czsz
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2007
- Messages
- 6,043
- Reaction score
- 5
Regional transit authority sets its wheels in motion
New bus system to connect suburbs, city
By John C. Drake, Globe Staff | June 28, 2007
At 6 a.m. Monday, when the LIFT 9 bus departs from the Edgewater Hills apartment complex on Route 9 in Framingham, the riders probably won't notice any thing new.
But that departure will mark a major change in transportation in the area: the start of a locally controlled, regional bus system that organizers say will tie residents of Boston's western suburbs closer together and give city residents a better way to get to the growing region.
The Framingham-based LIFT service will form the backbone of the new MetroWest Regional Transit Authority, or RTA. In the beginning, the bus routes will be the same, the drivers will be the same, and the buses themselves won't change.
But in the months to come, LIFT, which serves eight communities, will be combined with Natick's town-owned Natick Neighborhood Bus. And the communities that have joined the system -- currently six cities and towns -- will establish additional routes across the region.
The MetroWest RTA, which will officially come into existence Sunday and will send out its first buses Monday, will be the state's 16th regional authority.
For years, communities have been paying an annual assessment to the MBTA for the commuter rail service provided in the area. But under a law enacted last year, pushed by state Senator Karen Spilka and other area legislators, MBTA member towns that don't have fixed-route bus service can take the money they had been paying to the MBTA and redirect it to an existing or new RTA.
Ed Carr , the newly hired director of the MetroWest RTA, said, "In a way, it is too good to be true, but it is something done in the Legislature that was done right."
The reduction in revenue to the MBTA will be made up by increases in assessments for Boston and communities closer to the city, such as Brookline, Cambridge, and Newton.
Jeanette Orsino , executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities, said the MBTA stands to lose as much as $6 million from MetroWest communities that redirect their assessments to the new RTA. That amount would then be spread among the 14 "inner-core" communities, which already pay the heftiest assessments to the MBTA but also get extensive MBTA bus, trolley, subway, and commuter service.
"There's a general fairness idea here," Orsino said. "Why should Wayland pay for transportation services in Boston?"
The six towns that have joined the MetroWest RTA are: Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Ashland, and Wayland. And that number could grow soon. Sherborn could vote tonight on whether to join. Sudbury, Stow, Weston, and Wellesley also have indicated interest. Marlborough and Southborough are already part of the Worcester RTA, but they will continue to receive the LIFT bus service they currently have.
A number of communities southwest of Boston -- Medway, Bellingham, Franklin, Norfolk, and Wrentham -- have also recently joined the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, using the flexibility granted by the new law.
Andy Porter , chairman of the Holliston Board of Selectmen, said being a member of the MetroWest RTA removes the anxiety that came each year over how much state funding would go to the LIFT, which has two stops in Holliston.
"Although we don't have many LIFT runs, it was certainly something utilized by a segment of the community that needed that type of service," Porter said. "We're sending just shy of $100,000 to the MBTA for an assessment. We have no [MBTA] buses; we have no trains in Holliston. When the notion came up that we could join the RTA, expand that service, and have that assessment be applied to that new system, it seemed like a win-win situation."
He said residents in Holliston, which has just one major highway (Route 16) and little retail presence, were already going outside of town for many of their needs. Initially, Porter said, the town will use only the amount of service its existing assessment will pay for. As residents request more routes, the town will consider paying an increased assessment for expanded service, he said.
There is still some work to do in Natick. Unlike the LIFT, which is operated by contractor Mass Bay Limousine Inc., Natick Neighborhood Bus is a town-run service, with town employees and equipment.
Charlie Hughes , a Natick selectman and the town's representative to the RTA board, said transferring the system to the new RTA will probably happen sometime later this summer.
Carr said once officials assess the cost of running the Natick Neighborhood Bus, the RTA will contract with the town to run the service. Ultimately, the RTA will hire a private contractor to run the combined system. Carr said the plan is to retain all Natick Neighborhood Bus employees.
Another wrinkle is door-to-door service for the disabled, provided by the MBTA's RIDE service in Natick and Framingham. Carr said the new RTA will contract with the MBTA to continue providing the service. Federal law requires that any fixed-route bus service include some service for the disabled, so as the MetroWest RTA grows, it will provide access to the RIDE or something similar in the additional communities, Carr said.
The core of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority eventually will be the Golden Triangle, the retail-rich area that includes Natick Collection and Shoppers World, Carr said.
Riders who catch a bus anywhere in the MetroWest RTA system would be able to ride into the core and then connect to a route going anywhere else in in the MetroWest area.
Additionally, Carr envisions having a bus that leaves every 15 minutes from the Golden Triangle to the Eliot stop on the D branch of the MBTA's Green Line. Currently, people can take a bus to several commuter stations, but those trains run much less often than the Green Line trolleys. The new route would also make it easier for people from Boston to get onto the MetroWest RTA system.
"That now opens up this RTA and will make it viable for people, and bring people out here, too," he said. "That has been a huge complaint about the reverse commute. Once you get out here, how do you get around?"
Orsino said she would expect to see the MetroWest RTA mature over the next two to five years.
"This MetroWest Regional Transit Authority is a perfect example of what an RTA is supposed to do," she said. "And they have an economy that would support a regional transit system."
