About ART - Arlington Transit

ART - Arlington Transit operates within Arlington County, Virginia, supplementing Metrobus with smaller, neighborhood-friendly vehicles and providing access to Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express (VRE). Most of ART's state-of-the ART buses operate on clean-burning natural gas; all have climate control to keep you comfortable and dependable schedules to keep you on time.

ART Forum Newsletter | ART Overview | ART Policy Oversight | Funding | Ridership | ADA Accessibility | PikeRide: Service Restructuring for Columbia Pike | Connexions GPS System | ART and Arlington's Urban Villages | ART History

ART Forum Newsletter

ART Forum is designed to give you updates and information about Arlington Transit and other transit-related issues. To subscribe, go to the ART Alert signup page and check the box "Send ART News to this Email address."

PDF files require Adobe Reader.

• ART Forum Spring 2008 (PDF)
• ART Forum Winter 2008 (PDF)
• ART Forum Summer 2007 (PDF)
• ART Forum Spring 2007 (PDF)
• ART Forum Winter 2007 (PDF)
• ART Forum Summer 2006 (PDF)
• ART Forum Winter 2006 (PDF)
• ART Forum Fall 2005 (PDF)
• ART Forum Summer 2005 (PDF)
• ART Forum Winter 2005 (PDF)
• ART Forum Fall 2004 (PDF)
• ART Forum Summer 2004 (PDF)
• Inaugural issue of ART Forum - Winter 2004 (PDF)
• About Portable Document Format (PDF) and Adobe Reader

ART Overview

The Arlington County Department of Environmental Services' Transit Program provides public transportation services to accommodate the needs of Arlington residents, commuters and visitors for community access and mobility to sustain full, active and affordable lifestyles independent of a requirement to operate or own a personal automobile. The integrated network of transit services and facilities developed, coordinated or operated through this program to meet these needs of the Arlington community include: Metrorail, Metrobus, MetroAccess, Arlington Transit (ART), Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR), Commuter Services, and Virginia Railway Express (VRE).

Transit Operations provides management, implementation and oversight for the County sponsored Arlington Transit (ART) program. Art operates within the 26 square mile boundaries of Arlington (population 193,000). The ART bus service is operated through a contract with a private sector company (currently ATC Vancom, Inc., a competitively procured contract service provider). ART was designed to provide market specific, low impact, innovative, high quality, responsive and cost effective public transportation services to and in partnership with, residents and businesses of Arlington County. The current fleet of 30 ART ADA-accessible buses consists of small, alternative-fueled (compressed natural gas (CNG) buses operating on 12 routes, (various operating times up to 6:00 am to midnight, 7 days a week) as part of a network of bus service coordinated with the 18 Metrobus lines serving the County.

ART is dedicated to providing environmentally friendly local bus service. After the purchase of the first two diesel buses, ART committed to only purchasing alternatively-fueled buses. In an effort to be environmentally friendly, ART purchases buses fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG), making the entire fleet “clean and green.” ART has been a partner with Clean Cities Coalition and the Washington Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (COG) for over four years. Funding for the extra cost of the CNG buses is supplemented with a Clean Cities grant through the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments. ART works with the region by operating under the Regional Fare Policy – charging the same fare as Metrobus, accepting Metrobus tokens and flash passes, as well as accepting transfers from all bus systems in the region. ART also operates two lunch loops as a free service (subsidized by the business community).

ART Policy Oversight

The provision of transit services in Arlington County, including ART, is overseen by the Arlington County Transit Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC is a fifteen-member committee appointed by the County Manager. The TAC usually meets the second Tuesday of each month from 7:00 – 9:00 PM at 3033 Wilson Blvd, Room 7A. Ask the guard to let you use the elevator. The TAC currently has a vacancy. If you are interested in joining the TAC, please read more.

Funding

FY04 estimated total budget for ART is $2,530,000. Funding (all route operation, administrative services and vehicle leases) is divided up as follows:

• Private sector contributions $277,500 (11%)
• Fares and reimbursements $408,000 (16%)
• Grant funds $181,500 (7%)
• Metrobus subsidy savings $730,500 (29%)
• County net tax subsidy $932,500 (37%)

Fiscal Year Ridership

• FY02: 258,955 total passengers (with the addition in December 2002 of the expanded ART 51 and ART 52)
• FY01: 147,813 total passengers
• FY00: 177,151 total passengers
• FY99: 144,790 total passengers

ADA Accessible

All ART buses are fully accessible with wheelchair lifts and priority seating. TDD is available for the hearing impaired through the Virginia Relay Center at 1-800-828-1120.

PikeRide: Bus Service Restructuring for Columbia Pike

Big changes to Columbia Pike bus service took effect in September, 2003. The introduction of PikeRide meant more frequent and improved Metrobus 16 Line service and three new ART-Arlington Transit shuttle routes, too. Read more.

Connexionz System

The Connexionz system tracks the location of ART 51-52 buses and sends the arrival time of the next bus to your bus stop. Find out more.

Arlington's Urban Villages

ART serves Arlington's unique "Urban Village" neighborhoods, linking them to each other and to Metrorail and other transit systems. In Arlington's Urban Villages, you can live, work, and play... no car required. Read more.