Originally Posted by
Annandaler
The Silver Line Express is $5.00 and the Fairfax Connector is $1.75. So the savings is $3.25.
But there is another savings with the Fairfax Connector when transferring to/from Metrorail and using a Smartrip card - you save $.50 on the transfer. (No such savings when using the Silver Line Express - and they don't even accept the Smartrip card.)
Whoops. I was assuming the MetroRail transfer and SmarTrip card use. The savings is
$3.75 connecting between the Silver Line and the Fairfax connector with a SmarTrip card ($1.25[$1.75 - $0.50] as opposed to $5).
I used the Silver Line/Silver Line Express this weekend to travel to Dulles from downtown DC. The plan was to check out the Fairfax Connector, but I'll save that for a day where I have a bit more time. It was a great ride and will use it over the 5A in the future. However, a few thoughts:
- As you exit the fare gates at the Wiehle-Reston East station, stay to the
left and pass through the sky-walk to the left. The overhead sign will point to the right for buses, but ignore that. Follow the sky-walk over the Dulles Toll Road and stick to the right for the glass enclosed escalators.
- I could not get the wi-fi to work on the bus.
- The trip took about 7 minutes as opposed to the 15 minute estimated time.
- I arrived back to Dulles in time to take the 8:25 pm trip to Wiehle-Reston. The bus left at 8:45 pm, just in time for the driver to smoke a cigarette. This was a bit irritating.
- Trains arrive and turn around at Wiehle-Reston
quickly. I wrongly assumed that the train would turn around at sit at the station for a few minutes, as it usually does at end-of-the-line stations.
Very happy to see a full metro station and a comfortably full bus to Dulles.