I've been a frequent rider of the PRTC buses for the past few months, and there's some great things about it. And then there's some not-so-good things. I really look at them as two different services. Their commuter services (Omnilink) are a solid 4-star service. I take the Manassas Metro Direct commuter bus to the West Falls Church Metro, and then pick up a Fairfax Connector bus to drop me in front of my office. I never realized how easy taking public transportation from Manassas to my office in Reston was. Easy Peasy. The local buses, however, are a different story. The Omniride bus in Manassas runs a VERY abbreviated schedule, very fixed routes that minimize convenience, and don't run on the weekends. I've found that it's often easier to just hoof it around Manassas than take the bus. (But hey, I could use the exercise anyway!) I'd have to give the Omniride service 2-stars, and thus an average of 3-stars for the combined PRTC service. read more

My first and only experience with this company was when I needed to get from the Pentagon to the Navy Yard for a weekday morning meeting, and thought the PRTC Omniride 612-9 scheduled to depart from bay L2 at 0842 looked convenient. I thought wrong. The system was confusing and my bus never showed up within the 20 minutes I waited. Save yourself the trouble and just take the Metro. My experience went like this: I got to bus bay L2 at 0830 so I wouldn't be late, and was uncertain if I had the right place because only the electronic sign at bay L1 was working. I stood by the "board here" label waiting for the bus until 0900. During that time, two different buses with their signs displaying "Not in service" pulled up and stopped for a short time before leaving, without changing the sign or opening their doors. One of them had the number 612, so I'm unsure if it was meant to be my bus or not. At 0900, since the next bus wasn't scheduled until 0945, and I was no longer sure if that line was even running, I gave up and took the Metro, which I should've done to begin with even though it would take twice as long as the scheduled bus ride. I was late to the meeting, but by a predictable amount. I understand that traffic is bad in this area and sometimes emergencies happen, but it was frustrating not to have any idea whether the bus was going to show up or not. DASH and WMATA have a phone number where you can text them a stop ID and it will tell you the actual ETA of the buses headed to that destination, not only the scheduled time. It would be helpful if PRTC had something similar. read more

Unfortunately, I can't give this bus system a higher rating even compared to other local public transportation systems. It doesn't run on Sundays or during holidays. The commuter buses (Metro Directs or Expresses) are usually better than the local buses. The commuter buses can be comfortable, have more space, and tend to be stress free when one isn't driving during rush hour depending how good or how bad the traffic is. The routes and stops for local buses are limited tho. Customer service is spotty because it depends on the personality of the person driving your bus or whoever is answering the phone line. I've met a couple amiable and polite bus drivers and I've had courteous responses from the person behind the desk, while other drivers can cuss like a sailor in front of you (not directly at me) which can be very amusing, but there are plenty of small kids taking these buses with their parents/guardians and I can see that the parents not appreciating that. So, where is the professionalism or just plain ole' home training? Months ago I sent an email about a situation on a commuter bus in which money was swallowed by the machine on the bus while I added significant cash to my card but it didn't take. The driver suggested I contact the office asap. Sent an email out and not a single response from them. Another incident is when I and other customers were waiting at the Springfield metro stop for the PWMD bus to arrive, and it didn't show up as designated on the sign listing at the bus stop. A customer called the office phone no. listed on the schedule, and she got a response that the schedule changed. That particular time slot was no longer there. Well, why doesn't the sign reflect that? We were pretty angry about that. She then responded that it needs to be changed immediately as other people will be taking the bus later today if the whole schedule is affected, and she as the rest of us was running late. Their response to that? It's correct on the website. Whaaat? As a person who worked in marketing/customer relations, you've got to line up your communications together to the public on a TIMELY basis. Even if the sign is outdated, put something on the sign to say AT LEAST "check our website for current/up-to-date information/schedules." For those individuals who helped me out in other customer requests, I would give them a 5 for their diligence and responsiveness, but the overall customer service experience deserves a 1. If you're not on the last scheduled commuter bus or on the last bus transfer and you're not concerned about how much time it takes, the buses will eventually take you (even if it's a half hour or 45 min late) to your stop on route. I've read on the website, that a person can call beforehand if they need to get picked up within a reasonable distance from route to get picked up. I have yet to take that benefit. If you're dependent on time, you are better off to take a taxi, uber or a lyft...or call a friend if you don't have easy access to other transportation. Public transportation is public transportation, unfortunately. More so here. read more

