FISCAL YEAR 2024 ANNUAL REPORT
A MESSAGE FROM PRTC'S CHAIRMAN AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
From start to finish, FY2024 was a year of change at OmniRide. We don’t just mean change in the sense that things never stay exactly the same; we’re talking about dramatic impacts on our riders such as:
· July 2023 – OmniRide’s contracted service provider, Keolis North America, changes its general manager to focus on improving daily operations. The result is a dramatic improvement in service reliability for riders.
· August 2023 – OmniRide local bus, paratransit, and microtransit services are introduced for the first time on Saturdays in the Manassas area. Ridership numbers prove there was pent-up demand for weekend transit offerings.
· December 2023 – New commuter routes begin serving Falmouth, Spotsylvania, and Stafford thanks to grant funding from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The result is strong ridership numbers and additional transit offerings using the extended I-95 express lanes.
· February 2024 – OmniRide launches mobile ticketing, enabling commuters to purchase discounted monthly passes.
· June 2024 – After more than a year of planning, all local bus routes in eastern Prince William County are completely restructured with major routing changes, the introduction of route number nomenclature, and the start of dedicated paratransit. This massive undertaking results in ridership growth despite the fact that riders now need to make fewer transfers to reach their destinations.
Unfortunately, as FY 2024 ended OmniRide was preparing for change of a different kind: the reduction of some commuter services in order to balance the FY 2025 budget. When reducing service, our goal is to do the least harm so we prioritized commuter routes with other nearby transit options. We are thankful that riders understood our dilemma and continued riding despite the service reduction and a modest fare increase.
Looking through this annual report, we’re reminded that change is rarely – if ever – easy, but once we’ve gone through the process, we quickly adapt to the new way of doing things. Will next year be another time of dramatic change for OmniRide? Here are some of the highlights we expect in FY 2025.
· The restoration of some commuter services that were reduced in summer 2024.
· The opening of the Neabsco Garage in Woodbridge which will provide a centralized location for local bus transfers and robust transit access to the many nearby destinations.
· The start of OmniRide’s Best Workplaces for Commuters awards – a program that encourages employers to offer commuter-friendly benefits such as flextime, remote work, and carpool incentives.
We thank you for your support over the past year and into the future.
Victor Angry Chairman, Board of Commissioners
Bob Schneider Executive Director
OMNIRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY
Over the past year, OmniRide has participated in numerous outreach events to introduce and educate the community about our services. We’ve taken our youth education program to Prince William County schools and day care programs. OmniRide employees have marched in local parades, staffed tables at festivals and farmers markets, participated in the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Prince William program, and more. Staff even assisted in extinguishing brush fires near the OmniRide Transit Center in the spring. OmniRide is dedicated to community service.
VIRGINIA 2024 STATE ROADEO
OmniRide, in partnership with our operations contractor, Keolis North America, hosted the 2024 Virginia State Roadeo in April — the first one since the pandemic. Thirty-four bus operators and eight maintenance teams from across the state participated in the competition. This was one of the largest turnouts for the state roadeo, which is comprised of ten transit agencies within Virginia. The event was held at our Western Maintenance Facility in Manassas.
The bus operators’ competition included a timed obstacle course, exercises to detect bus abnormalities, and a uniform inspection. The maintenance teams competition included five modules, a written test and an exercise to find defects. The winners of these events advance to the National Roadeo, which was held in Portland, Oregon.
Nathan Harris from Greater Lynchburg, Virginia was the winning bus operator and the team from Fairfax Connector won the maintenance competition. OmniRide bus operator Mohammed Elatrebi placed 4th.
The event was an enormous success, and lots of fun for family and friends. Fairfax Connector will host the 2025 Virginia State Roadeo, and those winners will advance to the natonal competion in Austin, Texas.
SAFETY AND SECURITY IS EVERYONE’S JOB
In August 2023, OmniRide partnered with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Prince William County Police Department (PWC PD), and the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign, to host a Human Trafficking Awareness event at the Ferlazzo building in Woodbridge. The event covered key topics such as understanding and recognizing signs of trafficking, resources for survivors, training and tools, prevention strategies, policy and enforcement, and more. Attendees included representatives from the PWC PD, Fairfax County Department of Transportation, Alexandria DASH, Arlington Transit, and PWC staff.
