Via the Examiner, it looks like Virginia Railway Express will start offering a weekday a.m. express train from Fredericksburg to Union Station in July. The faster route would save commuters about 20 minutes each way. VRE is still developing plans to make several service changes once its new storage track at L'Enfant Plaza is operational. The planned express train will only carry four train cars, and will be stored at the existing storage track at Union Station. Other trains will terminate and be stored at L'Enfant starting in July. more ›

Last month, we told you how the Virginia Railway Express commuter lines were discussing raising their fares by 15 percent in January, even though they had just raised them 3 percent across the board in July. Well today WTOP reports that VRE CEO Dale Zehner will this week recommend a fare increase of only 7 percent. Given that the reasons for the increase are similar to problems facing transit and commuter rail agencies across the country, like high fuel costs and aging trains, the 7 percent hike seems a lot easier to swallow than a 15 percent one. Keep in mind, though, that originally VRE was talking about two big rounds of increases: 15 percent in January and then possibly another 10 percent in July, 2009. With this new plan to raise fares by only 7 percent in January, it seems even more likely that a second increase could be in store next summer. more ›

WTOP points out new rates have gone into effect for Virginia Railway Express. You can look at the full new rate plan here, but the bottom line is that nearly every fare for single trips went up about 3 percent today. And in an update to a story we linked to late last month, a VRE spokesperson got in touch with us to clarify that while ridership on the commuter rail system has indeed gone up over 11 percent compared to this time last year, the reason stops were skipped on June 6 was because a freight train broke down outside of Leeland, and one train skipped 2 stations to allow all trains to get back on schedule for the morning commute. People standing at the platform at the missed stops were picked up by a subsequent train shortly afterward. more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. I got a kick out of New York’s reaction to a report released back in April, showing that carbon emissions in the city had increased by about 8 percent since 1997. The news stories were alarmist and the leaders angry, promising to do whatever it took to reverse the trend and reduce emissions within 25 years. Admirable sentiments, but it made me... more ›

We've only ridden the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail once in an ill-fated experiment to see if it could help us bypass Memorial Day Traffic on Rt. 66. It didn't. But for the thousands of Virginia commuters who count on it to get them to work every day, their ride is going to might get a bit more expensive. For the fifth consecutive year time in recent years, VRE is hiking might hike fares to... more ›

Try riding a local or express bus, van, ferry, jitney, light rail, monorail, subway or commuter rail line. Many systems provide daily or weekly discounted fun passes geared to out-of-town tourists. In most cases, these transportation systems are financed with your tax dollars. Why not use these investments and reap the benefits? You'll be supporting a cleaner environment and be less stressed upon arrival at your places of interest.