The number of Harvard residents who board the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority van for the trip to or from the commuter rail station in Littleton each week has remained in the single digits since the trial service began in November. The service is free, but it is drop and ride only. The Transportation Advisory Committee and the Planning Board are pursuing possible options for parking, but nothing has panned out yet.
Shuttle service began the first week of November, but riders proved elusive until Nov. 15 when one person made the trip from the Littleton station to Harvard. Since then, ridership has remained at about one or two people a day, except for a two-week period over the holidays when no one took the van in either direction. The shuttle picks up and drops off riders in two locations—the Harvard Senior Center at 16 Lancaster County Road and Town Hall.
MART CEO Bruno Fisher told the Press he is hoping more riders will start using the shuttle and he is working with the Transportation Advisory Committee to improve marketing and to identify possible park and ride locations in town. He said MART has only one other commuter rail shuttle, in Townsend, and it is a park and ride shuttle. Despite that, Townsend’s ridership is also low and he is working there as well to improve community outreach.
Committee Chair Gabe Medjanis said he was sure that more people would use the service if parking was available. Planning Board member Stacia Donahue said Director of Planning Frank O’Connor asked the leadership of the three churches in the center of town if they would be willing to allow a few cars to park in their lots during the week. Leaders at both the Congregational Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church said they had no spots to spare. As of press time, St. Theresa Catholic Church had not yet responded.
Donahue brought up the possibility of using some of the parking spots along the driveway between the fire station and Hildreth House for park and ride. The land use boards and the building inspector have moved into Hildreth House, but there are sufficient spots in the upper lots for those employees and their visitors. A few months ago, Town Administrator Tim Bragan said the spots between the fire station and Hildreth House needed to remain open for emergency parking for volunteer firefighters. Donahue said she believes that the town could spare five spots there and still have enough space for firefighter parking, and the Planning Board has asked O’Connor to make that request. Minar said that her understanding is that most firefighters drive directly to the scene, and parking is only needed at the station for the equipment drivers.
Other parking options mentioned at the meeting included the parking lots for the professional buildings in the Dunkin’ Donuts complex on Ayer Road, and the spots between Rollstone Bank and Sorrento’s Pizzeria at 285 Ayer Road. Member Beth Williams also said that Ross Associates at 12 Lancaster County Road, next to the Council on Aging building, had offered the COA spots in their lot for overflow parking during large events. The committee plans to follow up on those options.
Fisher said there is no time limit on the trial program, but MART generally reviews its pilot programs at the three-month and six-month intervals, and it will review Harvard’s shuttle program in February. He is hopeful that the improvements he is already working on with the committee will improve ridership.
