[Archived] City of Alexandria Launches “Back 2 Blue” Campaign to Promote Improved Metrorail Travel Times on Blue Line

For Immediate Release: October 16, 2017

Service on Metrorail’s Blue Line has improved significantly, with rush-hour wait times of just eight minutes. This is an improvement over the 12-minute or longer wait times that followed Metro’s SafeTrack initiative and the launch of Silver Line service, both of which reduced service frequency in Alexandria. Yellow Line service has also stabilized at eight-minute intervals.

The improved times were announced by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) during its most recent round of service changes, which are part of its larger “Back 2 Good” campaign to improve the reliability of Metrorail and Metrobus service throughout the region. WMATA has attributed improved reliability to newer equipment, fewer offloads, fewer unexpected stops resulting from track problems, and new schedules.

The Blue Line and Yellow Line wait times are of particular relevance to Alexandria customers, since those two lines exclusively serve the city’s four Metrorail stations: Braddock Road (Blue,Yellow), King Street-Old Town (Blue,Yellow), Van Dorn Street (Blue), and Eisenhower Avenue (Yellow).

The City of Alexandria is launching the “Back 2 Blue” campaign to raise awareness about the improved rush-hour service times on Metrorail and encourage residents and customers to ride the Blue Line.  Increased ridership will reduce traffic congestion and provide additional WMATA fare revenue to maintain system reliability.

“The improved rush-hour wait times on the Blue Line are good news for those who live and work in our community, as well as the many people who visit Alexandria every day,” said Alexandria City Councilman and WMATA Board Member Paul C. Smedberg. “We look forward to seeing additional service-time improvements on Metrorail, and will continue to help spread the word about changes.”

For more information about Back 2 Blue, Metrorail improvements affecting Alexandria residents and customers, and transit resources available to City residents, visit www.alexandriava.gov/GOAlex.

For media inquiries, contact Andrea J. Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.