The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
The area has two major airports, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. While flights from the older National Airport (a hub for American Airlines) are restricted for distance, frequency, and flight paths due to the proximity to federal facilities, Dulles is the region's busiest airport [1] in both passenger loadings and aircraft movements, and the sixteenth-busiest airport [2] in the United States by takeoffs and landings in 2007. Dulles is the region's primary international gateway, serves as a hub for United Airlines, and has recently improved its low-cost carrier offerings with the addition of multiple flights by Southwest and jetBlue.
Dulles is the busiest airport in the Washington metropolitan area, and second busiest airport in the larger Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area (after BWI Airport) with over 22 million passengers a year. [3] [4] With nearly all of the international passenger traffic in the Washington-Baltimore region, Dulles is the busiest international airport in the Mid-Atlantic outside of the New York metropolitan area. [5] On a typical day, more than 60,000 passengers pass through Washington Dulles to and from more than 125 destinations around the world. [3] [6] Dulles is a major hub for United Airlines, serving as one of the airline's two primary transatlantic gateways.
Reagan National is a hub for American Airlines, Reagan National's largest carrier. American Airlines Shuttle has near-hourly air shuttle flights to New York LaGuardia Airport and Logan International Airport in Boston, and Delta Air Lines' Delta Shuttle has near-hourly air shuttle flights to LaGuardia. Other than 40 slot exemptions, flights into and out of DCA are not allowed to exceed 1,250 statute miles in any direction nonstop, in an effort to send air traffic to the larger but more distant Washington Dulles International Airport. In 2010 the airport served about 18.1 million passengers. [7] Reagan National only has United States immigration and customs facilities for corporate jet traffic; the only international flights allowed to land at DCA are those from airports with U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance facilities. Other international passenger flights must use Dulles or Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
The region is also home to the busiest regional airport in the Commonwealth: Manassas Regional Airport, which offers more private, smaller aircraft to land in the region. The airport has service to the region by being along the VRE commuter train line, and adjacent to Virginia State Route 234.
A substantial portion of Northern Virginia's transportation is done via automobiles and the extensive highway system throughout the region. The area is served by four Interstate highways: I-95, I-66, I-495, and I-395. Additionally the area is served by several dozen U.S., state and county highways to connect the region together. Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William Counties contain their own county-wide parkways which serve as spinal corridors to connect outlying exurbs in their respective jurisdictions.
Statistically, Northern Virginia has the worst traffic in the nation, [8] and is home to six of the ten worst bottlenecks in the area. [9] To alleviate gridlock, local governments encourage using Metrorail, HOV, carpooling, slugging, and other forms of mass transportation. In 2002, voters rejected a referendum to raise the Virginia sales tax within the region to pay for transportation improvements; [10] several PPTA proposals to increase Beltway and Interstate 95 capacity via toll-funded construction are under consideration by VDOT. Major limited- or partially limited-access highways include Interstates 495 (the Capital Beltway), 95, 395, and 66, the Fairfax County Parkway and adjoining Franconia-Springfield Parkway, the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and the Dulles Toll Road. High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are used for commuters and buses on I-66, I-95/395, and the Dulles Toll Road.
Two major regional bottlenecks, the Springfield Interchange and Woodrow Wilson Bridge, were massively reconstructed with completion in 2007 and 2008. Generally, Potomac River crossings remain major choke points; proposals to add crossings (such as near Leesburg or Quantico as part of a long-proposed Outer Beltway) are opposed by Virginia communities near the suggested bridge sites, and by Marylanders who fear that new bridges would bring new housing development to green space in that state. [11] Because of Northern Virginia's high housing costs, tens of thousands of employees there choose more affordable housing far away in outer Virginia exurban counties, or in Prince George's County and Southern Maryland, thus creating tremendous traffic congestion on the Potomac bridges. This situation is much like metropolitan areas of California. Furthermore, localities such as Great Falls, Dranesville, and Clifton impose low-density, large-acreage residential zoning, which forces developers to leapfrog into Loudoun and Prince William counties to build housing, thus increasing commuters' driving distances.
