On June 26th, DASH received a $24M grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) which will be used to purchase 13 electrical buses. The grant will also fund the installation of charging infrastructure at DASH's bus facility.
The FTA grant follows the $14M grant from Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) (NOVATransit.org) to DASH enhance DASH bus service in West End Alexandria. NVTC awarded the grant under the I-395/95 Customer Choice Program, which uses toll revenue for projects to reduce traffic congestion in NoVA.
The grant money will benefit West End Alexandria in two ways:
$7.29M of the grant will be used to maintain 10 minutes or better service at peak times on Route 35. This route serves West End Alexandria from the Van Dorn Metro to Landmark Mall to Beauregard St. to the Mark Center, then to the Pentagon Metro. Route 35 is the busiest DASH route, with 5000 riders each weekday.
$3.45M of the grant will be used to purchase two 60-foot articulated electric buses to use on Route 35.
The Route 35 schedule and bus tracker are available at dashbus.com/schedules.