New bus system to connect suburbs, city
By John C. Drake, Globe Staff | June 28, 2007
At 6 a.m. Monday, when the LIFT 9 bus departs from the Edgewater Hills apartment complex on Route 9 in Framingham, the riders probably won't notice any thing new.
But that departure will mark a major change in transportation in the area: the start of a locally controlled, regional bus system that organizers say will tie residents of Boston's western suburbs closer together and give city residents a better way to get to the growing region.
The Framingham-based LIFT service will form the backbone of the new MetroWest Regional Transit Authority, or RTA. In the beginning, the bus routes will be the same, the drivers will be the same, and the buses themselves won't change.
But in the months to come, LIFT, which serves eight communities, will be combined with Natick's town-owned Natick Neighborhood Bus. And the communities that have joined the system -- currently six cities and towns -- will establish additional routes across the region.
The MetroWest RTA, which will officially come into existence Sunday and will send out its first buses Monday, will be the state's 16th regional authority.
For years, communities have been paying an annual assessment to the MBTA for the commuter rail service provided in the area. But under a law enacted last year, pushed by state Senator Karen Spilka and other area legislators, MBTA member towns that don't have fixed-route bus service can take the money they had been paying to the MBTA and redirect it to an existing or new RTA.
Ed Carr , the newly hired director of the MetroWest RTA, said, "In a way, it is too good to be true, but it is something done in the Legislature that was done right."
The reduction in revenue to the MBTA will be made up by increases in assessments for Boston and communities closer to the city, such as Brookline, Cambridge, and Newton.
Jeanette Orsino , executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities, said the MBTA stands to lose as much as $6 million from MetroWest communities that redirect their assessments to the new RTA. That amount would then be spread among the 14 "inner-core" communities, which already pay the heftiest assessments to the MBTA but also get extensive MBTA bus, trolley, subway, and commuter service.
"There's a general fairness idea here," Orsino said. "Why should Wayland pay for transportation services in Boston?"
The six towns that have joined the MetroWest RTA are: Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Ashland, and Wayland. And that number could grow soon. Sherborn could vote tonight on whether to join. Sudbury, Stow, Weston, and Wellesley also have indicated interest. Marlborough and Southborough are already part of the Worcester RTA, but they will continue to receive the LIFT bus service they currently have.
A number of communities southwest of Boston -- Medway, Bellingham, Franklin, Norfolk, and Wrentham -- have also recently joined the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, using the flexibility granted by the new law.
Andy Porter , chairman of the Holliston Board of Selectmen, said being a member of the MetroWest RTA removes the anxiety that came each year over how much state funding would go to the LIFT, which has two stops in Holliston.
"Although we don't have many LIFT runs, it was certainly something utilized by a segment of the community that needed that type of service," Porter said. "We're sending just shy of $100,000 to the MBTA for an assessment. We have no [MBTA] buses; we have no trains in Holliston. When the notion came up that we could join the RTA, expand that service, and have that assessment be applied to that new system, it seemed like a win-win situation."
He said residents in Holliston, which has just one major highway (Route 16) and little retail presence, were already going outside of town for many of their needs. Initially, Porter said, the town will use only the amount of service its existing assessment will pay for. As residents request more routes, the town will consider paying an increased assessment for expanded service, he said.
There is still some work to do in Natick. Unlike the LIFT, which is operated by contractor Mass Bay Limousine Inc., Natick Neighborhood Bus is a town-run service, with town employees and equipment.
Charlie Hughes , a Natick selectman and the town's representative to the RTA board, said transferring the system to the new RTA will probably happen sometime later this summer.
Carr said once officials assess the cost of running the Natick Neighborhood Bus, the RTA will contract with the town to run the service. Ultimately, the RTA will hire a private contractor to run the combined system. Carr said the plan is to retain all Natick Neighborhood Bus employees.
Another wrinkle is door-to-door service for the disabled, provided by the MBTA's RIDE service in Natick and Framingham. Carr said the new RTA will contract with the MBTA to continue providing the service. Federal law requires that any fixed-route bus service include some service for the disabled, so as the MetroWest RTA grows, it will provide access to the RIDE or something similar in the additional communities, Carr said.
The core of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority eventually will be the Golden Triangle, the retail-rich area that includes Natick Collection and Shoppers World, Carr said.
Riders who catch a bus anywhere in the MetroWest RTA system would be able to ride into the core and then connect to a route going anywhere else in in the MetroWest area.
Additionally, Carr envisions having a bus that leaves every 15 minutes from the Golden Triangle to the Eliot stop on the D branch of the MBTA's Green Line. Currently, people can take a bus to several commuter stations, but those trains run much less often than the Green Line trolleys. The new route would also make it easier for people from Boston to get onto the MetroWest RTA system.
"That now opens up this RTA and will make it viable for people, and bring people out here, too," he said. "That has been a huge complaint about the reverse commute. Once you get out here, how do you get around?"
Orsino said she would expect to see the MetroWest RTA mature over the next two to five years.
"This MetroWest Regional Transit Authority is a perfect example of what an RTA is supposed to do," she said. "And they have an economy that would support a regional transit system."