City Council Shuts Down GEORGE Bus Service
By GEORGE BROMLEY
Falls Church Times Staff
August 10, 2010
Yesterday evening the Falls Church City Council voted 6-1 to terminate the GEORGE bus service. Vice Mayor Dave Snyder cast the sole dissenting vote. The service, which has struggled for years, barely survived last spring’s budget cuts and was funded only through the first quarter of FY 2011.
Mr. Snyder called the vote ”short-sighted, in both the short and long term, and much more damaging than you can ever imagine.” The vice mayor, who termed the decision “anti-environment and anti-worker”, saw no possibility of establishing another service in the foreseeable future. Other members felt that they could no longer support GEORGE, given Falls Church’s financial situation, but hoped that the City would eventually revisit the issue.
Councilman Ira Kaylin viewed the vote against the service as only the first of a series of difficult budget decisions facing the Council over the next two years. Councilwoman Robin Gardner offered that the bus was “a wonderful idea but one not utilized as we thought it would be or as effective as we hoped it would be.” She suggested that once the City’s economic development was “in motion” that it could establish a trolley similar to Alexandria’s.
Mayor Nader Baroukh acknowledged that Mr. Snyder had raised a good point, but joined in the vote to end the service. He noted that the system’s expected service life was now only 2.5 years, “and then we’d be back to where we are [today] as to what to do about buses.”
The other alternatives before the Council were to terminate the 26W route, while maintaining the 26E, or to eliminate 26W and reduce service on the 26E. Mr. Snyder moved to bring both options to the floor but no one offered to second them. Ms. Gardner’s subsequent motion to terminate the service was seconded by Councilman Ron Peppe.
The bus will cease operations on Monday, September 27. As there is no weekend service, the last runs will be on Friday, September 24.
In other business the Council voted unanimously to authorize purchase of land behind Sherrow Avenue that would facilitate the subsequent “daylighting” of a stream running through Hamlett-Rees Park to Tripps Run. This process will ease flooding in adjacent back yards and along the trail through the park. Currently the trail from Broad Street to Thomas Jefferson school is impassable after heavy rains. The 2,900 square feet parcel will be obtained for $43,500.
The Council voted 7-0 to establish the Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Traffic Calming Group. The new board will help develop a plan which will inventory every City street and will outline policies, design criteria, and specific improvements that will further enhance safety, comfort, and access for walkers, cyclists, wheel chair users, and transit riders.
The Council authorized a one year extension of the City’s information technology support services contract and amended the contract to include additional IT project management services on a month to month basis through December 15, 2011. The contract is in the amount of $470,698. The additional services are not to exceed $10,100 monthly. Mr. Snyder voted to abstain on the measure.
Planning Commission chairman John Lawrence was re-appointed to the Library Board of Trustees. Ms. Gardner, citing a tradition that residents can only serve on one City board appointed by the Council, voted against the appointment on the grounds that Mr. Lawrence’s “library hat has made its way into his Planning Commission decisions.”
Assistant city manager Cindy Mester reported that the community center rooms will be closed for maintenance during the last week of August but that the front desk would be open to accept registration activity. Ms. Mester also noted that according to an ongoing survey the local farmers’ market was ranked No. 1 in the nation for markets of its size. Effective August 13, Ms. Mester will serve as the acting General Manager of Development Services, following the departure of Suzanne Cotellessa.
The Council’s next scheduled meeting will be a September 7 work session.
By George Bromley
August 10, 2010
I’m disappointed about the decision on George and I hope it does not mean a similar service will be impossible in the future. But, I understand the reasoning behind it. We need to make our city easily accessible as well as a friendly place to park. I am excited about the PBTC Group and hope that its establishment and recommendations are taken seriously since many changes could serve as a draw to visit our city. And, keep current residents shopping and being entertained in our city.
It’s about time!
