Alexandria, VA, Transit Riders Enjoying ‘The DASH Difference’

By Harrell Kerkhoff, Busline Magazine editor

DASH officials, shown left to right, are Stephanie Salzone, Chief Operating Officer; Josh Baker, General Manager & CEO; and Raymond Mui, Chief Infrastructure & Development Officer. (Photo courtesy of DASH)

Located on the western bank of the Potomac River, approximately seven miles south of downtown Washington, D.C, the city of Alexandria, VA, is of great U.S. historical significance, a vibrant tourist destination, and home to many residents who work for the federal government and make their way to the nation’s capital each workday. There are also many economic opportunities found within Alexandria for employment.

Whether coming in, traveling around, or going out, visitors and residents of the city, which has an estimated population of 160,000 residents, rely on a modern public transportation system that continues to grow, innovate and meet various transit needs. The main service area of Alexandria Transit Company (DASH), founded in 1984, encompasses 15 square miles and includes transport to and from the Pentagon, located six miles to the north.

“Today, DASH has slightly over 300 employees and 100 buses in its fleet. We currently transport more than 5.3 million passengers per year and have experienced substantial ridership growth as of late,”

DASH General Manager and CEO Josh Baker said, during a recent interview. “We serve a community with a very dense population and congestive roadways, which helps with our growing ridership numbers. Many people rely on DASH, including choice riders who choose to make use of our transit system rather than owning automobiles.

“Our riders rely on our services to not only transport them to work outside of our city, but within Alexandria itself, as our community has a large and talented workforce inside its boundaries.”

DASH not only offers bus service in Alexandria and to the Pentagon but also connects riders to: Metrobus and Metrorail, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA); the Virginia Railway Express; Amtrak; and other local bus systems. DASH is operated by the Alexandria Transit Company (ATC), a non-profit service corporation wholly owned by the City of Alexandria.

“When DASH started 41 years ago, we had around 30 employees, operated 17 30-foot buses, and transported a little shy of 1 million passengers per year,” Baker said. “Our growth over the years can be attributed to meeting the various needs of people as they travel throughout Alexandria and the surrounding Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. That includes not only people who are going to work but also students, shoppers and tourists. We serve a wide variety of travelers.”

And each transportation service provided by DASH is now fare free.

“Yes, our entire system is free to ride — no matter what DASH bus or route is involved,” Baker said. “We initially started fare free service during the COVID pandemic to eliminate the need for fare interactions within our vehicles, serving as a safety measure,” Baker said. “We briefly restored our fare structure after the pandemic, but then decided to go fare free full time. That began in September 2021, and we have been free of fares ever since.”

That is possible, Baker added, through available funding brought in from local and state tax dollars.

“The absence of fares has been a huge benefit for our passengers and has greatly helped our ridership numbers to increase,” Baker said. “Due to these increases in ridership, we continue to monitor and work on improving our frequency of service involving different routes and geographic regions.

“DASH has always been fortunate to have a high number of choice riders, which directly relates to the type of community we serve. We are also experiencing substantial growth in our student ridership and are working with local school systems on how to better transport students more efficiently.

“The one area within the DASH system that has not experienced an increase in ridership since the pandemic involves our commuter routes, although there have been recent signs that commuter ridership has begun to pick up as well.”

Another reason for the overall resurgence in ridership at DASH has been the continual support of the transit system by local leaders, according to Baker.

“Our city leaders see public transportation as core infrastructure for the city. That is due, in part, to traffic congestion issues that remain prevalent in our service area. It helps that our customer satisfaction rating is around 95 percent, showing that we are getting people to where they need to go in a safe, friendly, and timely fashion,” Baker said. “We also have received a lot of support from state leaders who value what public transportation providers have been able to accomplish throughout Virginia.”

He noted one positive result from the pandemic experience, as it relates to transportation, was the reassurance of public transit’s value to local communities and their inhabitants.

“Even during the height of the pandemic, we still had people riding our buses. Many were first responders or essential workers who had to get to their jobs,” Baker said. “That experience demonstrated once again how essential public transportation is to a community. Our buses were certainly not full during the pandemic, but it was still necessary for them to be on the road.

