I%26#39;ve read multiple posts from people inquiring on this option for travelling from Dulles to downtown. SueFee, local expert, has noted each time that the bus is crowded and unreliable. Has anyone taken the bus that can share their experience? I saw one post from July that indicated it was favorable. We arrive at Dulles at approx 8PM on a Friday and depart Dulles at approx 3:30 on a weekday. My impression is that these times will be outside of rush hour and that the bus won%26#39;t necessarily be very crowded. I also read on the Metro website that effective 9/24, the 5A buses will depart every 40 minutes vs hourly.
The Metro website says to board the bus at Curb 2E. Can anyone explain where this is in relation to the backage claim area for Jet Blue?
Dulles Express Bus 5A - Feedback from Riders?
While I haven%26#39;t been on the 5A, I can tell you that you board it at the ';ground transportation'; level at Dulles. After you get your baggage, just follow the signs that say ';ground transportation';. On that level there are other buses that stop there (rental car company shuttles, economy parking lot shuttles). Just look for the red, white and blue Metrobus sign. I would say that if you take the bus into the District and aren%26#39;t in a rush, you should be fine. However, if you want to take it back to Dulles, be sure to leave very early (hours before your flight) in case the bus is late or is held up in traffic. BTW, if you want to look at Dulles%26#39;s website for more details:
www.metwashairports.com/Dulles/
Dulles Express Bus 5A - Feedback from Riders?
Be aware that the line is NOT designed to assist tourists in getting from DC to Dulles. Tourists are supposed to take the Metro to West Falls Church and take the Washington Flyer the rest of the way. The Flyer buses have luggage compartments, unlike the 5A, which is a city bus designed to take minimum wage workers from DC to their jobs at the airport. If you think travellers are upset by the overcrowding, think of how those mininum wage workers must feel!!!!
No one that works at the airport works for minimum wage. I am not really sure where the idea that this bus is a welfare bus, but it is a metro bus just like any other. It is mass tranist, and anyone can take it. It is as reliable and as comfortable as any city bus. It may not be as comfortable as the Washington flyer bus, but it won%26#39;t cost as much.
The baggage claim areas seem to move all the time, but there are only two exits that from the airport that allow you to cross to the bus loading area.
The 5A bus line was started in 2003 through a $2.8M Welfare-to-Work/JARC (Job Access %26amp; Reverse Commute) grant to assist urban low-income individuals to reach suburban worksites (unlike the taxpayer-subsidized transportation systems that carry white-collar workers from the suburbs to downtown and home again in the evening).
It is mass transit, which is why it provides no accommodations for luggage, just like any other city bus. Another reason for the lack of luggage space was to address Congressional concerns that it was unfair competition to allow a government-subsidized bus line (the 5A) to compete against the Washington Flyer, a privately-owned airport transportation provider who receives no government handouts to transport passengers to the airport.
If the 5A charged its passengers the fully-allocated cost of operating continuous service between downtown DC and IAD, you%26#39;d find their fares in the $8-10 range as well (anyone who has used mass transit to get from Denver to DIA would be aware of this fact). Instead, the 5A fares are deliberately kept low to minimize the impact on their daily low-income riders.
Why it was started is irrelevant, as is the speculation that the reason there are no accommodations for luggage. There are no accommodations for luggage on metro rail; does that mean that air passengers shouldn%26#39;t ride it? The fact is that it is public transportation that is provided from the airport to DC. While is may be convenient for worker, it is also convenient for air travel as well.
I don%26#39;t think you should discourage people from using this form of transportation. If anything, increasing ridership will assure that there is metro bus service to the airport and will keep the Washington Flyer from increasing their prices.
I hardly need to discourage people from using the 5A - I think the complaints from travelers who have used it and newspaper articles speak loudly enough. :-)
Air travelers who want to bring their luggage on public transit are welcome to do so on the railcars used by Metrorail (DCA), BART (SFO), Bi-State (STL), and the T (BOS). Eventually Dulles will have rail service once the Orange Line extension is built, but until then, Metro is prohibited by Congress from directly competing with the Washington Flyer.
If you%26#39;ve been traveling out of DCA as long as I have, you%26#39;ll recall that the taxi industry was responsible for placing the current Metrorail station over a half-mile from the former main terminal in hopes that the long drag would deter air travelers from using public transit to get downtown. Instead, when it came time to expand, instead of enlarging the old terminal, MWAA built the new DCA terminal directly across from the Metro station and constructed two pedestrian bridges to facilitate the transfer!
Before BART was extended to SFO, SamTrans operated a similar W2W/JARC route that ran between downtown San Francisco and SFO for daily airport workers, with air travelers expected to use the private Airporter buses. SamTrans took their Congressional non-competition regulation so seriously that their drivers were instructed to deny boarding to anybody who tried to bring their suitcase aboard a transit bus.
These Congressional restrictions may make little sense to you and other travelers, but this is the same legislative body that until recently prohibited cross-country flights out of DCA and still limits interstate flights out of Dallas%26#39; Love Field. Do these economic regulations make sense? Do they protect certain industries or companies? Thankfully, I don%26#39;t make these laws - I just report on them.
I found this on the Washington Post Travel Talk site:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion鈥?/a> (You have to scroll about 2/3 of the way down the comments to find these)
Washington, D.C.: Just wanted to tell your chatters that I was pleasantly surprised by the Metrobus service from Dulles. I took the 5A Express bus to L%26#39;Enfant Plaza, and there were padded seats and luggage rights - much nicer than your average Metrobus! - and only like 3 stops before arriving in the city. And $3 sure beats taxi fare!
Andrea Sachs: I agree. I am a big fan of the Metrobus as well. It%26#39;s so nice to let someone else do the driving--and pay for the gas!
sunngod,
I don%26#39;t believe that drwong is trying to discourage anyone from taking the bus. He is simply saying that, unlike some other available forms of transporation, that particular bus does not have any accomodations for luggage. Although you are correct that if buses and metro are convenient, they should be used by travelers, it is well worth it to let people know (especially people traveling at rush hour and/or with large suitcases) that they will likely experience some difficulty. Personally, I%26#39;m a huge fan of public transit everywhere I go! But there are occasions where you will find it very difficult to lug your bags around on public transit!
We%26#39;re just spreading awareness! :)
Found this on the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority website:
wmata.com/about/鈥?/a>
Metrobus service changes in the District of Columbia begin September 24
5A D.C.-Dulles Line
On weekdays, buses will run every 40 minutes to alleviate crowding, and two buses will be added to the weekday schedule. One bus will leave L鈥橢nfant Plaza at 4:50 a.m. and the other bus will leave Dulles Airport at 5:50 a.m.
This is like the third or fourth topic on the 5A in the past few days.
NewMex--I think you will be okay using it, because you will be traveling during off-peak hours.
If you happen to be taking your vacation before October 14th, please post a topic in this forum, and tell us about your experience with the 5A. I will definitely be using the 5A during the week of October 14-21, to go out to the Udvar-Hazy Air %26amp; Space Museum, which is next to the Dulles Airport.
Thanks!
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