Daily commuting is about to get easier for 10,500 daily bus riders of Prince William County.
OmniLink and OmniRide in the county and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park will see a boost in service beginning Nov. 6.
Direct routes to Rosslyn/Ballston will begin. There will be more frequent local service, cross-county service and night service with more direct routes beginning next week, said Christine Rodrigo, a Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission spokeswoman.
“The cost of adding all these changes is $896,000,” in the first year, said Rodrigo, who noted the cost declines by more than $150,000 per year as the service continues in the future.
The PRTC Board has been discussing making the changes to meet the growing demand for two years, said Chairman Hilda Barg, a Prince William County supervisor.
“These buses run to Metro. They run to the [Virginia Railway Express]. People are beginning to educate themselves and realize public transit can be very good. We just need to expand where we serve and encourage people to get out of their cars,” Barg said.
Between 2003 and 2006, PRTC’s OmniRide and OmniLink bus services have seen a 30 percent increase in riders, said Kala Quintana, a spokeswoman for the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
“I think their riders appreciate and recognize their attention to customer service and some of the tools they have in place to provide that service,” Qunitana said, listing comfortable seating and electronic scheduling as tools that “make it easier to choose transit” over driving alone.
Quintana said similar spikes in commuter bus ridership can be found in Loudoun County.