First of all, I WILL say that the Tysons Express bus is great. Reliable, comfortable, and pleasant. That's pretty much where the positivity stops, in my experience. The Omnilink is extremely limited, consistently late, and honestly the poorest excuse for city public transportation I have ever seen. The Fairfax Connector looks like New York's public transportation compared to PRTC. The deviations system is terrible if you need to be somewhere (like your job!) on time. Why are you going off route to pick up ONE person? There is a schedule that you advertise for a reason; what's the point if your busses moonlight as taxi cabs? I absolutely hate it and I can't wait to move to Fairfax so that I can leave this abomination behind. read more

This bus service blows ass......im waiting at my stop for an hour n a half before one came around....then it took 55 min to get me where i needed to go cuz the driver had to switch buses....i could of walked faster where i needed to go...so a 10 min trip n a car took 3 hours on the prtc.....this bus services sucks asssssss read more

Drivers cut people off and drive recklessly. Your not in a souped up Civic, your in a bus. You're also supposed to be a professional driver. Their drivers are irresponsible, rude and terrible at their jobs. Trash service run by trash people. read more

There's a reason PRTC isn't on social media - they'd get blasted daily for late buses, buses that don't show up at all or buses that break down. Just this morning, the scheduled bus didn't show up. There were about 25 people waiting for the 8:17 bus at the route 123 lot. At 8:27 we started calling the customer service number to find out the status of the bus. "We apologize, but our driver on that route got lost so we are counting it as a missed ride. We have both a stand by bus and the 9:01 bus headed your way." At 9:01, a bus pulls in, already full of people. Our line, which started with 25 people waiting for the 8:17 bus, was doubled in size by those who arrived to catch the 9:01 bus. We asked the driver if there was room on the bus, or if some of us should wait for the stand by bus. "There is no other bus." What!?!? Then, dispatch contacts the driver and asks if they should send another bus - "We can have one there in 20 minutes" or if he can hold all of us. Needless to say, we elected to stand on this full bus rather than wait another 20 minutes...we were already A FULL HOUR LATE. And this is a regular occurrence. But what are you going to do - pay for gas and parking everyday to get into DC? ARGH. Wish they'd get their act together...instead of raising fair prices and not raising their level of competence and professionalism. read more

I'm giving OmniRide/PRTC one star for two reasons: They're marginally better than Metro, and Yelp doesn't allow zero stars. Where to begin? Whether it's late busses, busses that break down, drivers that blow by stops with no notice, or an always changing "service" schedule, PRTC has it all. Is it cold outside in the winter? No problem! These busses are scorching hot inside, and keep you like that all the way into DC. Hot outside in the summer? No problem! It's so cold inside these busses you'll need a winter coat to survive the trip. Need to get somewhere on time? Forget about it! Late arrivals, late departures, and missed stops will take care of that for you. Need to get home at the end of the day? Nah! Instead, you can enjoy watching the last bus out of town cruise merrily past your stop while the driver studiously ignores the people standing there waving and shouting. Even better, the Commuter Connections guaranteed ride home program doesn't cover transit problems. Thank God for Uber! Wait, you say you're going to Manassas? Uber loves you! I mean, it's only money. What's not to love, right? read more

I just moved to Manassas with my dad and I don't have a license yet, so my only means of getting around is Public transportation. Well I've been highly disappointed in Manassas so called bus system. I have to walk 30 minuets in a busy road with no side walks just to get to the nearest bus stop, with that being said there isn't enough bus stops in the area and I shouldn't have to risk my life just to get to a bus stop. On top of that the busses only run every hour till 6pm like that's very inconvenient to its riders, speaking of inconvenience the system doesn't run on weekends either. So if you have a job working weekends and nights good luck. Last point I have is that when calling the office the people answer to hang up. Like don't even pick up the phone if your intention was to hang up. The PRTC is a joke and needs to be better especially living so close to DC where many people commute back and forth for work read more

TERRIBLE! Lakeridge Pentagon route ALWAYS late picking up at pentagon in afternoons. Not enough stops/busses for this route but they have a million for sale city or minniville empty half the time ! Condition of busses has deteriorated over the years and not well maintained! read more

