For The Transit Fans: Company Profile: Fairfax Connector

Entry posted by Stalliongrad January 23, 2017

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Serving the bustling Fairfax County, Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. The Fairfax Connector was one of first of the smaller transit agencies in Suburban Washington to grow into a much larger operation.

Fairfax Connector New Fyler XD40

Type: Public/Private, Service privately operated by Transdev

Union Representation: All Fairfax Connector Bus Operators are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764

Fleet Size: 210

Routes: 90

Manufacturer and Powerplant: Fairfax Connector recently completed fleet modernization with the bulk of its fleet now consisting of the New Flyer Xcelsior. Older Orion and New Flyer units are still in service on less crowded routes. Interestingly Fairfax County decided to continue to use Diesel as its source of propulsion.

Fairfax Connector New Flyer Xcelsior XD40

Fare Collection: The Contactless Card Payment System in Fairfax County is Smartrip. Because Fairfax County, Virginia rests just outside of Washington DC and many WMATA Metro Stations are in Northern Virginia Fairfax Connector uses WMATA's fare structure and accepts WMATA's Smartrip Card.

WMATA Smartrip Card and Reader

Livery: Fairfax Connector buses are notable for their paint scheme which has Yellow as its dominant color. Fairfax Connector buses feature Yellow, White and Red paint work in a contrasting "C" pattern. Older Livery hosted the same colors on a white backdrop in a traditional stripe format.

Fairfax Connector Orion V 35 Foot Variant

Innovations: Fairfax County, Virginia houses many of the Professionals, Students, Workers and Government Employees who work in Washington DC. As a result Northern Virginia traffic is notoriously terrible. Fairfax Connector is known regionally for its initiatives to get people out of their cars and on the bus by making transit seem more attractive. Adding more routes and building more park and ride lots which also house bus stations make it easier for people to access the bus. People can simply drive to the bus location and park their car and ride the bus into the City rather than driving. Helping reduce traffic and emissions. Fairfax Connector is also pushing for dedicated bus lanes to make special express routes.

Fairfax Connector at Work