In the beginning–March 27, 1976–the D.C. government created the Metro, but in its creation, they didn’t anticipate the rapid growth of Northern Virginia, especially Loudoun County and its ascent from farmland to suburbia.

For this reason, it wasn’t even a thought in WMATA’s mind to add Loudoun to the metro system. 

However, things have changed.

The D.C. Metro, known for serving the DMV area, opened in March of 1976. Its initial purpose was to connect the capital of the U.S. to its surrounding areas. 

The original blueprint was made in the 1960s but the layout of the metro did not include two major connections. The first was a direct connection between the capitol and the Dulles International Airport (IAD), and the second was a connection between Washington and the fringe of Northern Virginia. As population and economic production grew in places like Ashburn and Tysons, demand grew for more efficient transportation, leading to the Silver Line Expansion coming to life in the 1990s.

However, major setbacks plagued the development of the Silver Line, with its first step forward in 2014, and continual delays following for another eight years.

The Silver Line, originally ending at Loudoun Gateway, lets one take a quick trip to Reston Town Center for food, Tysons for a spending spree, the Dulles airport for a fly out, or an adventure into D.C.. All of these became newly accessible to the residents in Ashburn when the station finally opened in November 2022. The track ended up being a sprawling 41 miles (just under 32% of the entire metro length), crossing through five of the eight counties the D.C. metro encompasses, and connecting major historical sites to important economic hubs. 

In between major stops, there are plenty of cities, towns, and plazas with their own restaurants, shopping centers, and underground attractions that go unrecognized by most other than those who live in the surrounding areas. With the metro now reaching our backyard here in Ashburn, we as teenagers have access to those attractions and places we couldn’t before, all at a decent price in comparison to other metropolitan cities.

A typical fare for the silver line ranges from $2.25 – $2.50 on weekends and weekdays after 9:30 p.m. depending on how far you go. The highest the fare ever reaches is $6.75, and that’s for the longest possible distance you can travel using the metro on a weekday. On top of this, regular metro riders can pay for passes which offer users an unlimited number of uses for a certain amount of time. 

The day pass in particular is a great option for teens wanting a quick day trip into D.C. without having to constantly manage a new card, without having a car, or without having the cost burden their mind.

The metro opens an entirely new possibility for teenagers in NOVA without cars to travel around D.C., parts of Maryland, and Loudoun County. 

Despite issues with budget and cost overrun, the Silver Line is not inherently losing money, and has a positive impact on local areas around each stop. The metro is great for local and national businesses as well as growing a community because more people can travel, live, and invest money in these areas. In fact, increasing ridership makes the Silver Line’s future seem optimistic. “I think that the metro gives me the opportunity to go to places like Alexandria and Tysons even when I don’t have a car,” senior Jordan Elegnical said. 

Metro systems like the WMATA are also great for communities because they reduce traffic congestion, increase accessibility, and reduce the cost of living in many areas. Ultimately, they also help to reduce pollution in large cities as well, which is critical for areas like Ashburn which have fallen ill to the unwalkability of modern suburban sprawls. 

The Silver Line’s one major flaw is its ridership, or rather, a lack of ridership. With only 1,035 riders daily at the Ashburn Station, it has only accumulated a fraction of the WMATA’s desired ridership numbers. In fact, on many toll roads including the Greenway, the local governments have increased tolls to keep up with debt caused by the construction and low ridership of the metro. This obviously has upset those who use those toll roads to get from place to place, including D.C. 

There is an upside to this, though.

The toll roads in and of themselves have issues. On top of being inefficient, they destroyed 64 acres of federally protected wetlands in the creation of the Dulles Greenway, it costed a whopping $135 million to build, and heavily contributes to heat vulnerability, air pollution, noise pollution, and particulate matter (PM 2.5), which according to WHRO,  are “Fine particles less than one-tenth the diameter of a human hair [which] are associated with the largest number of health problems because they are tiny enough to imbed in lung tissue and enter the bloodstream.”

This doesn’t mean that this can’t change. According to the WMATA, there has been an overall increase in ridership on the Silver line since January of 2024, and the largest increases have been in Ashburn (16% increase), IAD (27% increase), and McLean (32% increase). With ridership increasing, the Metro will meet their projected averages and start to create a net positive in revenue. This will in turn lower toll costs and make driving on those roads more affordable again. It’s a huge feedback loop that we as the people control. 

With rising costs of toll roads, increasing emissions from the amount of cars, and the several alternatives to these issues, it is imperative that teenagers, especially around Ashburn and Rock Ridge take advantage of the opportunity they have with the D.C. Metro.