Western Flyer Trolley Service To End In September

Virginia Regional Transit (VRT) announced today that it will discontinue Western Flyer trolley service on September 3, 2010. The route has gained riders during the trial period, but has not generated enough sustained ridership to warrant the continued funding necessary to maintain service.  Passengers will be notified of service termination through postings on the trolleys.

Currently the service runs between Purcellville and Lovettsville and also provides access to the MARC train in Brunswick, MD, with optional transfers to other fixed-route services.   Since its inception in February 2009, ridership grew to nearly 350 one-way trips per month.

The service was expected to provide an increasing number of area commuters with easier access to employment and regional transit in response to new business growth in western Loudoun County.  However, the economic downturn has slowed the anticipated increase in density which would have grown ridership for the service.

It is anticipated that future growth in the service area will generate the passenger counts required to support the allocation of limited transportation resources.  VRT hopes to attempt the service again once the economic climate improves.

Posted by Charles Penifore on Aug 30 2010. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry