Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

is part of the

Washington Metropolitan Area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and its

surface transit A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is t ...

system is integrated with that of the city of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

However, because of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

separating Northern Virginia from the city, the two systems have evolved largely independently. At present, most major

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, including all that cross the Potomac, are operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

(WMATA), while several smaller systems are city- or county-owned.

, , October 2005 Since the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

opened to Virginia, most of the bus routes have terminated on either side of the Potomac River, where passengers can transfer to the

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

system, or to one of the few WMATA Metrobus routes that cross the river (Route 38B).

Trolleys

Northern Virginia did not have any

street railway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s until 1892, when the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Electric Railway (WA&MV) opened an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

trolley line between

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

and

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. It merged with the Washington, Arlington and Falls Church Railway (WA&FC) in 1913 to form the Washington-Virginia Railway. The company entered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1924, and in 1927 the two former systems were split. The WA&MV was bought by the owner of the Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Rapid Transit Company, a competing line of buses, and last ran in 1932; the WA&FC was reorganized as the Arlington and Fairfax Railway and operated until 1939. A third system, the

Washington and Old Dominion Railway The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD) was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The rail transport, railroad was a successor to the bankruptcy, bankrupt Washingto ...

(W&OD), began in the 1850s as the

Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD) was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The railroad was a successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway ...

, a

steam railroad Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

. It was leased by the newly formed W&OD, which in 1912 connected the line to the electrified

Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad The Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad (GF&OD) was an interurban trolley line that ran in Northern Virginia during the early 20th century. History Chartered in 1900 by a group of local landowners and acquired in 1902 by John Roll McLean (o ...

. Electric trolleys last ran in 1941, but the company continued to operate freight trains (and passenger trains until 1951) until 1968.

Local buses

WMATA Metrobus

Until 1973, when WMATA began operating buses, the local buses in Northern Virginia were operated by two companies. The Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Transit Company (AB&W) mainly operated along and south of Columbia Pike, while the Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company (WV&M) mainly operated along and north of

Arlington Boulevard Arlington Boulevard is a major arterial road in Arlington County, Fairfax County, and the independent City of Fairfax in Northern Virginia in metropolitan Washington, DC, United States. It is designated U.S. Route 50 (US 50) for its entire le ...

Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Transit Company

The AB&W's first route was along Columbia Pike, now the

Columbia Pike Line The Columbia Pike Line, designated as Routes 16A, 16C & 16E, are daily bus routes operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between the neighborhoods of Annandale (16A) or Culmore (16C, 16E) and Pentagon station (16A, 16C) o ...

, in 1921. It eventually acquired a number of other routes, including several local

routes.

Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company

The WV&M acquired several routes in the late 1920s, mainly operating west from Rosslyn. In 1947, the WV&M absorbed the Arlington and Fairfax Motor Transportation Company, the successor to the Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railroad, but closed the route in 1948.

Intercity buses

Until 1987, when

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

acquired

Continental Trailways The Trailways Transportation System is an American network of approximately 70 independent bus companies that have entered into a brand licensing agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Trailwa ...

(part of the

Trailways Transportation System The Trailways Transportation System is an American network of approximately 70 independent bus companies that have entered into a brand licensing agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Trailwa ...

), there were two systems of

intercity bus An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...

es - Greyhound and Trailways - in Northern Virginia. , the only two routes still operated are southwest to

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

via

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington me ...

and south to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

via

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

. Greyhound's system once included three lines: one west to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

along

State Route 7 The following highways are numbered 7. For roads numbered A7, see list of A7 roads. Route 7, or Highway 7, may refer to: International * AH7, Asian Highway 7 * European route E07 * European route E007 Afghanistan *Kunduz-Khomri Highway (A7) ...

, operated by

Capitol Greyhound Lines The Capitol Greyhound Lines (called also Capitol or CpGL), a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it was merged into the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, a neig ...

, one west to Winchester via

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

, operated by

Atlantic Greyhound Lines The Atlantic Greyhound Lines (called also Atlantic or AGL), a highway-coach carrier, was a The Greyhound Corporation, Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with th ...

, and one south to Richmond via U.S. Route 1, operated by Richmond Greyhound Lines. These were all started in the 1920s and joined Greyhound by the early 1930s.

Virginia Trailways

Virginia Trailways, officially Virginia Stage Lines, had lines west on State Route 55 to

Front Royal Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become F ...

, west on

U.S. Route 211 U.S. Route 211 (US 211) is a spur of US 11 in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known for most of its length as Lee Highway, the U.S. Highway runs from Interstate 81 (I-81) and Virginia State Route 211 (SR 211) in New Market east to US 15 Business, ...

to Luray, southwest to

via

, and south to Richmond via U.S. Route 1 and State Route 2. The first one of these operated by Virginia Stage was to Charlottesville; by 1936, it was operating all four. The company joined Trailways and changed its business name to Virginia Trailways in 1938.

References

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Transportation in Alexandria, Virginia Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia {{Virginia-transport-stub