Arlington Transit Strategic Plan
Public Engagement Begins 6/21 - Draft Recommendations
The 2nd round of public engagement on the ATSP's draft recommendations is going live on June 21! Join us for a virtual community meeting to kick things off, and give feedback online or at one of many pop-up engagement events in Arlington.
Learn more and share your input:⬇️⬇️⬇️
StatusPlanning
The project team has finalized draft service recommendations, and is preparing to share these recommendations in the second phase of public engagement.The County is required to complete a Transit Strategic Plan for submission to Virginia's Department of Rail & Public Transit.
About the Strategic Plan
In 2018, The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that requires transit agencies operating in urbanized areas to develop a Transit Strategic Plan to ensure that transit services are planned in a way that better meets the mobility needs of their communities. The main goal of a Transit Strategic Plan is to create a strategic blueprint outlining desired changes that will improve the provision of transit services within existing funding structures.
Learn more about Transit Strategic Plans from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
The Arlington Transit Strategic Plan (ATSP) will establish a consistent approach for how state, regional, and local policies are implemented in the County’s transportation system. It focuses on the vision and mission for the agency, and the goals and objectives needed to achieve this vision. The Strategic Plan will guide Arlington Transit’s planning efforts, the prioritization of capital programs and projects, and the development of the operating and capital budgets.
The ATSP will allow County staff, residents, and commuters to look at their system together, consider the changes and challenges facing transit in Arlington, re-examine the priorities of our stakeholders and riders, and make choices about where and how to provide transit service in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The ATSP is a living document that is updated every 6 years and is designed to be more flexible and responsive to the changes in the County.
There will be two primary public engagement opportunities to share your input and shape the future of transit projects and services, along with presentations to various County advisory commissions and committees.
Virtual Public Meetings and pop-up events will occur in Fall 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023. All public engagement opportunities will be announced in advance and information will be shared here.
Summer 2023 - Draft Recommendations [Rescheduled]
During the second phase of ATSP public engagement, the project team will seek your input on the Draft Recommendations for the ATSP. You'll learn more about what we heard during the first phase of engagement and what we learned during the technical planning analysis performed during the process and how they fit in with other changes to the regional transit network. Then, you'll be able to provide feedback on the Draft Recommendations for each route, with a focus on frequency, service start and end times, and route changes.
The feedback we receive during this phase of engagement will help us finalize the ATSP for review and adoption by the County Board in Fall 2023. A summary of that feedback will be posted below once it is available.
Virtual Public Meeting
The project team from Arlington Transit will host a virtual public information session to introduce the Draft Recommendations, explain how we got here using your feedback and our data and analysis, and hear more from you about the proposed changes included in the Draft Recommendations and share more information about the current public engagement opportunity. A recording of the meeting will be available immediately after the event, with subtitles in multiple languages.
- Date:Wednesday June 21, 2023
- Time: 7pm - 830pm
- Venue: Microsoft Teams LIVE
Learn More & Join the Meeting
Meeting Resources:
- View the Meeting Slides (Coming Soon)
- Other Languages: Spanish - Arabic - Amharic - Chinese - Mongolian
- Read the Q&A Transcript (Coming Soon)
- Other Languages: Spanish - Arabic - Amharic - Chinese - Mongolian (Coming Soon)
Online Feedback Form
An online feedback form that shared information and gathered input on the Draft Recommendations will be open from June 21, 2023 to July 30, 2023. The feedback form will be available in in 6 languages.
Share your Feedback (Coming Soon)
Pop-Up Engagement Events
Members of the project team will be out in the community to seek your feedback during this public engagement opportunity. We are planning numerous pop-up events during the engagement window and will post a complete schedule in the space below once it is finalized.
Spring 2023 - Draft Recommendations [Postponed]
UPDATE: March 22, 2023: Public engagement activities planned for the Draft Recommendations of the Arlington Transit Strategic Plan are being delayed until mid-late Spring 2023. This delay is necessary to complete the review of analysis and finalize the recommendations for public review. We appreciate your patience and look forward to announcing a new date for this important public engagement shortly. Please stay tuned for future updates here and by signing up for Transportation Update email newsletters.
Winter 2022/2023 - What We Heard, What We Learned
Between December 2022 and February 2023, the project team prepared presentations for County advisory commissions and committees that covered what we heard from the public in the Fall 2022 engagement, and what we learned from the technical analysis of our existing Transit system.
You can learn more about the technical analysis in the Technical Analysis section of this project page.
January 10, 2023: Commission on Aging, Transportation Work Group
January 17, 2023: Transit Advisory Committee
February 2, 2023: Transportation Commission
February 27, 2023: Climate Change, Energy and Environment (C2E2) Commission
Fall 2022 - Goals, Objectives and Your Experiences
For the first phase of ATSP public engagement, the project team wanted to know more about your experiences using Arlington Transit, as well as gather your input on the draft goals and objectives of the Transit Strategic Plan. The draft goals and objectives were developed using the ART Mission, Vision and Values established early in the process of growing our local transit network.
Engagement Summary(PDF, 326KB)
Virtual Public Meeting
The project team from Arlington Transit held a virtual public information session to introduce the Transit Strategic Plan, provide an overview of the draft goals and objectives, and share more information about the current public engagement opportunity that will shape the future of transit in Arlington.
Meeting Resources:
View the Meeting Slides
Watch the Meeting Recording
Read the Q&A Transcript (Coming Soon)
- Other Languages: Spanish - Arabic - Amharic - Chinese - Mongolian
Online Feedback Form
An online feedback form that shared information and gathered input on the Draft Goals and Values and user experiences open from October 17 to November 20, 2022. The feedback form was shared in 6 languages. You can learn more about the results in the Engagement Summary above.
Pop-Up Engagement Events
Members of the project team went out in the community to seek your feedback during this public engagement opportunity. We hosted 8 events during this window for public input. You can learn more about the results in the Engagement Summary above.
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Date
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Location
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Time
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Thursday, October 20
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Shirlington Station Transit Center
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3pm - 5pm
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Monday, October 24
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AFAC Morning Food Distribution
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9am - 11am
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Tuesday, October 25
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Bus Stop at S. Uhle Street &
S. Walter Reed Drive
(Outside DHS Sequoia Center)
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3pm - 5pm
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Saturday, November 5
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Ballston Metrorail Station Bus Bays
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1pm - 3pm
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Tuesday, November 8
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S. Glebe Road @ Columbia Pike Bus Stop
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3pm - 5pm
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Monday, November 14
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S. Dinwiddie Street @ Columbia Pike
Arlington Mill Community Center
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7am - 9am
9:30am - 11:30am
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Saturday, November 19
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Pentagon City Metrorail Station Bus Bays
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3pm - 5pm
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Technical Analysis
As part of the ATSP process, Arlington Transit staff and consultants developed a Gap Analysis report to review how well the current ART service is meeting the final version of ART's Goals and Objectives, Mission and Values. This report is a data-driven examination of our transit system in the context of our community, and identifies areas where we can increase service to better achieve our stated goals and objectives for transit service in Arlington.
This report is very detailed, but a summary of its findings is available in the presentations given by staff to various County Commissions and Committees in Winter 2022/2023. You can find recordings of these presentations and the slide decks used for each presentation in the Public Process section.
Read the Gap Analysis Report (Coming Soon)
Funding
The Transit Strategic Plan is funded by a Technical Assistance grant received from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), along with a local match from the County.