We collaborate with TSA regularly on security assessments and joint training sessions and we also utilize TSA resources to enhance our protective measures. In addition, we routinely work with PWC PD to ensure timely responses to incidents on our transit system and participate in patrols and outreach programs to build trust and help to educate the public. OmniRide's community partnerships at local and federal levels keep us at the forefront of safety and security in our industry.
Police Department
TRANSIT & TREATS!
OmniRide held its first-ever Transit and Treats Halloween Bus events in October 2023 at two locations along the Route 1 corridor in Woodbridge. The events featured giveaways, assorted candy and snacks, fun activities, and an opportunity for attendees to learn more about OmniRide’s Family of Transit Services. Attendees could board an OmniRide bus to see how the buses operate and engage staff to ask questions about our services. Aimed at families, the event was free and open to the public, providing a fun entertainment option for the community. Each location had more than 300 visitors!
Due to its success, the Transit and Treats Halloween Bus event is now held annually.
FY2024 OPERATING BUDGET
Budgetary Considerations
Budgeting for Express routes held the greatest challenge. Predicting when the mix of public and private employees return to the office in Northern Virginia impacts how much service OmniRide must provide but also how much fare revenue will be earned to offset those routes. Our ability to respond to shifting ridership patterns allows OmniRide to manage resources in more creative ways.
FY2024 FUNDING SOURCES
Jurisdictional Subsidy Fuel Tax
*Totals include spending from Prince William, Stafford, and Spotsylvania Counties and the Cities of Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park.
Farebox*
*OmniRide adopted zero fares on OmniRide Local, OmniRide Metro Express, OmniRide Access paratransit, and OmniRide Connect microtransit services.
SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS
Saturday Local Service in Manassas – August 2023
For the first time in OmniRide history, we launched Saturday service for Local bus routes serving the Manassas area in August 2023. At the same time the complimentary OmniRide Access paratransit and OmniRide Connect microtransit services were also extended to Saturdays. Service on OmniRide’s East-West Express was also expanded, permitting residents to travel between the Manassas area and eastern Prince William County. Local routes continued to operate with zero-fares throughout FY 2024.
Three NEW Southern Express Routes – December 2023
In December 2023, with grant funding from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), OmniRide inaugurated three new Express routes from the southernmost portion of the newly extended I-95 Express Lanes. The new routes originated in Stafford, Falmouth and Spotsylvania. Ridership exceeded predictions and they are now among our most productive commuter routes.
Eastern Local Routes Restructured – June 2024
The most ambitious and complex project of the year culminated in June 2024, with restructuring and expanding OmniRide Local bus service in eastern Prince William County. Flex-routing that allowed buses to go off route was discontinued and OmniRide Access paratransit — that started in our western service area in 2019 — was established in eastern PWC. Routes were extended to serve new destinations along Route 234, Prince William Parkway and neighborhoods east of Route 1 along Rippon Blvd. New hubs were created away from the Transit Center offering new one-seat ride possibilities for Dumfries and Dale City residents. A massive, all-agency three-week outreach campaign was mounted to inform riders of the changes to service.
Ridership Growth Continued – Entire FY 2024
In the post-pandemic environment, ridership continues to evolve, adjust and grow. Local routes have experienced an increase of 21% over FY 2023. Despite a fare increase from $6.90 to $9.00 one-way, ridership on Express commuter routes increased by 27% this year. This included some trip reductions to routes with lagging ridership, allowing the agency to operate a more lean and efficient commuter service. OmniRide Access paratransit ridership grew by 60%. In FY 2023, OmniRide Connect microtransit only operated for five months in eastern Prince William County; a full year of service yielded a ridership increase of 829%. 0
OUR FOOTPRINT
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
The DEI Working group is comprised of 35% of OmniRide staff. It continued to hold regular meetings over the past year, with the primary focus on revising its Strategic Plan. A SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis was deployed as a tool to help build on the group’s efforts and accomplishments over the past five years.
Activities during FY 2024 included:
•Introducing new staff members to the DEI program
•On-going training and mentorship programs
• In-depth discussion on how to implement and manifest the Five Core Values (safe, reliable, friendly, clean & comfortable, cost-effective) of the organization in a meaningful and more prominent way
•Succession planning for staff changes resulting in loss of industry knowledge
• Developed DEI resource page to SharePoint intranet, providing a one-stop-shop for employees with DEI updates
Staff Demographics
CELEBRATIONS
There was much to celebrate this year. OmniRide hosted ribbon cuttings for new routes and the addition of new buses to our fleet. In early 2024, the organization was honored with two awards from TSA. The prestigious BASE Gold Standard Award, given to a transit agency for demonstrating outstanding performance in enhancing their security programs, was presented at a ceremony in March 14. This was the second time OmniRide received this award. The TSA also presented OmniRide with the Partnership Award at a ceremony in February.
