the county. 2000s After having many buses running on pure diesel, The Connector ordered buses that runs in Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel fuel in 2002. These bus upgrades can retrofit the fleet with Green Diesel technology, so the county can go environmentally friendly. More bus stations continues to increase, with the opening of the Lorton Park-and-Ride in 2003, and the Gambrill Road Park-and-Ride in 2005. The Connector began installing the SmarTrip Fare Card technology, so that passengers can pay their fare using WMATA's SmarTrip. In June 2009, service was transitioned from the Metrobus 2W, 12-, and 20-series routes to the Connector in the Centreville, Chantilly, and Oakton areas along I-66 and near Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Station. On July 1, 2009 MV Transportation took over from Veolia Transport as the operator. 2010s Major changes began in 2010, when the Reston East Park-and-Ride closed to make way for the Silver Line construction. After the Silver Line opened in 2014, The Connector modified its service, by providing three circulator routes within Tysons Corner, as well as new service to McLean. Many routes were modified, so The Connector can give access to its riders to transfer within the Silver Line and other portions within the County. On July 1, 2019 Transdev commenced a five year contract to operate the network with an option to extend for a further 10 years. As previously mentioned, Transdev (then as Veolia Transport) had previously operated The Connector until July 1, 2009. On December 5, 2019, Fairfax Connector worker went on a strike against Transdev affecting 30,000 riders with all routes operating on Sunday service. The strike joins 130 employees at Metrobus's Cinder Bed garage who went on strike against Transdev on October 24, 2019. Fares The base fares for the Connector are $2.00 on local routes; $4.25 on express routes 393, 394, 395, 396, 599, 697, 698, 699 and 835; $0.50 on routes 350, 423, and 424; and $5.00 on Route 480 (fare is round-trip). Fares are paid in cash (exact change), or WMATA issued SmarTrip card. Routes , the Fairfax Connector bus system consists of 94 routes. The following are the route numbers and names that make up the Fairfax Connector bus system. Former routes These routes have been served by Fairfax Connector at one point but have since been discontinued due to either low ridership, duplication of another route, simplification to other routes, or combined into another route. However