – Langley East Falls Church stationLangley Weekday peak service 721 Chain Bridge Road – McLean McLean station Beverly Dr & Old McLean Village Dr 798 Tysons – Bethesda ExpressTysons-Westpark Transit StationBethesda Weekday peak service 803 Annandale Road East Falls Church stationAnnandale 834 Little River Turnpike – Pentagon Pentagon stationNVCC-Annandale Weekday peak service 835 Braeburn Drive – Pentagon ExpressNVCC-Annandale Pentagon stationWeekday peak service 901 Herndon Metro – CentrevilleHerndon stationCentreville-UMC Park & Ride 921 Herndon Circulator Herndon station Counter-clockwise loop 924 NOVA Loudoun – Herndon – Franklin Farm NVCC-LoudounKinross Cir & Kilbrennan Ct 937 Coppermine – Elden Herndon stationHerndon-Harbor House 950 Reston Town Center – Herndon Metro Reston Town Center StationHerndon station 951 Wiehle-Reston East – Innovation Center Innovation Center stationWiehle–Reston East stationWeekday peak service 952 Sunset Hills – Dulles Airport Dulles International AirportWiehle–Reston East station 954 Sterling Plaza – Herndon MetroSterling Plaza Herndon station 983 Dulles Airport – Udvar-Hazy Center Udvar-Hazy CenterDulles International Airport
Transportation Association of Greater Springfield