Just a few days before Council on Aging (COA) Director Debbie Thompson was scheduled to appear at a Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC) meeting to answer questions regarding the COA’s request for a new van, the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) exchanged the town’s van for one with less mileage. The newly assigned 2011 van has 120,000 miles on it, about 60,000 miles fewer than the previous van, but Thompson told the committee that it shakes on the highway and has already exceeded the five-year, 100,000-mile life expectancy for a van of its type, according to the Department of Transportation.
A few weeks ago, Thompson proposed to the selectmen that the town buy a new 14-passenger van for about $65,000 and give it to MART with the understanding that it would be assigned to Harvard and that MART would continue to provide repairs, maintenance, driver training, and driver and dispatch salaries, as it does now. The selectmen voted unanimously to recommend adding $65,000 for a COA van to the town’s capital plan and to have Town Administrator Tim Bragan draft a letter to MART asking to meet with its advisory board to discuss the proposal. While other regional transportation services have these kinds of arrangements with some towns, MART does not. CPIC member Alice von Loesecke told Thompson that an agreement with MART would need to be in place before the town could buy a new van. Thompson replied that Bragan is already working with MART on an agreement and has not yet signed the latest three-year contract with MART.
The committee also asked Thompson for the number of miles put on the van annually, and Thompson said that last year, just over 20,000 miles were put on the various MART vans that the Harvard COA used. She told the committee that a new 14-passenger van would probably get more use than the current 10-passenger van because it could be used for small day trips. She also said that ridership might also increase because some seniors who have joint pain find a shaking van too uncomfortable to ride in.
Are Harvard’s vans the oldest?
Thompson told the committee that during her time at the COA, the mileage on MART vans assigned to the town has slowly decreased from 240,000 miles on the oldest van to 120,000 miles on the most recent van, but other towns in MART’s service area, such as Ayer, have received new vans. CPIC members questioned how much pressure has been put on MART to provide a new van for Harvard, and Thompson replied that the selectmen, Bragan, and state Senator Jamie Eldridge had all spoken with MART about a new van. The committee members agreed that it would be good to know the ages of the vans assigned to other towns served by MART and asked Thompson to get that data.
CPIC Chairwoman Debbie Ricci also asked Thompson to update the committee on how the newly assigned van is running in a month, “just to make sure we want it this year.” Thompson agreed to provide the update, but added, “It’s not a want; it’s a need.”
In an interview after the CPIC meeting, Thompson said she understands the committee’s requests for more information, but she would like to have heard that the town wants to support its seniors with reliable and safe transportation. “It’s long overdue,” she said.
