Data Stories | The Virginia Breeze in 2025

Welcome to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s Data Stories, and thank you for signing up! This monthly series aims to find the narrative in data DRPT collects and uses, highlighting Virginia’s rail and transit community. This month, Data Stories celebrates the launch of the Tidewater Current with a look back at the Virginia Breeze’s ridership since its launch in December 2017.

The Virginia Breeze is the intercity bus service that the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation manages. The service’s goal is to connect communities across the Commonwealth, particularly underserved and rural communities, with the broader Virginia and national transportation network. The Virginia Breeze also provides affordable travel options in corridors where alternative forms of intercity transportation to the personal automobile are limited or nonexistent. Lastly, the Virginia Breeze takes single-occupancy vehicles off our highways, reducing congestion and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Through 2025, Virginia Breeze connected the Commonwealth with four routes. These routes are:

· The Valley Flyer, from Blacksburg to Washington D.C. and points between along the I-81 corridor

· The Piedmont Express, connecting Danville to Washington D.C. along the Route 29 corridor

· The Capital Connector, serving communities from Martinsville to Washington D.C. via the Route 58 and Route 360 corridors, before traveling through Richmond along I-95

· The Highlands Rhythm, extending service along the I-81 Corridor by connecting Bristol to Washington, D.C.

Shortly after the release of this Data Story (April 15, 2026, for those reading in the future) these routes will be joined by a fifth route, the Tidewater Current. The Tidewater Current will be the first east-west intercity service and will operate daily between Virginia Beach to Harrisonburg and points between. As DRPT gears up to celebrate the launch of the Tidewater Current route, this Data Story dives into the history and performance measures of the Virginia Breeze.

*The Valley Flyer launched in December 2017. The Piedmont Express and Capital Connector both launched in August 2020, and the Highlands Rhythm in November 2021. Virginia Breeze service was suspended from April to August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top Origins and Destinations

The Virginia Breeze serves a wide array of communities, big and small, urban and rural. While every Virginia Breeze destination serves a vital connection, some stops are naturally busier than others. Many Virginia Breeze stops serve as a connection point to other transportation options, such as Dulles International Airport or Washington Union Station. Other stops serve areas with a high population of individuals without a car, such as university towns. This chart below shows the top five Virginia Breeze stops by number of passengers originating or departing. For 2025, the top five is the same for both origins and destinations:

Busiest Origin-Destination Pairs

These top origin and destination pairs help illustrate where travel demand is most concentrated. In fact, some of these origin-destination pairs are so in-demand that the Virginia Breeze now offers express services with limited stops along the I-81 corridor on the Valley Flyer during peak demand times. The chart below shows the top five origin-destination pairs for 2025:

Connecting the Commonwealth

The Virginia Breeze continues to grow, transporting more people and now covering more of Virginia than ever. This ensures Virginians have access to safe, affordable, and reliable intercity transportation; and it increases accessibility by serving areas where intercity transportation may be limited. The Virginia Breeze has made a meaningful impact on Virginia’s highways, reducing single-occupancy vehicle travel nearly 61 million miles and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10,000 tons.

DRPT is excited for the future of intercity transportation with the launch of the Tidewater Current. More information about the Virginia Breeze can be found at virginiabreeze.drpt.virginia.gov. We encourage visitors to also view the Virginia Breeze performance measures page on DRPT’s Open Data Portal to keep an eye on how ridership on the Virginia Breeze is progressing!

DRPT’s mission is to connect and improve the quality of life for all Virginians with innovative transportation solutions. Our vision is a connected Commonwealth with an integrated multimodal network that serves every person, every business, and every need. DRPT’s Six-Year Improvement Program provides funding for rail and public transportation initiatives across the Commonwealth, enabling Virginia’s rail and public transportation network to thrive. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up to get Data Stories directly in your inbox! Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

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