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FRED to change VRE feeders, add city loop

September 19, 2008 12:16 am

By KELLY HANNON

Shifting demand for bus service has led FREDericksburg Regional Transit to create two new city bus routes, and make small changes to existing ones.

Starting next month, FRED will launch a downtown loop that will circulate hourly to popular city destinations.

Also, a new Virginia Railway Express feeder service will collect passengers in Cowan Boulevard neighborhoods and along Princess Anne Street.

"We hadn't changed the city routes basically from the day FRED started," said Arnold Levine, FRED manager of policy, planning and compliance. FRED launched in 1996 with four Fredericksburg routes.

Now, FRED has reorganized bus schedules to increase the number of routes with hourly service.

The changes, which start Oct. 6, should result in better and more frequent service, Levine said. "We hope our riders will agree once they get familiar with the changes," he said.

But service will decline on one route--VRE feeder buses to and from the Idlewild subdivision. FRED will take one bus that was serving VRE passengers in Idlewild and move it to create the Cowan Boulevard/Princess Anne Street VRE route.

The Idlewild route was started with a three-year state and federal grant, which was matched with $10,000 annually from the Villages of Idlewild, Levine said.

The Idlewild route will continue for the next two years of the grant, and possibly longer. "We will continue to provide it, unless we make a determination it really is not a cost-effective operation," Levine said. FRED charges $1 each way for VRE feeder service, which is higher than the standard 25-cent fare. Riders can buy monthly and weekly passes to the VRE feeder service at a reduced rate.

Here are the specific route changes:

Route F2: This route will have hourly service. The second half of this route--from FRED Central to Cowan Boulevard to the University of Mary Washington to downtown Fredericksburg--will be moved to Route F5, the "Downtown Loop."

The new F2 route will add a stop at Park & Shop's Giant store. The Townsend Square apartments stop will move to the intersection of U.S. 1 and Townsend Boulevard.

Route F3: The second half of this route--from FRED Central to Mary Washington Hospital to Princess Anne Street to James Monroe High School--will be moved to the F5 route, the "Downtown Loop." Other stops will stay the same, but this route will now have hourly service from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Route F4: All stops remain the same. Hourly service will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Service will run every other hour from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Route F5: This will become the "Downtown Loop" route, and it will join sections of former Routes F2 and F3 in a single service.

This circuit will have hourly service. Also, passengers who park at the downtown parking garage can show their stubs to get a free ride on FRED.

VRE Feeder Service: VF1 and VF2

A new VRE feeder route, VF2, will pick up residents along Cowan Boulevard and Princess Anne Street and bring them to the downtown train station to meet all VRE trains in the morning and evening, except the midafternoon train.

This route will not meet Amtrak trains.

To start the new feeder route, service will be decreased on the Idlewild-to-VRE route, VF1.

Instead of meeting all morning VRE trains, the VF1 route will meet only Trains 301, 302, 306, 308 and 310, and several pickup times will change. It will meet all afternoon VRE trains.

Since the route began a year ago, ridership from Idlewild has been light, averaging 15 passengers a day, Levine said.

In contrast, the VRE feeder service that picks up passengers at Spotsylvania commuter lots averages 150 to 160 passengers a day.

FRED is accepting public comment on the bus routes through Oct. 3, and minor changes to the new routes are possible.

Comments can be e-mailed to alleveine@freder icksburgva.gov or mailed to Arnold Levine, FREDericksburg Regional Transit, 1400 Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com