
A Worcester Regional Transit Authority bus lays over in this file photo. Photo by Pi.1415926535 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Beacon Hill is immersed in debate over how many more hundreds of millions of dollars state taxpayers should devote to the MBTA, but transit services outside of the T region are absorbed in their own operational changes and improvements, as they aim to serve constituencies with few other options.
An analysis released Thursday found the Quaboag Connector, an on-demand shuttle service covering nine towns in central Massachusetts, has yielded nearly $45 million in total economic benefits since its launch in 2017. Service supporters say the results show how critical transit options are to people in more rural areas.
South of the MBTA region, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority is gearing up to add to its fleet the M/V Aquinnah, a 245-foot freight vessel. The authority has retired a pair of freight boats and the Aquinnah is the second of three replacements that will serve Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Officials in both regions see the freight boat and microtransit services as lifelines for businesses and residents, an argument that non-MBTA communities are touting as they compete for the heavy flow of money generated by the still relatively new 4% surtax on household income above about $1 million per year.
The MBTA is by far the largest public transit provider in the state, and its extensive financial and infrastructure needs have been a focus of public investments in recent years. Lawmakers from outside the T district are trying to make sure transit needs in their communities are not drowned out by the steady focus on the MBTA.
The Quaboag Connector shuttle service is operated by the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corp. and the town of Ware. It is designed to address the challenge people face accessing health care, employment and social resources in the rural communities of Belchertown, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Monson, North Brookfield, Palmer, Ware, Warren and West Brookfield. It provided nearly 11,000 one-way trips in 2024.
The economic impact analysis conducted by the UMass Donahue Institute and funded by The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts found the shuttle service, which offers some free trips and charges no more than $2 per trip, primarily benefits older adults, veterans and lower-income individuals in single-person households an area marked by aging populations, lower population density and higher disability rates.
The region is on the periphery of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and Worcester Regional Transit Authority service areas, resulting in limited bus options for residents since both transportation authorities lack the ability to customize their networks to meet the needs of the Quaboag Connector Service Area, the report said.
The study recommends the development of pathways for sustainable public and private funding, broadening the microtransit network, improving connectivity across transit regions and sharing best practices to support similar services in other regions that need it.
“We need to think differently about how we support and structure transit networks across the central and western sections of our Commonwealth,” Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield said. “The Quaboag Connector has clearly demonstrated that targeted, community-based transit solutions drive opportunity. Now we need to match that progress with sustained legislative attention.”
Farley-Bouvier filed legislation (S 2366 / H 3658) with Rep. Todd Smola of Warren and Sen. Julian Cyr of Provincetown to create a commission to better understand the microtransit landscape and related funding needs.
The M/V Aquinnah is one of three sister ships purchased by the Steamship Authority in 2022 from Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, Louisiana. With the M/V Barnstable and M/V Monomoy, the Aquinnah was converted for use by the authority at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. An agreement with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority yielded $28.1 million in federal funding for the purchase and conversion costs.
During its conversion, the Aquinnah was bisected and had its midbody removed to reduce its length. The authority said the vessel can carry about 50 automobiles per trip, with an interior area for 80 passengers. The authority has moved on from two of its previous freight vessels, the M/V Katama and the M/V Gay Head.
The Steamship Authority will celebrate the commissioning of M/V Aquinnah on Friday, May 16 with a public ceremony and open house at its Oak Bluffs Terminal followed by an open house at its Woods Hole Terminal.