the first buses rolled out in september 1985 as a lower-cost alternative to the metrobus service of the regional washington metropolitan area transit authority. the original routes connected the southern part of the county (near the mount vernon estate) to the huntington metro station which borders alexandria. this area continues to be the core of the system, and is noted for the number of residents in the richmond highway area who use the service at all times of the day. it had 10 routes, and many routes serves through huntington station. these first 10 routes were previously served by metrobus. in 1988, the connector began to operate express routes, to connect to pentagon station. it also expanded through the southeastern portion of fairfax.