Since Congressman Moran was integral in getting the initial funding for GEORGE around ten years ago, I wonder if he will be as livid as he was when he learned of the Wilden failure? That’s two strikes against Falls Church in the last two weeks in Moran’s office.
Disapointed in George’s future.
While George has some problems with its design (types of busses, routes taken), it is the only transit offered by the city. Discontinuing it sends the wrong message, namely it emphasizes car travel which adds to climate change and congestion. Short term, not having George will take a little pressure off the budget, but long term it will encourage people to live in other areas that have good mass transit options. Councilman Snyder was right on this one.
Right now I am in England and enjoying all the public transportation options. You can even borrow a bike and get around town. Trains, the “tube”, no problems here with transportation. But back in old FC, you can’t go 1 mile without a car……
I suspect those that voted to end GEORGE are not 100% dependent on public transportation, as I am. Enough said.
GEORGE was a service worth trying, but they should have shut it down or scaled it way back years ago when it became clear that nobody was using it aside from a handful of commuters. Mr. Snyder first seems to be paraphrasing Obi-Wan Kenobi with his “more damaging than you can ever imagine,” then he switches to more comfortable but equally silly populist rhetoric. Oh well, at least the majority of the council recognizes that GEORGE was neither cost-effective nor good for the environment.
@ Barry: You’re right–public transportation in other countries can be fantastic: plentiful and affordable. If only that were the case in the U.S.! Unfortunately, an underlying “culture” of public transportation doesn’t exist here as it does in Europe (we are too wed to our independence, i.e. our cars), nor is there enough infrastructure, except in a handful of cities, to make it truly convenient for most people.
I think it’s too bad GEORGE is going, but I do think it was the right decision, given the budget tightening that must take place. I know there are residents who really used it, but unfortunately I don’t think enough residents used it to warrant the cost of continuing the service.
I ride the 26W 3-5 times a week in the morning to WFC Metro and there are usually 10-12 people on the 0800 bus. I rarely rode it in the evening as the schedule just never matched up with mine. At 0615 this morning there were 4 other riders. I’ll miss the 26W but hopefully future budgets will allow it to return.
Susanna,
Do mean George the bus or George the journalist? :0)
Lou,
I meant the bus not George the journalist.
Charlie Anderson’s comment with regard to the City Council’s actions on George and the Wilden adversely impacting our relationship with Congressman Moran, raises the issue of the value of Congressional earmarks and other efforts that Congressmen use to infuse funds into a community. What is often not calculated is the long term cost of the project once the Federal seed money arrives. In short, communities must be prudent and aware of their own financial capacity to sustain the projects once the Federal funds are depleted. Unfortunately, it is just one of the many lessons we must absorb in our post bubble economy. I believe that lesson has been accepted by a majority of the Council. They understand that to “stand up for everything,” means ultimately to “stand up for nothing,” except self-interest.
This is very short sighted. At the same time, the City is trying to come up with a traffic calming scheme but cutting bus service and forcing others to drive will only make traffic harder to calm.
The City could have also extended Rte 26E to run further down Broad Street in a 30 minute loop (rather than a 25 minute loop) accessing the businesses on Broad Street (then taking West Street until Park Street) as well as more people that used Rte 26W.
One of the reasons I moved to Falls Church was because of the bus. It surely helps (helped) property values but when people decide where to buy in the future the lack of a dedicated bus service may cause people to look elsewhere or pay less for a house in Falls Church City. Perhaps if that drives down property values, the Council will vote to raise taxes again!
I am disappointed that the GEORGE bus will be discontinued, but I thought (and feared) that this was probably inevitable. I guess that budget tightening almost always results in the need to make some difficult decisions.
I do have alternative bus routes for my commute, but not having the GEORGE will certainly take getting used to. I feel sorry for those who have been affected much more adversely than I have.
This is disappointing. It’s unfortunate that the City never embraced external advertising on the GEORGE bus. I know for a fact that advertisers would have bought the space and that it would have helped to offset some of the ridership costs.