An offer by the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) to run a commuter van from Harvard to the Littleton commuter rail station will be presented by the Transportation Advisory Committee at a meeting of the Select Board in September.
“There may be interest in trying to get public transportation from Harvard to the train stations,” said Gabriel Medjanis, chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC). “There’s enough people in Harvard that commute.”
A lack of parking spaces in Harvard for commuters has hampered plans for a van service, although discussions had been underway with MART well before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, when the project was first proposed, the TAC looked without success for parking locations.
“We talked about asking one of the churches if we could use their parking lot during the week,” said Stacia Donahue, a member of the Planning Board, which founded the TAC as a subcommittee. “We talked about Town Hall and trying to use the parking lot behind the post office, but we could never find a spot that was mutually agreeable to everyone.”
MART had originally required that parking be available for the shuttle van to be approved. But, because demand for public transportation has fallen since the pandemic, the requirement was dropped. Now, the TAC is hoping that people will either walk to the van stop or are able to get dropped off, so there won’t be a need for additional parking.
“Until we really know if there’s interest, it doesn’t make sense to [try] to find parking,” said Medjanis.
Additionally, at least one town official interviewed by the Press noted how difficult it has been to determine how much interest there is in this particular shuttle. Kara Minar, Select Board member and TAC liaison, said that since the TAC does not have the financial resources of a town committee, it has not been able to conduct a survey on the matter since 2017.
Donahue also spoke to that issue. The Planning Board, she said, conducted a survey on SurveyMonkey in 2017, which determined there was “significant interest” in having the commuter van. That data could be “out of date,” due to the pandemic, she said.
Still, Minar said it would be beneficial to get started on the project now because the costs would be minimal.
“It would actually cost the town nothing to add two round trips per day,” Donahue wrote the Press.
Minar also pointed out that a shuttle van could potentially reduce stress for residents, who struggle to find parking at the Littleton train station after dropping off their kids at school.
“If you make it easier, you’ll have an opportunity to help people,” she said.
Lastly, Donahue said that approving this shuttle van service would be beneficial for the climate action plan of the Climate Initiative Committee, which was approved by the town a few years ago.
The Select Board will vote in September on whether to approve MART’s offer. They’re urging people who are in favor of this service to attend and voice their interest.
If it does get approved, the TAC is advising a trial period of at least six months to test demand for the service.
