To Virginia or DC via public transportation

This is an overview of the possibilities for traveling by mass transportation to Northern Virginia or the District of Columbia from outside the National Capital Region. Links here go off this website.

Interstate public transit systems

Maryland Transit Administration MARC trains

All three MARC train lines connect Union Station (see below) with many points in Maryland, and one point in West Virginia.

Major transit hubs

International Airports

Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), 20 miles west of DC, in Virginia [see also IAD]
- Metro bus 5A [.pdf] to/from Rosslyn and L'Enfant Plaza Metro stations
- Washington Flyer Coach bus to/from West Falls Church, VT/UVA Metro station
- Amtrak train station (see above)
- Greyhound Lines bus station (see above)
- airport to door: SuperShuttle DC (shared ride van), and Washington Flyer Taxi
- map for Dulles Int'l Airport at yahoo.com
Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), across the river from DC, in Virginia
- Metro National Airport blue/yellow-line rail/bus station
- airport to door: Taxi service, and SuperShuttle DC (shared ride van)
- map for National Airport at yahoo.com
Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), 25 miles north of DC, in Maryland
- Metro bus B30 [.pdf] (to/from Metro Greenbelt green-line station)
- Amtrak's BWI station
- MARC Penn-Line BWI station
- BWI to door: SuperShuttle Baltimore (shared ride van), and BWI Airport Taxi
- map for BWI Airport at yahoo.com

Washington Union Station in DC (more about each system is elsewhere on this page)

Amtrak trains (national)
Interstate buses (see above) a few blocks away
Maryland Transit Administration trains (to/from Maryland only), MARC Union Station
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: Metro rail and buses at Union Station
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) (to/from Virginia only)
Union Station, an historic railway station, contains the UnionStation shopping mall and food court.

Greyhound Terminal in DC

Located at 1005 1st St NE, DC 20002 (at L St)
Half a mile north of Washington Union Station (see above)
Biggest interstate bus terminal in the DC area
Greyhound Lines (see above)
Capitol Trailways of PA (PA, NY, MD), part of the Trailways Transportation System
Peter Pan Bus Lines (MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA, NH)

Pentagon Transit Center, bus and rail station

Pentagon Metro station on the blue and yellow lines
In Arlington Virginia 20301, southeast side of the Pentagon
Area's largest and busiest bus bay operation
StationMasters map of Pentagon station
The Pentagon Metro Entrance Facility Project relocated the bus bays

Appalachian Trail in Harpers Ferry

Not listed above are the many taxi and car-rental companies servicing those hubs.

Local public transportation

Metro and VRE transit systems service DC (including Union Station and L'Enfant Plaza) and Virginia.

Metro (rail & buses operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) is the largest public transit system in the DC area. They have a subway/elevated system called MetroRail with five routes and 85 stops, and a bus system called MetroBus with hundreds of routes. All five rail routes/lines (Red, Blue, Orange, Green, and Yellow) stop in DC and directly connect with each other. Three lines go into Virginia: Blue, Orange, and Yellow. All except Yellow go into Maryland.

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has two lines. The most northern stop for both VRE lines is Union Station in DC. The next three stations going south into Virginia are the same for both lines. Then, their Manassas Line goes west (six more stops), and their Fredericksburg Line continues south (8 more stops).

Northern Virginia has nine bus systems. The largest after Metrobus is the Fairfax Connector [also] with buses that serve Fairfax County. The other seven transit systems are: DASH Bus (Alexandria Transit), ART (Arlington Transit), CUE Bus (City of Fairfax), GEORGE (City of Falls Church), Loudoun County Commuter Bus Service, PRTC/OmniRide/OmniLink (Prince William County), and TAGS Bus (Springfield).