D.C.–Dulles Line
The D.C.–Dulles Line, designated Route 5A, was a bus route operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority between Washington Dulles International Airport and L'Enfant Plaza station of the Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. The line operated every 30–40 minutes on weekdays and 60 minutes on weekends along the Dulles Toll Road, Interstate 66, Richmond Highway and Interstate 395 between these two locations with no intermediate stops, with the exception of the Herndon–Monroe Park & Ride and Rosslyn station. The trip was approximately 50 minutes long.
Service
Service operated every 30 to 35 minutes between L'Enfant Plaza station and Washington Dulles International Airport on weekdays, and 60 minutes on weekends. WMATA used 2006 Orion VII CNG suburbans numbered 2701–2730 based out of Four Mile Run Division to operate the route. However, other buses can be used on the route if the Orion VII CNGs are running on other routes or going under maintenance. Each bus has suburban seating with overhead luggage racks. After the Orion VII CNG retirements, the route used 2016-2020 New Flyer XN40 buses.Stops
Background
The 5A originally operated under the “North Reston Express Line” in the 1970s before being discontinued in the 1990s being replaced by a combination of Fairfax Connector routes.Service began on December 4, 2000 to connect service to Dulles International Airport from Downtown Washington, D.C.
The line is unique for being the only WMATA bus line that runs to Loudoun County, has a connection with any Virginia non-commuter services, and is responsible for providing a regular link between the two services. The original $1.10 one-way fare was seen as a bargain compared with other transportation modes in the area, including Shenandoah Valley Commuter Bus.
In 2014, it was reported that the 5A line was partly responsible for Dulles Airport monthly ridership record. WMATA also provides higher levels of service on the line in special times of need, especially on certain holidays.
All route 5A weekend service was suspended due to WMATA's response to the COVID-19 pandemic beginning on March 21, 2020. Weekend service was fully restored on August 23, 2020.
On September 10, 2020 as part of its FY2022 proposed budget, WMATA proposed to reduce time frequency on route 5A service in order to reduce costs and low federal funds. Although, WMATA planned to eliminate route 5A and replace it with the Silver Line service on its previous proposals.
Due to rising cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the service was reduced to its Saturday service on weekdays. Full weekday service resumed on February 7, 2022.
Following the 5A's elimination, there has been calls from the public to restore the 5A when Metrorail is closed, due to late night arrivals and departures at Dulles. Although WMATA did proposed a service to Dulles during overnight hours in its Better Bus Draft Visionary Network, the proposed route did not go through during its final 2025 Redesign Network. However, the route was mentioned under WMATA's FY2027 budget plan.