In the video that follows, produced by me and Mobility Lab’s Editor Paul Mackie, Ballston Business Improvement District CEO Tina Leone says, “We see the Silver Line as making Ballston the center of the universe. It makes everything even better here. We already have a very active Metro stop, with 26,000 trips per day. We see that growing to 38,000 trips per day along with the Silver Line by 2020. So that’s coming very, very fast.”
Traveling out from downtown D.C., Ballston is on the Orange Line one stop before the Silver Line branches off to its five new stations.
Leone mentions other ways that Ballston is adapting to the buzz around the introduction of the Silver Line.
Public transportation options are crucial to a growing population:
“We already have a lot of other infrastructure in place to help out as well so people don’t need a car here. We have the Metro and ART buses. We have Capital Bikeshare. Because of our demographic, we’re looking into scootershare. We’re looking for more options here because the population is going to grow by about 20 percent by 2020.”
Tina Leone
The Silver Line is a huge attraction for companies:
“What’s really cool about it is 42 percent of the people who live here are young, hip, smart, athletic … It’s a very exciting place to be. Ballston right now is a braintrust for research and development organizations and educational institutions and we see that continuing to grow. I think the Silver Line contributing the ease of access to Ballston and beyond is a huge attraction for companies and for people to live here.”
Tina Leone
One of the largest public infrastructure projects in the country, Metro’s Silver Line will eventually extend rail service out to Dulles International Airport when the second phase is completed, which is anticipated to happen in 2018.
Splash photo by Rich Renomeron on Flickr. Story photo by the author.
Paul Goddin 
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