I was standing at a bus stop from 5 pm to 5:30pm and I contacted customer service and they told me that the bus will be there in 10 minutes. The bus didn't show. I called customer service and they said the bus was coming in 10 mins. The bus got to my stop at 6:15. It was 20 degrees outside . read more

Today I boarded Bus 324 Route D117 headed to the State Department. While our bus was traveling we noticed that our bus driver was taking the exit to Baltimore. He passed multiple exits and did not make an attempt to reroute until a passenger moved toward the front of the bus to help get him back on track. Needless to say we ended up in Old Town Alexandria before finally getting back on track toward our destination. At no time did the driver get on the intercom and explain what was happening. When I contacted your customer service office, I was told that someone would try to contact dispatch. Due to this event I was an hour late to work, thus missing a very important meeting. Not because of traffic, simply because your drivers do not know their routes. This is not the first time this has happened, last week my driver (we were going to the State Department) got off at the Pentagon exit, thus making me late on that day as well. I have read in the news that you all have replaced your normal drivers with contractors and if this is true you have made a huge mistake as I can already see the quality of service declining. These last two incidents have completely eroded my faith in PRTC as it appears there is now more of a focus on driver quantity over quality. read more

The commuter buses are clean. They need another bus from the Pentagon to Dale city between 3:30 and 4pm because the lines are long and often time it's SRO. It's a good option for commuting into the city. read more

No Sunday or holiday service!!! Huge inconvenience! Deviations are another pain in the ass when you want to either get to work on time or home after a long day of work! After a certain point the drivers are totally rude! No other bus system is as ass backwards as this one in Woodbridge! The driver take breaks if they get to a stop too early and will leave passengers on the bus with the doors open while they go on about their business!!! There isn't even a metro here which is stupid as big as prince William is smh. For some reason funding is an issue which I don't understand why because they're constantly hiring new drivers! One time I had to get to another part of town that was in the same exact city I was already in and I had to catch 3 busses just to get there!!!!!!!!!!! BACKWARDS! read more

As far as getting you to where you need to go, I think it's just fine. I do need to be honest, and mention it can be a bit slow to Really Slow but it depends on a lot of factors, ofcourse... the weather, traffic, the condition of the bus, and the bus driver. From my experience, it does* get you to where you need to go though. I also want to vent about a few things I experienced while riding their Omnilink buses... 1) I had to go to a Job Interview* one day, so I'm on the bus and this young lady and her child decide to sit in front of me. They, ofcourse, had the right to sit where ever they chose, but my problem was that this lady's son turned around and began talking to me none stop. I (was) very polite because he's just a kid so I say hi, but he continues to talk and his mother says **nothing** (i.e. "Don't bother the lady." etc.) Eventually this kid screams really HARD directly at me because I disagreed with him about something petty. The mom just sits there and doesn't even LOOK in my d*** direction. It would have been nice if she had apologized for her son's rediculous behavior but I got NOTHING. I know this isn't ** the buses fault but had to vent about this anyway. Anyway.... because this kid wouldn't stop talking and screaming at me, and because his mother clearly could not care less, I MISSED the bus stop and interview! I couldn't JUST pay attention to the stops because this kid wouldn't shut the H.... up. I don't normally take certain routes/buses, and needed to pay attention to what stop to get off of***. Needless to say I was fuming. Oh I will "say" this young lady DID do one thing to aknowledge my existance.... she kept her face forward, but moved her eyes toward the side to stare me. That was all that B**** did. Gee Thanks A Lot Lady. Here's another interesting experience... I'm at their bus station, and get on. I, ofcourse, put my money in and walk toward a seat. The bus driver was speaking to another driver. The (other driver) who was standing across from the one who was sitting got angry with me and said "Excuse You!" I guess she was upset because I walked passed her and didn't say anything? Anyway, so I (apologize) in a very kind and honest way, yet this B**** was still pissed off because I called her "Ma'am." Look, if a woman looks old enough to have teenage kids, I'm going to call the B**** "Ma'am". Also... I tried** to apologize and that clearly wasn't good enough so she can take a "long walk on a short pier" for all I give a D***. Other than that... their buses are okay. read more