Presently, the region is served by seven different Amtrak corridors, which offer inter-city passenger rail service throughout the nation. The most popular intercity destinations include Philadelphia, New York, Lynchburg, Richmond, Raleigh and Norfolk. The region is also home to the northern-terminus of the Auto Train, which is based in Lorton. Additionally, Northern Virginia is served by the Virginia Railway Express, a commuter rail line. Finally, the region hosts several Washington Metro subway stations, specifically the Blue, Orange, Silver and Yellow lines. Future plans include a light rail system in Arlington and Alexandria to alleviate automobile and metro congestion in the densely populated region.
Washington Metro, opening in 1978 to the area, also serving the region's core city, Washington, D.C., and the suburbs of Maryland is the second-busiest subway system in the nation; only New York City's subway system carries more passengers. [12] In August 2014, WMATA opened its new Silver Line in northern Fairfax County, which has connected Reston and Tysons Corner to the system. By 2018, it is expected that the line will be extended into Ashburn and serve Washington Dulles International Airport. The Silver Line will provide an alternative access to Washington, D.C., from Dulles Airport to the Dulles Toll Road which is what the line parallels.
Commuter rail service via the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) arrived in 1992. With two lines and eighteen stations, the VRE is the tenth-busiest commuter rail line in the United States. VRE's two commuter lines are known as the Manassas and Fredericksburg Line named after their respective terminuses. The VRE offers rail service to regions that do not have immediate Metro access or are far away from major highway corridors. The train service is divided into nine difference zones, used to gauge fares depending on the distance of the journey. Due to sharing of the rails with CSX Transportation, construction on a third rail to bypass freight trains has begun on the Fredericksburg.
Although the area does not presently have any light rail service, there are plans to bring light rail into the inner and more densely populated regions of Northern Virginia. In Arlington, engineering is currently being done to create the Columbia Pike Streetcar. The streetcar would be built via a road diet by reducing the travel lines on Virginia State Route 244 in the city. The project has been met with mixed to positive reaction, with some concern coming over the financing for the project. [13]
Many of the regions of Northern Virginia are serviced by bus lines. Washington Metro offers Metrobus service to several suburbs within a five to ten-mile distance of nearby Metro stations. Several of the larger cities in the region offer their own citywide bus services. Examples include Fairfax, which offers the CUE Bus service, which also provides public transit options to George Mason University. Greater Fairfax County is serviced by the Fairfax Connector bus system. Alexandria is serviced by the Driving Alexandria Safely Home (DASH) buses. Loudoun County offers commuter bus service to select destinations. Prince William County has the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) bus service.
In Alexandria, a bus rapid transit line known as Crystal City – Potomac Yard Transitway opened its first phase in mid-2014, with eventual goals of converting the bus rapid transit line into a light rail.
Washington Dulles International Airport, typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or Dulles, is an international airport in the Mid-Atlantic United States in Loudoun County and Fairfax County, Virginia, 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown Washington, D.C.
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, commonly referred to as Baltimore/Washington International Airport, BWI, and BWI Marshall, is an international airport in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, located 9 miles (14 km) south of downtown Baltimore and 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Washington, D.C.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, referred to colloquially as National Airport, Reagan, Reagan National, or simply DCA, is an airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is the smaller of two airports owned by the federal government and operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) that serve the Washington metropolitan area around Washington, D.C.; the larger is Dulles International Airport about 25 miles (40 km) to the west in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The airport is 5 miles (8.0 km) from downtown Washington, D.C.
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from Spotsylvania, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run station in Bristow, Virginia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 1,172,700, or about 6,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
MARC is a commuter rail system in the Washington–Baltimore area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and operated under contract by Alstom and Amtrak on track owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 2,815,900, or about 11,800 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023, less than pre-COVID-19 pandemic weekday ridership of 40,000.
The Orange Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 26 stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia; the District of Columbia; and Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The Orange Line runs from Vienna in Virginia to New Carrollton in Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line and over two thirds are shared with the Silver Line. Orange Line service began on November 20, 1978.