“Now that those days are behind us, it’s nice to see our ridership numbers continue to rebound and grow during more normal times. Our focus today is to continually look for ways to improve service as we move forward.”

The Promise Of Technology

Among the many advances taking place at DASH is the influence of evolving technology. For example, the transit system has in place a fleet of 14 battery-electric buses, along with the necessary charging infrastructure in place to keep those vehicles in service throughout the day.

“We have plans to expand our battery-electric fleet in the future, which is dictated by future funding,” Baker said. “We currently have six chargers in place and 12 dispensers, allowing us to connect 12 buses at a time. The charger infrastructure was put in place at the start of our battery-electric program in 2020.

“We have plans to expand our charging capabilities in the future to include ‘route charging’ capabilities. That will allow our drivers to charge the battery-electric buses as they are operating along their routes. They will be able to park in a particular location along a route that features an overhead charger, which will then connect to the roof of the bus — essentially topping off the amount of electrical charge needed within that vehicle. The process could allow our battery-electric buses to run all day without coming back to our main facility to recharge. That’s our goal, with a lot of this technology being funded by state and federal grants.”

DASH officials are currently learning more about charge management technology to help with future implementation of its battery-electric buses.

“The idea is to evolve from the manual component of having to plug in those buses all of the time at one facility,” he said.

The overall bus fleet at DASH is very mixed, according to Baker, involving 30-, 35-, 40-, and 60-foot vehicles.

“We are currently looking to use more 40- and 60-foot buses in the future to better service our growing passenger capacity needs,” he said. “It helps that we are now implementing our New DASH Network, which was developed as a result of asking community members what their future wants and needs were when it came to public transportation.”

Beginning in 2021, DASH started implementing the first phase of the Alexandria Transit Vision Plan, now known as the New DASH Network, which includes major route and service changes that will affect all DASH passengers. The New DASH Network is the first major bus network redesign project the City of Alexandria has seen since the launch of the Alexandria Transit Company in 1984.

The network is providing access to high-frequency service with buses running every 15 minutes or better, all day and seven days a week, to 50,000 additional residents and nearly 25,000 additional jobs. The New DASH Network represents a complete redesign of Alexandria’s bus network that is intended to meet current and future transit ridership demands.

“We’re continuing to evaluate our equipment going forward and currently have a very diversified fleet of buses. That’s intentional to avoid putting ‘all of our eggs in one basket,’” Baker said. “It involves different manufacturers featuring different technologies. DASH currently operates a bus fleet that includes hybrid, battery-electric, and diesel buses. Our strategy is based on continued innovation and looking at what will perform the best as it relates to bus technology in the years and decades ahead.”

Along with battery-electric buses, other forms of technology have been implemented at DASH to further improve bus transportation throughout the transit provider’s service region. That includes real-time passenger information, automated vehicle location, on-bus video surveillance technology, and solar-powered bus stops.

Meanwhile, upgraded bus amenities have included audio and visual stop announcement information technology that is available in multiple languages.

“We’ve also piloted a new wheelchair securement system that does not require driver interaction — basically a wheelchair passenger can direct his/her chair to a particular location on our bus, push a button, and the system will automatically secure the wheelchair,” Baker said. “And we are piloting a video mirror system that is designed to replace exterior mirrors with cameras.”

The Power Of Customer Service

Having advanced equipment and technology available remains vital in today’s public transportation industry, but it’s not worth much if passengers don’t feel welcomed or safe. Providing superior customer service in not lost on DASH representatives. It’s an area all DASH employees work on — each and every day.

Baker said such focus starts at the hiring process.

“Our objective is to hire people who are customer-focused. It’s not all about finding people with the correct technical skills. The most important thing is finding people who want to interact with customers in a positive way,” Baker said. “We take pride in what we call ‘The DASH Difference,’ which involves our bus operators, maintenance staff, customer service representatives and everyone else — all focused on providing the best customer service possible.

