Glossary of Key Words and Phrases

ACCS – Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS) is a county government organization that provides services to residents, workers, and visitors to help them find transportation options that meet their needs and make it easier for them to travel within Arlington County and around the Washington metropolitan region. These services include employer transportation management programs, sales of transit passes and tickets, transit route and schedule information, telework information, information on walking and bike trails, and car and vanpool assistance, among others.

ART - Arlington Transit (ART) operates within Arlington County, Virginia, supplementing Metrobus with smaller, neighborhood-friendly vehicles and providing access to Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express (VRE). ART operates within the 26 square mile boundaries of Arlington. 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 in 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 from 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.

ATP - Arlington Transportation Partners (ATP) serves as a one-stop point of access for Arlington County employers and residential communities to Washington, D.C.-area transportation services. ATP's commuter transportation expertise is a free service provided through the Arlington County, Virginia Commuter Services Program.

Congestion Management Plan (CMP) - Programs or plans put in place to mitigate highway congestion, often associated with large-scale highway construction projects. These programs typically utilize highly-targeted and well-promoted transportation demand management (TDM).

DRPT - (Virginia) Department of Rail and Public Transportation

GRH - Guaranteed Ride Home or Guaranteed Ride - This program provides commuters who regularly take an alternate form of transportation to / from work - such as vanpool, carpool, bike, walk, or transit - with a reliable ride home when an unexpected emergency occurs (such as a sick child or the need to work overtime).

Highway safety corridor - A highway safety corridor is a section of a highway in Virginia that is designated for increased enforcement and fines to improve overall highway safety.

HOV - High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are located on the busiest routes or corridors in Virginia. During HOV restricted periods, HOV-2 lanes require a minimum of two people per passenger vehicle and HOV-3 have a minimum of three people per passenger vehicle.

Metro - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority operates the second largest rail transit system and the fifth largest bus network in the United States. Metrorail and Metrobus serve the District of Columbia, the suburban Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's and the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church.

Mobile Commuter Store - These mobile stores are refurbished commuter buses that bring information about the myriad of mass transportation choices available in the metropolitan D.C. area to commuters in individual neighborhoods. By using the mobile commuter store, commuters can obtain information about transportation alternatives without having to travel to a store in a permanent location. The Mobile Commuter Store is a program of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Arlington County Commuter Services.

OmniRide - This commuter bus service is provided by PRTC (the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission). It is convenient bus service from locations throughout Prince William County along the I-95 corridor and Manassas and Gainesville areas along the I-66 corridor to destinations that include the Vienna, West Falls Church and Franconia/Springfield Metrorail Stations, the Pentagon, Crystal City, Downtown Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill, and the Washington Navy Yard.

PRTC - The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission is a multi-jurisdictional agency representing Prince William and Stafford Counties and the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park, and Fredericksburg. PRTC provides commuter bus service along the I-95 and I-66 corridors to points north (OmniRide), and local bus services in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park (OmniLink). PRTC also offers OmniMatch, a free ridesharing service.

Slugging (or "slug") - Slugging refers to a form of commuting found in the Washington, DC, area. It is sometimes referred to as "instant carpooling," "casual carpooling," or "informal carpooling." People commuting into the city stop to pickup other passengers from designated "slug lines," even though they are strangers. By carpooling, these commuters are able to use the HOV lanes and decrease the time of their commute.

TDM - Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is a set of measures that reduce the traffic demand on our roadway networks by encouraging people to use a variety of mode options such as transit, vanpools, carpools, walking and biking; or to change their travel time or route to avoid congested periods or areas; or by avoiding some trips altogether through telework or compressed work schedules.  In Arlington County TDM services are provided by Arlington County Commuter Services in cooperation with many other agencies in the region.

Telework - A work arrangement where managers / supervisors direct or permit employees to perform their usual job duties away from their central workplace, in accordance with their same performance expectations and other agency-approved or agreed-upon terms.

Telework!VA - This program is a public / private partnership serving Northern Virginia businesses. The program goal is to provide more opportunity for participation in teleworking. It is a pilot program administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation through the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG). The program is limited to reimbursement of lease costs and consultant / technical assistance expenses. It reimburses a variable percentage of the lease expense for equipment, telework center space, and technical assistance for setting up programs and installing equipment, and it provides training for teleworkers and supervisors.

VDOT - Virginia Department of Transportation

VPSI - This organization is a private, for-profit company providing professionally managed transportation services to public and private customers. Its primary business is providing and operating commuter vanpools.

VRE - The Virginia Railway Express is a transportation partnership of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC). VRE provides commuter rail service from the Northern Virginia suburbs to Alexandria, Crystal City, and downtown Washington, DC.

Vtrans2025 - Vtrans2025 is the long-range transportation plan for Virginia. It is Virginia's planning effort to create a more integrated, convenient, and efficient transportation system that incorporates all modes including highway, transit, rail, air, pedestrian, port, and bicycle facilities.

WMATA - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority - Metro - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority operates the second largest rail transit system and the fifth largest bus network in the United States. Metrorail and Metrobus serve the District of Columbia, the suburban Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George's and the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church.