Transportation issues loomed front and center when the Middlesex 3 Coalition held a forum in Bedford this week.
With major projects under construction such as Nordblom Co.’s 3rd Avenue retail complex in Burlington, members of the economic development group had plenty to crow about. But they fretted about one structural weakness: the region’s fractured transit network.
“I could tell you horror stories,” said Robert Buckley, an attorney at Riemer & Braunstein in Boston and vice president of the Middlesex 3 board of directors. “There are some local shuttles run by the municipalities that have been stopping at the same building for 15 years, but that building’s been vacant for 15 years.”
Dozens of public and private shuttle services serve the five towns in the coalition: Burlington, Bedford, Billerica, Chelmsford and Lowell. But there’s little regional coordination.
“It’s the last mile. You’re getting the people from Boston out to Anderson (Regional Transportation Center) in Woburn, but you can’t get them from Anderson a mile down the road to Burlington,” Buckley said.
The Middlesex 3 Coalition recently received a $147,000 state grant to form a transportation management association. In a nutshell, it will coordinate shuttle buses running from transit hubs such as the Alewife MBTA station and the Woburn RTC to local companies.
The need for reverse commute shuttles has become a hot issue in recent years as suburban employers try to recruit young workers who live in the city and are less likely to own a car.
Massachusetts already has 11 transportation management associations serving 39 communities and more than 300 businesses. In 2013, the shuttles provided 5.4 million rides, aided by $14 million in private investment.
Greg Bialecki, the state’s economic development czar, acknowledged the Route 3 corridor’s rapid growth but said it has to address changing demographics.
“It’s not just MetroWest that’s competition, it’s Boston and Cambridge and the urban core,” Bialecki said. “We want to imagine an area where someone can live without a car, and we have a lot of work to do in that area.”
According to Stephanie Cronin, the coalition’s executive director, a pilot program could be up and running as soon as this fall.
“What we’re trying to do is pull it all together,” Cronin said.
The regional public-private coalition was formed in 2012 to promote economic development along the Route 3 north corridor from Burlington to Lowell.
