How do you get to the Metro?

By the end of this year, the answer could be by bus.

Six proposed bus routes will be the highlight of Tuesday's "Vienna At Your Service" meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Flame Room at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department.

Fairfax County Department of Transportation members will be on hand to go over the routes.

The county’s 2010 Transit Development Plan recommends 12 new routes be added to Tysons, McLean and Reston in concert with the opening of the new Metro line. It recommends 21 other routes be tweaked and six more be eliminated.

Officials are seeking input on not only the routes themselves, but also on safety, access to bus stops and the length of the ride.

The routes potentially coming to Vienna, outlined below, will better connect riders to both the Silver Line, via the Tysons Corner Metro Station, and the Orange Line, via the Vienna station. They will also give residents access to Tysons Corner Center, the Dunn Loring Metro Station and Inova Fairfax Hospital, among other locations.

For years, Vienna residents have complained about infrequent bus service, particularly down Maple Avenue, but the opening of the Silver Line — scheduled for December — could finally make more routes and more frequent runs a reality.

But the plans don't come without concern from some residents.

At a meeting about the routes at Westbriar Elementary School last month, some area residents argued Old Courthouse Road in Vienna, one of the route's main arteries, was too narrow and highly populated to accommodate large buses during rush hours.

But other residents argued that ideally, buses would reduce the number of cars on the road.

“Every person who gets on a bus is one less person who’s going to be driving down Old Courthouse Road,” Wolftrap homeowner Dan Benson said.

Another round of public meetings is planned for April, and the Board of Supervisors is set to make a decision in May. Bus service will launch on the day of the Silver Line’s opening.

For more information, visit www.fairfaxconnector.com or email fairfaxconnector@fairfaxcounty.gov.

For questions about Tuesday's meeting, call the Mayor’s Office at (703) 255-6311.

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