Fairfax County, Virginia, is the wealthiest county and one of the fastest-growing in the entire United States. Yet the backbone of public transit in Fairfax, the Fairfax Connector, hasn't attracted the kind of attention that its riders deserve or the kind of investment the county should make.

In fact, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors​​​ is more focused on keeping the Connector cheap than investing to make it better. That is why they hired MV Transportation, a private contractor, to manage the daily operations of the system. Who is overseeing MV? Nobody seems to know or care.

MV has taken advantage of this lack of oversight, cheating the community out of tax dollars and Fairfax Connector transit workers out of their hard-earned wages. In 2012, MV signed a contract with ATU Local 1764, which represents Connector workers, that committed the company to creating a pension and pledging to put 4% of payroll costs into that plan. In return, MV employees sacrificed pay raises to help make the pension a reality. MV budgeted for these costs and passed it them to the County.

The catch? No pension was ever created. Instead, MV decided to keep the workers' wages and taxpayer dollars to themselves. Adding insult to injury, Fairfax Connector workers are among the only county-level employees with no pension.

Federal study after study shows that good wages, reliable benefits, and a path to retirement are the best ways to attract and retain a professional, career-level workforce in public transit. That, combined with sensible management, leads to better and more reliable service for the riding public.

Fairfax County Supervisors need ​to take responsibility for their out-of-control contractor, demand that MV provide a path to retirement security for its workers, and ensure that the Fairfax Connector is run for the benefit of the riding public, not the profit of an out-of-state contractor.