The valves, located in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington, broke due to repairs to a water main break in a nearby location last night.

“Crews were repairing a water main break nearby at 2410 14th St N yesterday evening. Upon completing the repair, the two valves broke nearby when we pressurized the main,” said Katie O’Brien, the communications manager for Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services.

O’Brien said the valve repairs might impact around 100 residents.

The two broken valves – along with the now-repaired water main – are located in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington.��

Specifically, the valve repairs are at:

• 14th St N and N Adams Ct
• 13th Ct N and N Barton St

Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services tweeted an alert just after 2 pm today alerting residents to an emergency water main repair at the location.

Emergency Water Main Repairs: Crew working on 8-inch main at 2401 14th St N. Some 50 customers could be affected. Estimated time for completion: 12/9/2022 9:00 PM. Traffic diverted around work site. Questions: 703-228-6555.

— Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES)

More than 60% of Arlington’s water mains are 50 years or older, according to the county’s website, making breaks in the pipes “unavoidable and unpredictable,” according to the county.

One resident, Jackie Richardson, said she had trouble sleeping overnight as the crew worked to repair the water main break through the night.

“I mean, they’re working really hard,” Richardson said of the crew working on completing the repairs.

Richardson, who has been a resident for 26 years, said her water had been turned off and on since the initial water main break was discovered yesterday around 5 pm.

Arlington County maintains a water main break of ongoing repairs and work completed within the last 30 days.

O’Brien told 91���� the repairs are expected to be completed around 9 pm tonight.

The post Water valve repairs in Arlington cause road closures Friday afternoon first appeared on 91����.

The roundabout, part of the Military Road Safety Project by Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services, is meant to improve road safety for pedestrians by reducing the speeds of vehicles.��

Arlington installed a temporary roundabout at this intersection in October 2021, hoping to assess the effectiveness of a roundabout.

After a year of data collection on average speeds, yield rates and other safety metrics, along with extensive public feedback, Arlington is moving forward with the pilot project and toward a permanent roundabout structure.

The county is doing so despite some public opposition because the “pilot achieved the safety goals,” according to Nate Graham, a public engagement specialist in the transportation division of the Department of Environmental Services.

Many community members, however, did not express support for the roundabout. For example, of respondents who reported driving through the pilot roundabout, 53% reported feeling “less safe” or “much less safe.”

Peter Jaffe, an Arlington resident and cyclist who lives near the intersection, called the roundabout “a solution looking for a problem.”

Graham said the county would rather be proactive than reactive regarding roadway safety, mainly because there is a high volume of pedestrians and young pedestrians that walk through the area.

“It’s our position that the time to intervene is before the occurrence of a fatal crash,” Graham said.

Ultimately, the intersection meets the criteria set forth for safety interventions by Arlington’s master transportation plan and , an action plan adopted by Arlington to achieve zero transportation-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

There have been two pedestrian-involved fatal crashes over the last several months. In August, a woman was fatally hit in a collision by an alleged drunk driver. An elderly woman was fatally struck while crossing a busy intersection.

The intersection, where Military Road and Nelly Custis Drive converge, was identified as one where vehicles frequently speed and have high pedestrian traffic since it is located near two schools.

The county released showing the roundabout successfully reduced speeds 10 mph, from 35 to 25 mph during the pilot project.

Despite the reduced levels of speeding through the intersection, drivers, pedestrians and cyclists reported feeling less safe with the temporary roundabout for two main reasons: operational confusion and insufficient right-of-way.

Operational confusion and insufficient right-of-way were the primary reasons drivers – pedestrians and cyclists – reported feeling less safe.

91���� reviewed public comments made from May-June 2022, in which many respondents reported as such.

“The area the circle is in is way too small to accommodate a traffic circle. There isn’t enough space in between the entry points and I have repeatedly witnessed near misses for accidents because people can’t gauge whether to go or not,” one resident said.

Graham said those are two issues that were a part of the limitations of a pilot, temporary roundabout and, in building a permanent structure, they would eliminate those issues.

“Most of the feedback we receive expressing concern with the pilot project are highlighting issues that can be resolved in a final design,” Graham said.

For example, part of the operational confusion and insufficient right-of-way was due to the relatively small size of the roundabout.

