The CACT understands that the Electric Bus project is a three-year demonstration in which the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Virginia Power and the City are cooperating to reduce automobile vehicle miles and trips, cut pollution emissions, and boost overall transit ridership.  Further, state-of-the-art hybrid electric buses, and battery-charging systems will be introduced and tested for the first time in the Commonwealth.  At the end of the test, NVTC will provide a detailed final report at the conclusion of the demonstration to document the lessons learned. 
 

The CACT appreciates the mobility benefits of the Electric Bus in moving residents within the City and to and from the Metrorail stations.   It is designed to supplant much of the vehicle traffic that results from chauffeuring activities and drop offs at Metro, the library, the Community Center, schools, local businesses, bus stops and other locations.  Since it was intended to be integrated with existing Metrobus routes (not to replace them) there appears to be little benefit in stretching outside the City’s borders to serve shopping centers such as Seven Corners (which is served by Metrobus routes 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1Z, 3C, 4B, 4H, 10D, 22A, 22B).   In addition, the Electric Bus headways we would see as serving these areas renders their inclusion impractical. 

Most importantly, the CACT strongly discourages delaying the implementation of the Electric Buses project because of route disputes.   Since this is a demonstration project, modifications are practically guaranteed over the course of the project, due to changing ridership demands, economic development in the City and other reasons.   An appropriate public forum to discuss the proposed change(s), reasons for wanting to change, consequences of proposed change, etc. should precede any route alterations.