Board Of Supervisors Awards $450,000 Contract For Tysons Corner Circulator Study

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors awarded the international design firm AECOM a $450,000 contract this week to create a plan for the future Tysons Corner Circulator bus system, a process they say should be completed by the end of 2011.

Five firms bid on the contract in December. AECOM, whose recent contracts include New York's Second Avenue Subway (SAS), the  Extension of Montreal’s Subway Line Number 2, the modernization of  O'Hare International Airport and the Viva Bus Rapid Transit system in Ontario, Canada, beat out the four other firms competing for the job:  Cambridge Systematics, Inc; Johnson Mirmiran&Thompson; Nelson/NYGAARD; and TransSystems. Locally, AECOM has offices in Washington, D.C., Arlington and Reston.

Funding for the contract was approved in June 2009, according to board documents.

Earlier visions for the bus system included three bus loops that would connect the eight planned Tysons neighborhoods. AECOM is charged with defining the system's main functions, and also how it will relate to other transit services and studies.

According to Board of Supervisor documents,other responsibilities include:

• "Evaluate best practices, future demand, operations, phasing, maintenance requirements, and costs.
• Evaluate modes, service characteristics, route alignments, frequency of service, stop locations and interface with Metrorail stations.
• Assess right-way requirements for both existing and future streets.
• Assess of the pros and cons of dedicated versus shared rights as part of the operational analysis.
•  Evaluate maintenance requirements, including the size and potential locations for a maintenance facility within or proximate to Tysons."

Though none of the planned routes will run through the Town of Vienna itself, the system could significantly ease traffic on Maple Avenue and offer a valuable service to the town's commuters.

"Circulators are a positive step towards assisting in the reduction of traffic congestion throughout the Town," Town Planning and Zoning Director Greg Hembree said this fall in a memo about the system to Vienna's Town Council.

At a discussion about the system in October, council member Laurie Cole said despite its benefits, the circulator could also create parking issues for the town.

"We don't want the Town of Vienna to become a parking lot where people just park in Vienna and then hop on the bus and ride into Tysons Corner to avoid expensive parking in Tysons," she said.