The radius of the roundabout will be about 50% bigger than the existing pilot condition, Graham said, which will provide more space in the circle for people to establish and indicate their desired movement.

The county could not achieve that size for the pilot project because of the size and location of a utility pole at the intersection. Graham said they were unable to move the utility pole for a temporary project, but with the permanent roundabout, they will be able to do so.

For cyclists like Jaffe, the temporary roundabout has made biking through the intersection more difficult.

For cyclists who have difficulty merging into the roundabout in its current state, there will be two options in the permanent roundabout structure: a travel lane they can use to enter the roundabout and bike ramps.

The travel lanes in the permanent roundabout will be the same as they are in the current temporary structure; however, Graham said there will be different channelization that slows vehicles as they enter the roundabout, which will make it easier for bicycles to merge with them.

The bike ramps, for those who don’t wish to go through the roundabout, will be located at the terminus of each of the approaching bike lanes, and will take the cyclist onto a wide sidewalk between eight and 10 feet in most areas.

For Jaffe, neither option suffices.

��“Options are always great, but it’s better to have one good option than two bad ones,” Jaffe said.

The design process for the permanent roundabout will begin in early 2023 and the county intends to begin construction in 2024, which will take around 12 to 15 months, Graham said.��

The roundabout will cost approximately $1.7 million, paid for by both the county – with local funds – and VDOT, with state funds.

The post Temporary roundabout on Military Road to become a permanent fixture first appeared on 91����.

The move will make Arlington the first jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia to adopt the system.

The Arlington County Board approved the voting method pilot for the 2023 County Board primary election. The method will only apply to the primary, not the general election, as the board seeks to use the primary as a trial run.

This type of voting system has become increasingly popular and as of September 2022, 56 cities, counties and states have ranked choice voting in place, according to FairVote, a national advocacy group for ranked choice voting.

In Virginia, while no locality currently uses it as their voting method, the Virginia GOP used ranked choice voting to pick their nominee for governor in last year’s gubernatorial race.

“Arlington has a reputation as being a pretty innovative jurisdiction and so I think this is an exciting opportunity for us to really lead and show the way here,” said Katie Cristol, Arlington County Board chair.

In this voting system, rather than voting for one candidate, voters rank as many candidates as they want in order of preference. All the first-choice votes are counted and any candidate that receives more than 50% of the votes wins the election outright.��

If no candidate wins half of the first-place votes, that’s when the ranking system comes into play.

If there is no majority, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the votes of that candidate are reallocated to the candidates listed as the second choice. That tabulation process repeats until one candidate receives 50% of the votes and wins the election.

The most common concern from those that said they did not support ranked choice voting, Cristol said, was confusion.

“Admittedly, the actual vote counting for ranked choice voting can get a little complex, but the experience of voting a ranked choice ballot is really easy and there’s no wrong way to do it,” Cristol said.

Of the 786 responses the board received during the public comment period, 510 respondents said they were “very favorable” of moving to the different system, according to a from the board.

The board will vote on the specific voting system proposal on December 17 this year.��

In July 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill to amend the Code of Virginia , allowing localities to implement ranked choice voting in elections of members of a county board of supervisors or a city council.

Two board seats are on the ballot in next year’s election. Due to the political landscape in Arlington – a highly Democratic-leaning electorate – the winner of the Democratic primary is often as good as a guaranteed victory in the general election.

The county’s current voting machines support ranked choice voting with ranking up to three choices. Arlington’s voting machines are due for replacement and a new system will include the capability for voters to rank six or more candidates, according to a county board report.

Michael Cantwell, an Arlington resident and vice president of , said ranked choice voting allows voters to make decisions based on how they truly feel as opposed to calculating the electability of candidates.

For example, Cantwell said in the 2016 presidential election he wanted to vote for Evan McMullin, but he did not because he knew that McMullin was unlikely to win and his vote would be a “spoiler,” meaning it would go toward a candidate unlikely to win and ultimately affect who does win the election.

Cantwell, who ran for election as an Independent to Arlington County Board in 2021 and lost to Takis Karantonis, said he hopes that the board will adopt ranked choice voting for both the primary and general elections, as that is where he believes the most change will be accomplished.

