After years of using exclusively smaller buses, Arlington Transit is now operating its first full-length 40-foot vehicles.

40-foot ART bus.

When Arlington launched its first ART bus routes in 1999, it used tiny jitneys that looked more like vans than real buses. Since then, as ART has gotten more and more popular, the agency has graduated to larger and larger vehicles.

In 2007, ART added its first “heavy duty” vehicles – buses that look like buses, not vans. Those were rare at first, but are now a common sight throughout Arlington.

These new 40-footers are the next natural step up.

Three of these big new buses now ply Route 41, and you may see them on other routes too.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.