HAYMARKET — The first of 10 new OmniRide commuter coaches emblazoned with its a paint scheme made its debut this week.
Gone is the teal color of the past. Today, this bus and all others that follow it will feature a bright blue and green paint scheme, with a newly designed OmniRide logo stretched across both sides of the bus.
It’s part of a new rebranding effort designed to bring the commuter bus provider commonly referred to as the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) into the 21st century. The agency will drop its PRTC moniker and refer to all of its services — commuter bus and local buses that service Prince William, Manassas, and Manassas Park — as OmniRide.
This new bus is the first of 10 new replacement buses that will feature the new design in which we first reported in October. The new design will eventually be featured on all buses as older vehicles are replaced with new ones.
The new design comes at the same time OmniRide is launching a new service from Haymarket, from a newly-constructed park-and-ride lot on Route 15 at Interstate 66.
Officials tell us:
- The new 230-space I-66 Haymarket Park and Ride Lot will support and enhance carpool, vanpool, and mass transit use in the I-66 corridor during and after the construction of the 22.5-mile Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project.
- The park and ride lot features bus shelters, bicycle storage facilities, and VDOT’s first-ever electronic parking management system in a park-and-ride lot (coming March 2019).
- The new commuter bus service that is starting from Haymarket to Arlington’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor will provide four trips each morning and evening. The bus service will be operated by OmniRide.
- The bus will be free to ride December 17 through Feb. 15, 2019
- After Feb. 15, 2019, the one-way SmarTrip fare on the new Rosslyn/Ballston route will be $3.45 instead of $6.90.
Elected officials will gather Monday, Dec. 17 at 11 a.m. for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new lot.