Allan Gajadhar, former president of the Arlington Civic Federation and chair of its Task Force in Governance and Election Reform (TiGER), said he, too, was hoping for its implementation in both the primary and general.

Ranked choice voting, he said, would “broaden the type of candidates open up the opportunity to run for election beyond the existing political elites dominated by the local Democratic Party in this case.”

TiGER is pushing for several changes relating to Arlington County government, including ranked choice voting.��

As for the possibility of implementing the new system for both the primary and general elections, that remains to be determined. Cristol said the board wants to wait and see how the primary goes as a trial run.��

She was uncertain how exactly the board would measure the success of such a trial run in deciding whether to expand the system to the general election.

“I think it will be an art as much of a science to judge whether the feedback and the experience with it is seen as positive or not,” Cristol said.

Cristol said she hoped that ranked choice voting would allow voters “to see a greater connection between their preferences and ultimately who represents them on the board.”��

Cristol recently that she would not run for re-election in June, which means one of the two seats will certainly go to a new candidate.

While he said he hopes for ranked choice voting to ultimately be used in the general election, Gajadhar noted that, even if only used in primaries, the system will allow for “fresher thinking” and will create “a much truer dialogue.”

“The basic idea is to improve the representation on the elected bodies of the people, in the county, improve diversity of representation and improve overall governance,” Gajadhar said.

The post Arlington set to bring ranked choice voting next summer first appeared on 91����.

If passed, Maryland will join neighbors Washington, D.C., and Virginia in legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The proposed , listed as Question 4 on the ballot,��would allow adults to possess up to 1.5 ounces. It also offers people who were arrested for marijuana possession to have their records expunged, and others serving time for simple possession to have their sentences reconsidered.

A Washington Post-University of Maryland found 73% of voters favor legalizing the use of cannabis for people 21 and older.

Melissa Ward, a 43-year-old mental health therapist, said she is “extremely pro-cannabis.”

“As a therapist, I like to see my clients have access to things like cannabis versus benzos and alcohol because I feel like the research shows it’s a little less dangerous,” Ward said.

Ward, who is a Democrat, said the state could raise revenue through taxes by legalizing cannabis. She said if Maryland doesn’t vote to legalize recreational cannabis use, then she feels the state will be behind the curve.

Maryland legalized marijuana for medical use in 2013 and, a year later, decriminalized possession of 10 grams or less of cannabis.

Zephan Harnish, a 24-year-old Frederick Republican, said he voted to in favor of question four – the marijuana legalization measure – because he already has a medical marijuana card

If passed, Question 4 would go into effect on July 1, 2023.

David Allen, 63, said he didn’t know there would be a marijuana legalization ballot measure, but that he was happy to vote in favor of it.

“There are people that truly need it,” Allen said.

Voters in Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota on legalizing recreational marijuana this Election Day.

and the District of Columbia have already legalized recreational cannabis use for adults.

Wendy Whitmore, a Democrat Frederick County voter, said she didn’t feel too strongly in either direction on the issue, but that she did vote in favor of its’ passage.

“I don’t like the fact that people would go to jail for having marijuana and then they can’t get a job,” Whitmore said.

Some voters, however, expressed concern about the prospects of legalizing recreational marijuana.

Amanda Camilleri, 41, is a Frederick County mom and Republican. She voted no on the measure, saying that there’s already “drugs everywhere,” and further legalization would just exacerbate the problem.

“I never did it, and I would not like it out there for my kids to partake in,” Camilleri said.

The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation, aiming to address the criminal justice and racial equity impact of legalizing cannabis. ��alters certain provisions relating to penalties, charging procedures, expungement, shielding and sentencing for certain offenses involving cannabis.

This amendment comes after President Biden last month he would pardon all those federally convicted on simple marijuana possession charges.

The post Voters in Frederick County, Maryland seem poised to vote in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana first appeared on 91����.

In September, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin outlined his proposal, directing the state’s 133 school districts to adopt guidelines about transgender students.

The guidelines determine which facilities students can use (only those that match their gender assigned at birth); whether students can request to change their names or listed gender (not without family approval); and direct school staff to not use a student’s preferred name or pronoun unless their parents approve.

