Keolis was awarded a five-year contract to operate and maintain Loudoun County, Virginia’s bus network, starting April 1.

The 28-line network encompasses several cities including Ashburn, Sterling, Leesburg, Purcellville, Hamilton, Stone Ridge, and South Riding. It connects 415,000 residents to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Silver Line, Arlington bus network, and MARC commuter trains, as well as the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), operated by Keolis.

The group will operate and maintain a total of 117 buses, including 64 commuter buses manufactured by MCI, 16 40-foot Gillig-made buses, and 37 Ford Cutaway buses for fixed-route and paratransit services. The services provided by Keolis are expected to carry 1.6 million passengers annually.

Several factors that contributed to Keolis being selected as an operator for Loudoun County included its expertise in enhancing maintenance processes and passenger experience across its global operations — from restoring ridership to pre-COVID levels and improved punctuality to vehicle cleaning and disinfection.

As part of the contract, Keolis will also welcome some 120 new employees from the two existing operators of Loudoun County’s bus network. The handover between operators is currently underway with the aim of providing a smooth transition before the introduction of new operational measures.