The Vanpool Alliance program celebrated its 10th anniversary. It is a public private partnership that collects vanpool data from vanpool providers in the region in exchange for a monthly subsidy. The program has become a clearinghouse for vanpool information in Northern Virginia and the data collected generates federal funds for the region’s transit services.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
OmniRide Keolis
Robert Schneider
Executive Director, OmniRide
Becky Merriner
Chief Administrative Officer
Joe Stainsby Chief Development Officer
Phil Parella, Jr. Chief Financial Officer
Joyce Embrey Director of Finance & Administration
Althea Evans Director of Marketing & Communications
Bhupendra Kantha Director of Financial Planning & Analysis
Byren Lloyd Director of Safety & Security
Doris Lookabill Director of Facilities
Perrin Palistrant Director of Planning & Service Delivery
Carl Roeser Manager of Information Technology
Christine Rodrigo Executive Assistant/ Clerk to the Board
Billy Wingfield General Manager
Nick Bauer IT Manager
David Brown Maintenance Manager
Russell Carter Operations Director
John Coburn Assistant Maintenance Manager
Inise Graden HR Manager
Diona George Safety Manager/Facility Manager
Alberto Jimenez Facility Manager
Mayra Rivas Operations Manager
Rayshawn Goodman Driver Manager
With special thanks to our partners...
Tinesha Allen
At-Large
Stafford County Board of Supervisors, Griffis–Widewater District
Victor Angry Chairman
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Neabsco Magisterial District
Andrea Bailey Commissioner
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Potomac Magisterial District
Kenny Boddye Commissioner
Vice Chair, Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Occoquan Magisterial District
Meg Bohmke
Alt. Commissioner
Stafford County Board of Supervisors, Falmouth District
Margaret Franklin
Immediate Past Chair
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Woodbridge Magisterial District
Deborah Frazier Treasurer
Spotsylvania Board of County Supervisors, Salem District
Monica Gary Commissioner
Stafford County Board of Supervisors, Aquia District
Tom Gordy Commissioner
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Brentsville District
Lori Hayes Commissioner
Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, Lee Hill District
*At time of printing
OUR COMMISSIONERS*
Rozia A. Henson, Jr.
Commissioner
Virginia Delegate, District 19
Jannan Holmes Commissioner
City of Fredericksburg, Council Member
Todd Horsley
Alt. Commissioner
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Alternate
Deshundra Jefferson
Alt. Commissioner
Prince William Board of County Supervisors
Jacob Lane
Alt. Commissioner
Spotsylvania Board of County Supervisors, Livingston District
Will Mackintosh
Alt. Commissioner
Fredericksburg City Council
Kevin Marshall
Alt. Commissioner
Spotsylvania Board of County Supervisors, Berkely District
Jeremy McPike Commissioner
Virginia Delegate, District 29
Alanna Mensing
Alt. Commissioner
Vice Mayor, City of Manassas Park, Council Member
Karen Mills
Alt. Commissioner
Prince William County Alternate
Darryl Moore
Alt. Commissioner
City of Manassas Park, Council Member
Idris O'Connor
Alt. Commissioner
Prince William County Alternate
Jeanette Rishell
Secretary
City of Manassas Park, Mayor
Tiffany Robinson Commissioner
Department of Rail and Public Transportation
Pamela Sebesky
Vice Chair
City of Manassas, Vice Mayor
Kimberlee Short
Alt. Commissioner
Prince William County Alternate
Ralph Smith
Alt. Commissioner
City of Manassas, Council Member
Josh Thomas Commissioner
Virginia Delegate, District 21
Yesli Vega
Alt. Commissioner
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Coles Magisterial District
Bob Weir Commissioner
Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Gainesville Magisterial District
R. Pamela Yeung
Alt. Commissioner
Chairman, Stafford County Board of Supervisors, Garrisonville District
COMING SOON IN 2025...
•Service to new Neabsco Parking Garage
•New Express routes serving Front Royal and Warrenton
•OmniRide Senior Summit 2025
