Vice Mayor, Former Councilman Seek Support for Town Transit System

Herndon’s Vice Mayor Lisa Merkel and former Town Councilman Richard Downer, presented a possible transit system for the town at a recent Herndon Rotary meeting.

Downer said the town has a successful circulator road—Herndon Parkway—surrounding it that took years of planning and work. He said now that Herndon is likely to have its own Metro station, the town needs to start planning on how it will get people out of their cars and to the station.

“It’s a very unusual situation here,” Downer said, because all the land surrounding the future Metro station is fully developed with buildings on it. There will also be no public parking on the Herndon side, Downer said. As of now the plans call for a landing from the station and a sidewalk, he said.

Merkel said the town is working with landowners for possible options, such as a kiss-and-ride, but it is a complicated process.

Downer said he began thinking about how people could get to the station and wondered how many people might have close access to a circulator bus that traveled Herndon Parkway and Elden Street. The project has been referred to as the Herndon Internal Transit System.

With the knowledge that most people will walk a quarter mile to get to public transportation, Downer began mapping how much of the town would be within that distance of the circulator route. He found that such a circulator bus would cover about three quarters of the Town.

Merkel said a circulator bus could put Herndon on the map because it would make Herndon a community in the suburbs where a person could more easily live without a car. Additionally, people are concerned with how they’ll get to the Metro station, since there will be no parking, and this could be a solution.

The town could also use it as an opportunity to go green and make the system as sustainable as possible, Merkel said. She said to be different the town could use smaller buses, alternative fuels, and possible partnerships with nearby businesses such as Volkswagen.

Merkel said Herndon can’t truly afford to fund and operate its own transit route but thinks the county may be ready to listen, and a partnership with the county may help get it done. She has sent the information to Dranesville district Supervisor John Foust who has sent it to other members of the Fairfax County Board of Directors.

“I think this could be a real boon for residents coming and for businesses,” Merkel said. She said they were shocked to find how much of the town would be within a short walking distance of a circulator bus. She said it could help with the town’s economic development and provide residents with access to more jobs.

“There’s a lot of reality that we’ve got to work through,” Merkel said. “I think that the real vision is something that could be great for our town businesses and our residents.” She said right now they are looking for feedback, ideas and support.

Downer said the plan will also need the support of the Herndon Town Council and without a majority of the Council being in support of the project, the county may never formally see it. “I think that bus system should be in place the day Metro opens,” Downer said.