Alternatives to DCA?
 

I apologize before ahnd if this has come up in some other forum. The new layout makes it difficult to read all the new posts each day.

Presuming that DCA (Reagan National) stays close or opens only for a much more limited flight schedule, which of the two other regional airports is the best place to fly in should you want to get to downtown DC by public transit?

I have tickets on Continental for October 19-21 but expect being contacted to change them once the government makes its decision.


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JM-CO Plat, Gold various other airlines

JM- Both airports have their advatages. I would probably base my decision on time of day, day of week, and where I was going in DC.

BWI is connected to Union Station by Amtrak and the commuter rail which runs on the same tracks. While the former is overpriced, the latter is a pretty good deal (less than $5, IIRC). The commuter trains don't run much, if at all, on weekends and I think you're out of luck if your flight arrives too late in the evening.

Washington Flyer buses will get from IAD to NOVA or west DC Metro Stations/hotels for a bit more than $10. (I apologise for all the vagueries here; I'm working from memory.) Washington Flyers run much more frequently than the BWI trains, but they are infinitely more susceptible to traffic problems.

Hope that helps.

The MARC trains (run by the state of Maryland) from BWI to Union Station in DC only run weekdays (you can use AMTRAK on the weekends, but I seem to recall that's about $17 one way). I've used MARC a number of times and it works out really well. You take the free shuttle from BWI to the airport AMTRAK station, a quick 5 minute drive. It's about a 45 minute train trip. You can buy your rail ticket from touch screen kiosks or at the ticket window once you are there.

Schedules:

http://www.mtamaryland.com/schedules...c_schedule.cfm

The Washington Flyer shuttle bus leaves every hour from Dulles and will take you to West Falls Church Metro stop for $10. From there a 20 min metro ride and you are in downtown.

As of yesterday, word had it that for Dulles you're supposed to get to the airport 4 hours ahead of your scheduled flight. This contrasts with 2 hours other places. If you're looking into traveling time you might want to keep the airport arrival times in mind.

I'm hoping that as time progresses Dulles will move back to requirements more in line with other airports. Four hours is an awful lot of advance time needed.

Why don't the airlines set up bus service from IAD to downtown or maybe Crystal City? Seems like if the airlines themselves pushed that and ran it (versus third-parties like Wash Flyer or public transit) a lot more people would use it and see value of it. They could even do quasi-DCA connections with the bus like UA does for... is it SJC-SFO? I know there's a connecton out there on a bus. Seems like this would be a perfect thing for the US and/or DL Shuttle, for instance.

If DCA opens in a couple weeks, this would probably be too much effort. But it doesn't seem likely it will open that soon.

There already is regular bus service - it's called Washington Flyer.

The express service runs from DC, National Airport, & various Metro stops on coach buses.

Yes, I know. See above. Wash Flyer has discontinued coach service to downtown as of this summer. They offer service to the West Falls Church Metro and to National from Dulles. The latter is interesting; there is no info on their site indicating what they are doing with the Dulles to National service while National is closed.

Perhaps the point I should have made before, though, is that Wash Flyer is designed for when the airports are open as normal. This is a different situation; all the people normally going to National can't get there. Wouldn't a direct ground connection included in your already-paid airline ticket have an advantage? That's the question I was trying to pose. If the answer is no, or if the closing is only going to be another few weeks, then it wouldn't be worth the trouble. If the answer is yes, though, an airline that stepped up to the plate with such service would have an advantage.

The airlines would probably be best served by focusing on their flight operations and their financials, rather than on setting up alternative transportation.

The other scuttlebutt is that National will return to being government/military only if it reopens.

Closure and Bolling swaps are nothing but rumors---the words and dollars are flying fast and furious both on the Hill and in Arlington Co to get that airport open and soon.
The FAA and national capitol airports authority both insist there are no plans to keep DCA closed forever...and you'd be hard pressed to find anything in writing from the real power brokers in official Washington that supports closure. And that includes security and defense folks. No one (today) is willing to go on record and say it.

As for alternatives, even transit loving Post columnist Bob Levey has admitted there's no easy way to get to Dulles or BWI.


[This message has been edited by joanek (edited 09-20-2001).]

A vote for Dulles airport is that Metrobus started a 1 trip per hour between Dulles and Reston/Rosyln/L'Enfant Plaza almost the entire day. And it is only $1.10, takes about 45-50 minutes to DC. I heard but can't confirm that this service has been expanded to 15 minute frequency during part of the day. Here's a link to the current schedule, bus 5A.
http://www.wmata.com/timetables/VAsched.htm
Hope this helps...

Arlington, VA is running buses from three Metrorail stations to IAD. Here's a clipping from the Sept. 20 Washington Post story describing the service:

###BEGIN EXCERPT###

Charter buses labeled "Arlington-Dulles Express" will travel between Dulles and the Rosslyn, Pentagon City and Crystal City
Metro stations from 5:30 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to midnight on weekends. The buses will pick up
passengers every 15 minutes most of the day and every 30 minutes during the early morning and late-night hours, said Terry
Holzheimer, director of Arlington's office of business investment.

Passengers will pay $5, and the county will pay the rest of the estimated $60,000 cost per week, Holzheimer said.

Bus schedules are available at 703-228-RIDE or www.commuterpage.com.

###END EXCERPT###



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