The Washington DC Metopolitan Area is currently rated as having the 5th worst commute times in the Country.  This is an improvement from last year when the area was rated as the 2nd worst. 

Therefore many of our Area's residents find commuting through public transportation a great alternative to hopping in the car on their own.  While it does leave less room for flexibility in your schedule, peace of mind and saving on gas are some of the benefits.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

METRO-People from out of the area may call this the "subway", but in DC, we call it "the Metro".  In Northern VA, there are three lines that travel into DC. 

• The Orange Line begins in Vienna, the Blue Line begins in Franconia/Springfield, and the Yellow Line begins at the Huntington/Alexandria stop. 
• Recent approval for the Orange Line to extend through Tyson's Corner and Reston onto Dulles Airport brings hope for the future expansion of more public transportation to the outer suburbs.

VRE-Virginia Railway Express- a great option for commuters who live in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties.  Two separate lines travel into the Pentagon City/Alexandria area and Downtown DC with several access points to the Metro. 

• The Fredericksburg Line travels South from Fredericksburg through Stafford and Woodbridge along the I-95 corridor.
• The Manassas Line travels from Broad Run/Manassas offering easy access to the Western Prince William County areas of Bristow, Gainesville, and Haymarket in the I-66 corridor.  This train does make a stops in Burke at the center of Fairfax County.

OMNILINK-OmniRide is Prince William County's commuter bus service. OmniRide offers convenient weekday (Monday - Friday) 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, Rosslyn/Ballston, downtown Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill, the Washington Navy Yard, Bolling AFB, and Anacostia NAS. 

OTHER COMMUTING OPTIONS

SLUG LINES-Slugging is a term used to describe a unique form of commuting found in the Washington, DC area sometimes referred to as "Instant Carpooling" or "Casual Carpooling".   It's unique because people commuting into the city stop to pickup other passengers even though they are total strangers! You need to check out the website to fully understand what this entails, but many commuters utilize this option to get to work....only in DC.

CARPOOLS-Various websites and companies throughout DC set up commuters with similar needs to form private carpools.  Here are a few examples:

• eRideshare.com
• Carpoolworld.com
• Commuter Connections