Opponents say the changes would endanger transgender students and damage the relationship between educators and students.

The policies “talk about parental rights and it’s really centering the entire conversation that we have seen in District 10 around this idea of parental rights versus transgender rights,” said Cris Candice Tuck, a transgender parent in Loudoun County, Va., part of District 10.

Youngkin and his supporters, including Republican candidates running for election in the District, said that the changes would restore decision-making to parents, where they say it belongs.

Policies on hold

The guidelines did not go into effect as planned, which could have been as early as last week. A 30-day public comment period drew more than 71,000 comments, prompting the state board of education to take time to review and potentially revise the guidelines based on input.

In addition, the measure received several comments saying the model policies contradict existing state law, delaying its’ implementation 30 days, per a .

Tuck said , a nonprofit organization that works for LGBTQ+ equality in Loudoun County, filed a legal objection to the model policies in late October.

If the model policies go into effect, it is up to each school district to comply, but there is no enforcement mechanism.

Loudoun in the middle

Loudoun finds itself at the center of this debate due to the introduction of Youngkin’s state policies at the same time as several high-profile incidents involving transgender students in Loudoun over the last two years.

In 2021, a Loudoun teacher was placed on leave for refusing to use transgender students’ pronouns. The teacher sued Loudoun County Public Schools and was eventually reinstated following a decision by the Virginia Supreme Court.

In addition, two Loudoun school board races are focused on how transgender students are treated in schools; candidates for the open school board seats, in Broad Run and Leesburg, are facing the fallout from how the school district handled two student sexual assault cases last year that sparked .

Transgender issues have also been emphasized in the campaigns of the candidates running for US Congress.

Democrat incumbent Jennifer Wexton is facing Republican Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain. While the considers the 10^th District a likely Democrat-voting district, Cao has received significant support from Youngkin and Republican voters in the area.

In an early October , Cao referred to the issue of transgender students as one of parents’ rights, using similar language to Youngkin. “That right belongs to the parents always, always, always,” he said. “I mean, a school can’t even give your kid an aspirin, but you’re saying that school can decide what sex your child is?”

In the same debate, Wexton said that parents could and should be involved in decisions regarding their children. She noted, however, that some parents are not always accepting of their children.

“In a perfect world, we would see parents who are caring and loving and take care of their kids, but we’re not seeing that in all instances,” Wexton said.

Wexton also pointed out that Youngkin’s model policies would allow teachers to refuse to abide by a parent’s request that their child be called by their preferred names and pronouns if the teacher does so on religious grounds.

Views from the District

Sandy Sullivan, an elementary school teacher in Loudoun County, is the president of the Loudoun Education Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization for Loudoun public school educators.

The association’s Political Action Committee endorsed Nick Gothard for the Broad Run seat and Erika Ogedegbe for the Leesburg seat because they are the candidates that will do what is best for students, according to Sullivan.�� Sullivan said the potential impact of Youngkin’s proposed policy “would be very chilling.”

“All educators certainly want parents’ input, right?” Sullivan said. “Teachers can’t do it alone. Student success in the school system can’t be done without parent input, but what came about in that proposed guidance from Gov. Youngkin was really kind of splitting the support system for students in half,” she said.

Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, said the focus on local school issues is a smart campaign choice for Republicans.

“The conversation about issues of trans students is a great way to create energy among Republican voters. If you can get people motivated, that can be a very effective means of making sure that they actually turn out,” said Farnsworth.

‘Well-resourced’ people

Loudoun County is the wealthiest county in the United States according to the 2020 , circumstances that Tuck said make Loudoun uniquely set up for parents exerting influence over schools.

“What’s different about Loudoun County is that we have a very large group of well-resourced, well-connected and well-funded anti-LGBTQ individuals and political individuals who are pushing partisanship within Loudoun to create the national spectacle,” Tuck said.

Farnsworth said many Republicans, particularly Virginia Republicans, will likely attempt to model their behavior and rhetoric after Youngkin due to his success.

Declan Green, 33, is a transgender man who grew up in Loudoun County, graduating from Stone Bridge High School in 2007. Green said he experienced extensive bullying as a teenage girl who came out as lesbian before he eventually transitioned to male in his adult life.

