CUE Bus

CUE Bus (City. University. Everyone.,^[5] formerly City-University-Energysaver) is a bus service operated by the City of Fairfax, Virginia, and is completely separate from the Fairfax Connector bus service run by Fairfax County. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 958,800, or about 3,400 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2024.

CUE (City. University. Everyone.)

A CUE Bus at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia in November 2021
Parent	City of Fairfax
Locale	Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Service type	Bus service
Routes	2
Stops	186 [1]
Fleet	Gillig[2]
Daily ridership	3,400 (weekdays, Q4 2024)[3]
Annual ridership	958,800 (2024)[4]
Fuel type	Diesel, Diesel-electric
Website	cuebus.org

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.

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.

In 2009, the City of Fairfax partnered with Montgomery County, Maryland, in the purchase of new buses. As a result, six 35-foot, low-floor Gillig Hybrid buses were added to the fleet in August 2009. These new buses are expected to consume much less fuel, as they operate off an electric engine when operated at 35 MPH or lower, and 35 MPH is the maximum speed limit in Fairfax.^[6] These buses are now retired as of May 2022.

The CUE Bus system owns and operates twelve 35-foot, low-floor Gillig clean diesel buses in its fleet, half of which replaced the remaining 30-foot Gillig Phantom buses in the fall of 2015, the other half entered service and replaced the hybrid buses in May 2022.

Zero-Fare Pilot

In 2020, CUE stopped collecting fares to reduce passenger contact during the COVID-19 pandemic and remained zero-fare after that point. 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.^[7][8] In Spring of 2022, CUE was awarded a Transit Ridership Incentive Program grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation that allowed the City to extend the pilot program for an additional year, making CUE free to ride through June, 2026.

Fleet

As of May 2022^[update], CUE's fleet is entirely diesel-fueled.

Image	Builder and model	Model year	Length	Numbers (Total)	Vehicles in service
	Gillig Low Floor BRT	2015	35 ft (11 m)	833–838 (6 buses)	6
		2022		839–844 (6 buses)	6

Retired fleet

Year	Builder and model	Numbers	Year retired	Notes
1982	Transportation Manufacturing Corporation T-30 CityCruiser	801–803	1997
1986	Bus Industries of America Orion I (01.502)	804–808	1998
1987		809
1990		810–814	2003
1997	Gillig Phantom 30'	815–816	2009–2010
1998		817–820
2003		821–826	2015
2009	Gillig Low Floor BRT HEV	827–832	2022