“One part of ‘The DASH Difference’ involves the provision of clean and attractive buses for passengers. I’ve always been a strong advocate for introducing flashy and interesting things as part of the transit experience. For many years public transportation was seen by too many people as something ‘square and plain.’ I think it’s better to provide equipment and services that are more interesting, new, modern, clean and fresh. That is what we try to offer at DASH.”

Such focus includes DASH buses that feature a specially designed wrap that touts the transit system’s fare free policy.

“The wrap incorporates a very bold and visible design. It’s a look that travels well within our service region,” Baker said.

Having started in the public transportation industry 25 years ago as a driver, Baker is also aware of the many challenges that bus operators face while driving a large vehicle, full of passengers, in different driving environments. He therefore understands the importance of proper driver training and support.

“At DASH, we employ approximately 200 operators, which is the largest portion of our workforce. They go through a lot of training designed to set them up for success. A good bus driver is not just a person who can safely operate a vehicle, but also one who can interact with people in a friendly and professional way,” Baker said. “There are a lot of things that must fall into place before our drivers can be successful. For example, it’s up to our entire team of employees to make sure each bus shows up on time. That involves our mechanics, cleaning crews and administration. If a bus is not on time, it can greatly affect a rider who may then be late to work, school or a medical appointment. People expect us to provide a reliable public transportation service — and we do not take that reliance lightly.”

“I have always said, that in public transportation, ‘You’ve got to show up tomorrow the same way you showed up today.’ People rely on us to do our jobs well.”

A Great Place For Public Transport

There are a lot of wonderful things about living, working and visiting Alexandria and the surrounding metro area. It’s a place where people from all over the world visit, and where many eventually end up staying. It also affords opportunities for a transit system to grow and meet different needs.

“A key focus at DASH is to make sure people know we are here to serve them and provide a viable alternative to driving a car. Traffic here can be horrendous and it’s even worse when commuting to and from Washington, D.C.,” Baker said. “Therefore, we do our best to properly market our system’s capabilities through various ways. That includes social media and e-mail marketing. Our website is also continually updated to help people better connect with us.”

Partnering with organizations that are connected to local tourism is also essential.

“Part of that focus relates to our very popular King Street Trolly service. It’s a convenient, environmentally-friendly and fun way for visitors and residents alike to travel around Old Town Alexandria,” Baker said.

The trolleys transport riders between the King Street Metrorail Station and City Hall/Market Square. The runs take place daily, every 15 minutes, with many stops available so passengers can visit shops, restaurants and other attractions found along Alexandria’s historic area.

As for main challenges to address in the months and years ahead, Baker said the transit system continues to look for more mechanics to hire as such candidates are still very hard to find. Other objectives include the ongoing development of the transit system’s battery-electric bus service, and — in what Baker said is a good problem to have — figuring out ways to alleviate overcrowding issues that can be found on various DASH transit routes.

“We are also working on ways to be a better transportation option for new and potential riders, such as area students. That focus is never-ending,” Baker said. “Overall, I am very positive about the future of not only DASH, but the entire U.S. public transportation industry. It’s good to see investments being made, both locally and nationally, in such areas as priority bus lanes, improved infrastructure, and better accessibility programs.”

Baker also sees the need for more members of the younger generation to think about public transportation as a viable career choice.

“I have been in this industry for 25 years and I think it’s more fun than what many people would initially believe. There is a special dynamic involved where every single day is a little bit different. There is always something that needs to be done or worked on,” he explained. “It’s a field full of opportunities. I started as a bus driver and was given the chance to work myself up the ladder to where I am now running a transit system. There are many other people in this industry who have experienced the same type of career advancement.

“It’s also very rewarding to have such a positive influence on other people’s lives. We provide a reliable and safe way to get to work, go shopping, make a medical appointment, visit a friend, go to school, etc.”

Another positive aspect to the public transportation field is the long-standing practice of one transit system helping another. That focus remains strong at DASH, according to Baker.

“The camaraderie that often takes place between transit systems is special. We are not in competition with each other, but rather are happy to provide support,” he noted. “At DASH, we want to be available for not only our riders and community, but the entire public transportation industry.”

Visit dashbus.com.