Franconia–Springfield station is a Washington Metro rapid transit station and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail station located in Springfield, Virginia, United States. The station is the southwestern terminus of the Metro Blue Line and an intermediate station on the VRE Fredericksburg Line. It is also a major bus terminal for Fairfax Connector buses, plus other local and intercity bus routes. The station has one island-platform serving the two Metro tracks, plus two side platforms serving the RF&P Subdivision on which the Fredericksburg Line runs.
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region radiates westward and southward from Washington, D.C. With 3,238,706 people according to 2022 Census estimates, it is the most populous region of Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area.
Alexandria Union Station is a historic railroad station in Alexandria, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. To avoid confusion with nearby Washington Union Station, the station is often referred to as simply Alexandria. Its Amtrak code is ALX.
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.
Transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia is by land, sea and air. Virginia's extensive network of highways and railroads were developed and built over a period almost 400 years, beginning almost immediately after the founding of Jamestown in 1607, and often incorporating old established trails of the Native Americans.
Transportation in Richmond, Virginia and its immediate surroundings include land, sea and air modes. This article includes the independent city and portions of the contiguous counties of Henrico and Chesterfield. While almost all of Henrico County would be considered part of the Richmond area, southern and eastern portions of Chesterfield adjoin the three smaller independent cities of Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights, collectively commonly called the Tri-Cities area. A largely rural section of southwestern Chesterfield may be considered not a portion of either suburban area.
The Silver Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 34 stations in Loudoun County, Fairfax County and Arlington County, Virginia, Washington, D.C., as well as Prince George's County, Maryland. The Silver Line runs from Ashburn in Virginia to Downtown Largo in Maryland. Five stations, from both lines' eastern terminus at Downtown Largo to Benning Road, are shared with the Blue Line alone; thirteen stations, from Stadium–Armory to Rosslyn, with both the Orange Line and Blue Lines; and five stations from Court House to East Falls Church with the Orange Line alone. Only the five stations of Phase 1, which began service on July 26, 2014, and the six stations of Phase 2, which began service on November 15, 2022, are exclusive to the Silver Line.
Herndon station is a Washington Metro station in Fairfax County, Virginia on the Silver Line that opened on November 15, 2022. The station is in the median strip of VA-267 adjacent to the current Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride parking garage and bus station, which is on the south side of the highway. It has two pedestrian bridges across SR 267 to reach entrances on either side of the highway. Bus bays are located on the south side of the highway.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U.S. national capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport.
Washington, D.C. has a number of different modes of transportation available for use. Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns, with only 28% of people employed in Washington, D.C. commuting from within the city, whereas 33.5% commute from the nearby Maryland suburbs, 22.7% from Northern Virginia, and the rest from Washington, D.C.'s outlying suburbs.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is a governmental agency and its purpose is to "provide safe, effective, and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with maintenance of the state's immense highway system, the agency is also responsible for aviation in the state and overseeing public transportation systems.
Historically, the harbor was the key to the Hampton Roads area's growth, both on land and in water-related activities and events. Ironically, the harbor and its tributary waterways were both important transportation conduits and obstacles to other land-based commerce and travel. For hundreds of years, state and community leaders have worked to develop solutions to accommodate both.
Transportation in New Jersey utilizes a combination of road, rail, air, and water modes. New Jersey is situated between Philadelphia and New York City, two major metropolitan centers of the Boston-Washington megalopolis, making it a regional corridor for transportation. As a result, New Jersey's freeways carry high volumes of interstate traffic and products. The main thoroughfare for long distance travel is the New Jersey Turnpike, the nation's fifth-busiest toll road. The Garden State Parkway connects the state's densely populated north to its southern shore region. New Jersey has the 4th smallest area of U.S. states, but its population density of 1,196 persons per sq. mi causes congestion to be a major issue for motorists.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Fire & Rescue Department is a special service fire department responsible for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport in the Washington metropolitan area. The department was formed from the Federal Aviation Administration's Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Branch when the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was established in June 1987. Prior to that time, both airports were owned and operated by the FAA.
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