Green said he is concerned that the debate on transgender students in schools will only continue to grow, given the governor’s proposed policy changes.

“I feel like as people go to the ballot over the next week or so, they are voting whether or not these policies become permanent, and whether this rhetoric becomes something of a norm amongst Loudoun County, amongst the state as a whole,” Green said.

The post Transgender student rights indirectly on ballot in Loudoun first appeared on 91����.

The marathon was held virtually in 2020 and 2021.��

The racecourse will begin in Rosslyn and runners spend the first four miles in Arlington before crossing the Key Bridge into Georgetown. The course continues throughout D.C., before crossing back into Virginia on the 14th Street Bridge and finishing the race through Crystal City and Pentagon City.

“Motorists can expect significant delays in and around the racecourse,” said Ashley Savage, Arlington County Police Department public information officer.

ACPD announced a long list of road closures in Arlington, primarily affecting residents who live near the racecourse. This includes areas such as Rosslyn, Pentagon City and Crystal City.

Some of the race day road closures include:��

From approximately 3:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

• Fort Myer Drive, from 19th Street N. to N. Meade Street
• N. Lynn Street, from 19th Street N. to N. Meade Street
• N. Moore Street, from 19th Street N. to Wilson Boulevard

From approximately 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.

• 19th Street N., from N. Lynn Street to Fort Myer Drive
• Fort Myer Drive, from Key Bridge to Westbound Langston Boulevard
• Fort Myer Drive, from 19th Street N. to Langston Boulevard

From approximately 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

• Westbound 15th Street S., from S. Eads Street to S. Bell Street
• Ramp from Southbound Richmond Highway to 15th Street S.
• Ramp from Northbound Richmond Highway to 15th Street S.

From approximately 6:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

• Fort Myer Drive, from Westbound Langston Boulevard to Eastbound Langston Boulevard
• N. Nash Street, from Westbound Langston Boulevard to Eastbound Langston Boulevard
• Long Bridge Drive, from Boundary Drive to 12th Street S.

A complete list of all road closures and parking changes can be found in an made by ACPD.

The Marine Corps Marathon Organization, which hosts the marathon, is a Non-Appropriated Fund government entity. Their revenue comes from the event registrations and sponsorships for such events.��

Non-Appropriated Funds are authorized or sanctioned by government agencies and come primarily from the sale of goods and services to Department of Defense military and civilian personnel and their family members. They are sustained with profits from operations.

Kristen Loflin, the public relations coordinator for the MCMO, called the upcoming race “exciting,” as it is the first in-person marathon since she joined the organization in 2021.

Loflin said the race this year will feature a new location for the Runners Village, where runners gather and prepare before the race begins.

The new Runners Village will be located at the intersection of Army Navy Drive and S. Fern Street. Rather than one smaller location, Loflin said the Runners Village will be along Route 110 as runners prepare to come up to the start line.

The Runners Village was previously located in the north Pentagon parking lot.

Loflin said they made that change because they “could guarantee working with Arlington partners” to bring the live event, rather than working on Pentagon property.

“It’s a way to celebrate that Arlington has been such an incredible partner for us,” Loflin said.

The Rosslyn Business Improvement District, a designated 17-block mixed-use urban center in the heart of Rosslyn, is a presenting sponsor for the upcoming Marine Corps Marathon.

Nisha Patel, the Marketing and Communications Director for Rosslyn Business Improvement District, said the community is excited to welcome the expected 23,000 participants and their families to Rosslyn.

“Our businesses directly benefit from the influx of people in the neighborhood on race day/weekend, which then translates into additional business for our restaurants and retail,” Patel said.

Rosslyn BID provides services to enhance, grow and maintain the neighborhood through a public/private partnership with Arlington County.

Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute conducted a study following the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon, showing the economic impact of the marathon throughout Arlington and Washington, D.C.

The MCMO announced the findings of the study in a , showing that the marathon yielded $88 million in money spent throughout Arlington and Washington, D.C. The majority of that money, approximately $59.7 million, was spent in Arlington County.

Amanda Beucler-Rapos, whose husband is an active-duty marine, said she would be running the Marine Corps Marathon for the first time this year.

