Rider Spotlight

Each month, PRTC shines a light on one of our passengers to learn why that person chooses to ride public transportation, how long he or she has been using PRTC’s services and what we can do to improve that person’s commute. Check out this month’s Rider Spotlight below.

"I enjoy [the Tysons Express service], and I don’t have any plans to stop because I don’t want to drive.”

Amy Ewell

Customer Profile - February 2012

Amy Ewell is one of several dozen people who rode the OmniRide’s Tysons Express bus on its first day of service in November 2009, and she still is happy to be a regular passenger on the route, which is growing in popularity.

Ms. Ewell, who lives in Woodbridge, is a legal administrative coordinator at Freddie Mac in Tysons Corner.  For about eight years, she and four co-workers who also lived in the Woodbridge area were in a carpool – each taking a weekly turn as the driver.  But luckily, at just about the time the carpool started to disband, the OmniRide’s Tysons Express service started, she said.

Without the service, “I would have no choice but to drive,” she said.

A friend who received direct mail free ride coupons promoting OmniRide’s Tysons Express couldn’t use the coupons herself and gave them to Ms. Ewell.  And as someone who pays for the commute out of her own pocket, Ms. Ewell is grateful that Virginia Megaprojects is continuing to subsidize the service so that patrons pay only half-fares.  In talking with other passengers, the half-fares are a big factor in their decision to ride the bus, she added.

The commuting time with OmniRide is just a little bit longer than when she was in the carpool two years ago, Ms. Ewell said.  Perhaps the biggest difference between the bus and carpool is that Ms. Ewell now drives 14 miles one-way from her home to the Route 123 Commuter Lot.  Someday, she would like to see PRTC extend the Tysons route to include neighborhood stops on Dale Boulevard or Old Bridge Road.

Ms. Ewell, who was a regular passenger years ago when she worked in D.C., added that mid-day service from Tysons would also be a nice addition in the future.

"I enjoy [the Tysons Express service], and I don’t have any plans to stop because I don’t want to drive,” she said.

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Interested in having your story spotlighted? There’s no minimum time that you must have been riding with PRTC!  As long as you ride with us at least occasionally and are willing to submit a photo, you qualify! If you’d like to be featured in Rider Spotlight, contact Christine Rodrigo at (703) 583-7782 or at crodrigo@OmniRide.com.