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Ridership
The Virginia Breeze currently has four routes: the Valley Flyer (Blacksburg to DC), the Highlands Rhythm (Bristol to DC), the Capital Connector (Martinsville to DC), and the Piedmont Express (Danville to DC). Each route connects major urban centers as well as underserved and rural communities to the larger, national transportation network. The table below shows the ridership along each route for each calendar year:
 The Valley Flyer is the original Virginia Breeze route commissioned in December 2017. When launched, the Valley Flyer originally was just “the Virginia Breeze” and was not renamed to the Valley Flyer until the launch of two new routes nearly three years later. The Valley Flyer serves Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Lexington, Staunton, Harrisonburg, and Front Royal, connecting to Dulles International Airport and Washington D.C at the Union Station bus deck.
The Virginia Breeze transports people across Virginia – from Bristol to DC, or Danville to Dulles Airport. Some stops are, of course, more used than others. That is because some stops are major transit hubs, such as Dulles International Airport or Washington D.C.’s Union Station, while others serve colleges and universities, The tables below highlight the busiest stops for alightings (passengers getting off at their destination) and boardings.
 
Dulles International Airport was the busiest Virginia Breeze stop for both origins and destinations. Dulles is served by three of the four Virginia Breeze routes, with only the Capital Connector bypassing it. Washington, DC – despite being the terminus and for all four routes – finished as the 2nd busiest destination and 3rd busiest origin for all Virginia Breeze passengers. Harrisonburg and Blacksburg, home of James Madison University and Virginia Tech, respectively, both ranked in the top 5 busiest destinations, likely driven by college students (who are more likely than most to not have access to a car) travelling. Notably, Harrisonburg is served by both the Valley Flyer and Highlands Rhythm, while Blacksburg is only served by the Valley Flyer. West Falls Church, a WMATA metro station, rounded out the top 5 for both destinations and origins.
While those stops are the Virginia Breeze’s busiest, it should be noted that the Virginia Breeze aims first to connect underserved and smaller communities with limited access to public transit to the larger transit network. These stops have lower ridership due to the smaller population served, but are key to the Virginia Breeze and DRPT’s efforts to improve access to reliable transportation.
One final discovery that can be made using DRPT’s data portal is discovering the busiest origin-destination pairs. These are the segments that the largest number of Virginia Breeze passengers use. Unsurprisingly, many of the largest origin-destination pairs are between some of the top 6 busiest Virginia Breeze stops. The table below shows the busiest pairs:
After nearly seven years of operation, the Virginia Breeze continues to go from strength to strength and regularly set a new, higher bar for its own ridership. The continued success of the Breeze helps achieve DRPT’s goal of creating a positive impact on the Commonwealth, particularly by improving access to reliable transportation and increasing ridership on public transportation.
In May 2024, DRPT announced it plans to launch a fifth Virginia Breeze route, the Tidewater Current, tentatively scheduled to begin in 2025. This new route will roughly cover the I-64 corridor and will be the Virginia’s first state-sponsored intercity-bus service to travel east to west and connect to Hampton Roads. Though final stop placement is still being determined, the Tidewater Current will serve Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News, Williamsburg, New Kent County, Richmond International Airport, Richmond Main Street Amtrak Station, Charlottesville, Crozet, Waynesboro, Staunton, before ending in Harrisonburg.
More information about the Virginia Breeze can be found at virginiabreeze.drpt.virginia.gov/. We encourage visitors to also view our Virginia Breeze data page at drpt.virginia.gov/data, to keep an eye on how ridership on the Virginia Breeze is progressing!
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