Beucler-Rapos finished in first place in the Marine Corps 17.75k race in March. She said she plans on visiting several memorials and the Arlington National Cemetery during her visit this weekend.

“Running is the best way to see a place,” Beucler-Rapos said.

The post Arlington welcomes the Marine Corps Marathon for the first time since Covid-19 first appeared on 91����.

The change was announced in an email to parents in early September, saying the admittance policy to all athletic events would be changed to “ensure that all spectators have a safe enjoyable experience.”

The email, obtained by 91���� from APS Director of Communications Frank Bellavia, announced that moving forward, the following rules will be enforced at all APS high school athletic events:

• Any student 8th grade or younger must be accompanied by parent/guardian/caregiver for admission to any Arlington high school sporting event. The adult accompanying the student or a group of students needs to be in attendance as a point of contact for the duration of the event. This allows APS staff to respond appropriately if issues arise among younger students who are unfamiliar to high school staff and can help ensure a safe environment for students and families who are there to enjoy the game.����
• Students are not allowed to bring bags or backpacks.
• No outside food or drinks are allowed.
• Only high school students from the home team or the visiting team are permitted to attend the game without a parent or guardian. Students who attend an APS high school program may attend if their home school team is playing (ID required).��
• Students attending athletic events must bring valid student identification with them to show high school staff upon entering an athletic venue.

APS said that this has been their policy since 2019 and provided 91���� with the contents of an email they sent to parents in 2019 announcing these policies. While much of the content of that email matches the one sent to parents this fall, there was no mention of the policy relating to high school students.��

Some APS parents said they were upset by the recent enforcement of the policy, as it precludes their student’s friends from different high schools from attending, unless chaperoned by a parent.

Kevin Hughes, a Washington-Liberty Boosters Club co-president, started a to protest this policy, saying that it prohibits students from attending athletic events unless they “meet a narrow set of criteria.”

Hughes believed this policy would create deeper divisions in a small community that proclaims to care about inclusivity.

Hughes did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Some parents, however, are more understanding of the decision to limit attendance at sporting events.

Happy Barranco, the Washington-Liberty Parent Teacher Association president, said she recognizes the policy is “inconvenient,” but isn’t as upset as Hughes and other parents leading the petition.��

Barranco said that many students in Arlington grow up together through elementary and junior high school and then attend different high schools. While the policy allows for a student from a different school to show up with a parent or guardian, Barranco said that she recognizes that it makes it difficult for the students to be together.

Barranco, whose daughter is a senior at W-L, said that she was given more insight into the policy change at a Sept. 12 PTA meeting with the W-L principal.

Barranco said she was told directly by the principal that the changed admittance policy was made by the high school principals because of security concerns and a lack of resources from the Arlington County Police Department.

“The principals are doing the best that they can with the situation and the lack of resources from ACPD is not their fault. So, while it’s inconvenient and isn’t preferred that we have that policy in place, we understand they’re trying to do what they can,” Barranco said.

Barranco shared the information she was given at the PTA meeting in a private Facebook group for APS parents, saying that she hoped to “bring some focus to the effort.”

“My overall perspective is that the families who were involved in the petition didn’t have all the facts before they started with their petition,” Barranco continued. “But I think it was too little too late because they already had the petition and they already had momentum.”

In a statement provided by Bellavia, APS said that the policy is driven by a desire to provide a safe and secure environment but did not say that it is related to a lack of resources coming from ACPD.

“This has been our previous practice and is not related to the absence of police officers at our games,” Bellavia said.

ACPD is authorized to have 376 sworn police officers and as of September 2022, only had approximately 280 functional and certified officers who could provide solo law enforcement services, according to by the department.

Due to the staffing shortage within the police department, Police Chief Andy Penn made a in March 2022 that there will be changes to where and how the police department serves the community.

ACPD Public Information Officer Ashley Savage told 91���� in a statement that ACPD advised APS in the fall of 2021 that they would be unable to provide physical security at APS athletic games and special events for the school year 2022-23 due to the ongoing staffing concerns.

“ACPD continues to work with APS on a plan to ensure a safe school community,” Savage said.

These security plans are similar to procedures APS implemented following the decision to remove school resource officers, Savage said.

