CUE Bus

CUE (City. University. Everyone.)
CUE bus in downtown Fairfax
ParentCity of Fairfax
FoundedAugust 18, 1980; 46 years ago (1980-08-18)
LocaleFairfax, Virginia, US
Service typeBus service
Routes2
Stops186
Fleet12 Gillig BRT
Daily ridership
2,700 (weekdays, Q2 2026)
Annual ridership
965,000 (2025)
Fuel typeDiesel
Websitewww.fairfaxva.gov/Services/CUE-Bus

CUE Bus is a public transit bus service operated by the City of Fairfax, Virginia. It consists of two routes, and is independent of WMATA and the Fairfax Connector bus service operated by Fairfax County. In 2025, the system had a ridership of 965,000, or about 2,700 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2026.

History

Fare-free service

In 2020, CUE stopped collecting fares to reduce passenger contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2022, the City Council approved a plan to formalize a 3-year zero-fare pilot program that would make CUE free to ride through June 2025. In the spring of 2022, CUE was awarded a Transit Ridership Incentive Program grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, extending the pilot through June 2026.

By November 2025, the policy's fate was still being determined. While CUE steadily lost ridership for over a decade starting from 2008, the trend actually reversed due to the suspension of fare collection in 2020 - in spite of the pandemic, ridership actually started trending upward. During a presentation to City Council, James Gamez, a transit project manager of the consultant Kimley Horn, leading the evaluation on whether CUE should continue the zero-fare policy or resume fare collection, said: “This coming year, CUE is expected to exceed 1 million rides, and we’ve seen about a 60% increase from the pre-pandemic levels of ridership.”

After the grant expired, the city continued to fund fare-free CUE service in its annual budget; the buses remain free for all passengers as of August 2026.

Routes and services

CUE operates two loop routes between George Mason University and the Vienna Metro station, each running in both directions for a total of four named routes. The Green loop, consisting of routes Green 1 (clockwise) and Green 2 (counterclockwise) operates on the east side of Fairfax, while the Gold loop, consisting of routes Gold 1 (clockwise) and Gold 2 (counterclockwise) operates on the west side. Headways on each individual route are approximately 30–35 minutes on weekdays and 60–70 minutes on weekday evenings and weekends.

In addition to providing service to GMU and Vienna Metro, the CUE serves all major activity centers in the City of Fairfax, including downtown, Kamp Washington, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Circle and Fair City Mall.

Fleet

2015 CUE Gillig BRT bus

As of May 2022, the CUE Bus fleet is entirely clean diesel fueled. The system operates twelve 35 foot (11 m) Gillig BRT buses. Half of these vehicles replaced the remaining Gillig Phantom vehicles in the fall of 2015, while the others entered service in May 2022 replacing the agency's hybrid buses.

Retired fleet

Delivered Type Retired Notes
1982 Transportation Manufacturing Corporation
T-30 CityCruiser		 1997
1986-2003 Orion Bus Industries
Orion I		 2018
1997-2003 Gillig
Phantom 30'		 2015
2009 Gillig
Low Floor BRT HEV		 2022

Notes

  1. ↑ Officially stands for "City, University, Everyone;" originally an acronym for City-University Energysaver

References

  1. ↑ "Appendix A: Listing of Bus Stops and Shelters". Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Fairfax CUE Transit Development Plan: Fiscal Years 2011–2016" (PDF). Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Transit Ridership Report Second Quarter 2026" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. September 2, 2026. Retrieved September 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2025" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. February 20, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Fairfax City Celebrates Its CUE Bus System". Fairfax Connection. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Minutes of the regular meeting of the Fairfax City Council on January 25, 2022". fairfaxva.gov. City of Fairfax, VA. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  7. ↑ "CUE Zero-Fare Pilot". fairfaxva.gov. City of Fairfax, VA. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  8. ↑ James, Acacia (November 10, 2025). "Fairfax City evaluates zero-fare policy for CUE buses as pilot is set to expire | FFXnow". FFXnow. Local News Now LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Microsoft Word - 10 FY 2026 Transit Fund.docx" (PDF). City of Fairfax, VA. City of Fairfax. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ "CUE Transit Guide" (PDF). City of Fairfax, Virginia. August 1, 2022.