Virginia Transit Discounts Offer Commuters Relief During Road Construction

Commuting into a major city can be headache enough. Add a four-year road construction project, and you’re pretty much doomed.

That’s the situation some northern Virginia commuters are facing as roadwork begins on Interstate 66, adding toll lanes and high-occupancy-vehicle lanes to the 22.5-mile stretch between U.S. 29 in Gainesville and the Beltway surrounding Washington, D.C.

Luckily, public transportation agencies are coming to the rescue.

WTOP reports three local public transit systems are offering discounted fares and other incentives to get cars with low occupancy off the roads to relieve congestion.

The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission is now offering half-price fares on certain routes. The Fairfax Connector is doing the same.

Loudoun County Transit is actually giving commuters free bus rides until June 2 for routes connecting to Metro stations. Loudoun County is also giving out $100 SmarTrip cards for drivers who switch to taking a commuter bus, and $100 gas cards for those who switch to a carpool.

Read the WTOP article for more details.

The article states transportation leaders in the area hope commuters stick to using public transportation and carpools even after the construction project ends — currently scheduled for 2022.

Maybe when drivers get comfortable with different methods of commuting, they’ll find they can save money by leaving the driving to someone else.

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.