The Arlington County School Board to approve the removal of school resource officers from schools in June 2021.

While ACPD no longer has a presence in the schools or at sporting events, APS does employ what’s known as school security coordinators, Bellavia said.

Bellavia said there will be five to six school security coordinators present at the athletic events, depending on the school.

The post Arlington Public Schools limiting attendance at athletic events first appeared on 91����.

The discount applies to SmarTrip card users who start their one-way trips on the Metrorail and transfer to an ART bus to complete their trip.

Reducing barriers to transportation is important to county leaders, not only for equity, but because it is key in helping Arlington tackle climate change and achieve its reduced emissions goals.

Ballston resident, Nicole Tinghitella, commutes to work in Washington, D.C., daily using the Metrorail. While not a frequent ART bus user, she said that “more affordable transit options would entice me to use it more.”

“It is nice to live in a city that is actively trying to make public transit more accessible,” said Tinghitella.

Making transit accessible is a key tenet of Arlington County’s vision.

“Transit becomes a viable choice for people when it can get them from where they are to where they need to be with as little pain as possible,” said Katie Cristol, Arlington County Board chair.

Finding ways to entice community members to use the transportation network, so that fewer cars are on the road emitting greenhouse gasses, is an important part of the county’s climate plan.

Emissions from transportation represent roughly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in Arlington, according to the county.

Arlington County currently has a that aims to make Arlington a carbon-neutral community by 2050.

“If we’re trying to get to our net zero goals for energy use and emissions, transit is going to be an incredibly important strategy there, and again, getting people to opt for transit instead of driving,” Cristol said.

The projected revenue loss to Arlington County per fiscal year is $242,000, a loss Cristol said the county is more than willing to take because of the benefits the county will gain in the long run.

Cristol noted that fare-box recovery, the fraction of operating expenses which are met by the fares paid by passengers, is not how transit systems get their operating budget.

“It is a system that requires input of public dollars. I believe so firmly that it is incredibly worth it because there are so many benefits to us as a community,” she said.��

One of the most important benefits the Arlington community reaps by making the transit system more reliable and enticing, Cristol said, is economic competitiveness.

“We know that transit is incredibly attractive to regional employers because it expands the universe of a highly competitive workforce that they can connect to; it expands the opportunities for networking to other businesses,” she said.

Several companies, including Boeing and Amazon, have moved their headquarters or established offices in Arlington within recent years.

Arlington County has taken several steps to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, in addition to trying to increase use of the public transit system.

For example, Arlington County currently uses compressed natural gas in its transit buses, making the county “ahead of the curve” compared to other areas still using diesel, said Lynn Rivers, Arlington County Transit Bureau Chief.

The county is currently running a pilot program, testing out several manufacturers for zero-emission buses, which are battery electric powered.

“We want to get people out of single occupancy vehicles. We want people to use transit more often,” Rivers said.

Arlington County experienced a significant dip in public transit ridership when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.

In July 2022, there were 164,668 ART passengers, according to an Arlington Transit .

That is an increase from the 131,566 riders in July 2020, but both numbers fall far short of the 243,879 ART passengers in February 2020, before the pandemic severely impacted public transit ridership.

John Bloom, chair of the , a local group and member organization of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, expressed support for the steps Arlington County is taking to reduce emissions.

An Arlington resident, Bloom said that reduced transit fees and zero emission buses are “big steps forward in the right direction.”

Bloom said he’d like to see Arlington go even further in their efforts with transportation and climate change.

Bloom suggested, for example, that a shift to a fare-free system would make public transportation more accessible and community members more inclined to use the system.

“That is just so much easier for everyone: for the users, for the bus riders, it’s easier to administer and it encourages people to ride,” Bloom said.

While a shift to a fare-free system would constitute a greater loss in revenue, Bloom sees it as a shift to a different philosophy altogether.

“It’s seeing transit service, transportation, mass transportation, as a public good; as something more like a park, or other things that governments provide that cost a lot of money, but they’re worth it,” Bloom said.

Although Arlington does not currently operate with a zero-fare system, the county continues to work toward that by implementing it on a need-based system.

Arlington launched early this year, providing no-cost bus access to students and low-income residents.

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