2026-07-23 - Public Service and Transportation Committee

0:00So,

0:01I'm going to say,

0:02thank you everyone. Oh, excuse me.

0:05>> [clears throat]

0:05>> Thank you everyone. Um, thank you for

0:07joining tonight for the uh July

0:10traffic uh public safety and uh

0:13transportation meeting. My name is

0:14Counselor Robert Bilotta. I'm joined by

0:16uh District 3 Counselor John Fredella.

0:18Uh District 4 Counselor uh Luis Ojeda

0:20will be joining us shortly.

0:22Um

0:23So, we'll just take I guess Claire a

0:25roll call to get started or

0:26>> Certainly.

0:27Uh through the chair, um

0:30Counselor Fredella?

0:32>> Here.

0:32>> Counselor Ojeda?

0:34And Chairperson Counselor Bilotta?

0:36>> Here.

0:37Great.

0:38Um

0:40So, Claire, would you just mind reading

0:41the first

0:43>> Of course. Pursuant to Chapter 20 of the

0:45Acts of 2021 and in order to ensure

0:47active public engagement, the City of

0:49Worcester currently allows for in-person

0:51and remote participation at all City

0:53Council and Standing Committee meetings.

0:55To partake in the meeting, you may

0:56attend the meeting in person, which this

0:58evening is taking place here at the

0:59Worcester Senior Center, or follow the

1:01link on the city's website to join via

1:03Zoom or dial the direct line. If you

1:05join a Zoom meeting by dialing in with a

1:06phone number, please raise your hand by

1:08dialing star nine. The Public Service

1:10and Transportation Committee Zoom phone

1:12number is 1 6 4 6 8 2 8 7 6 6 6 and the

1:18access code is 1 6 1 3 7 9 0 9 8 4.

1:24>> Thank you, Claire. I'll make a motion to

1:26approve the minutes.

1:29>> Counselor Fredella?

1:31>> Yes.

1:31>> Counselor Ojeda?

1:33And Chairperson Counselor Bilotta?

1:35>> Yes.

1:36We'll move ahead to item three under

1:38miscellaneous, item 3A.

1:41Report of the Committee on Public

1:43Service and Transportation upon the

1:44order of Counselor Sarai Rivera and

1:47Counselor Christian E. King, request

1:48Standing Committee on Public Service and

1:50Transportation meet with the WRTA

1:52Administrator to provide City Council

1:54with a report concerning the WRTA's

1:57winter weather plan, especially

1:58including information as to how snow

2:00will be removed at each of the bus

2:02stops. Um before we get that, I

2:04apologize I'm going a lot out of order.

2:06I just thought we could take some public

2:07comment first. So, if anyone's here to

2:09to comment on item 3A or item 3B, feel

2:12free uh to share your testimony.

2:25If we don't have any takers, that's all

2:26right, too.

2:27>> [laughter]

2:31>> Hopefully, if you you can just line up

2:33where it comes. Yeah, okay. We'll go.

2:35>> Okay.

2:37Um

2:38I

2:40I just want to speak because I have to

2:41leave early, actually. Um I'm in support

2:44of the proposal that Justin's going to

2:45be presenting. They've done a lot of

2:47research. They've done um community

2:49meetings. They've done surveys. They've

2:51They've been working on this for years.

2:53So, and I actually spoke to Justin in

2:55the beginning about the problems with

2:57the Worcester City buses. He had already

2:58done a proposal even before that, but

3:00didn't know what to do with it. So, um

3:02I've heard from a lot of people in the

3:04community about our buses not running on

3:05time, not running efficiently, not

3:07running early enough to match the train

3:09schedule, um not running late enough for

3:11the people that Even I personally took

3:13the train back after the Tall Ships the

3:14other day and had to get a ride home at

3:171:00 in the morning cuz the buses don't

3:19run as late as the last few trains run

3:21coming from Boston. So, that's just one

3:23of the issues, but even my son yesterday

3:24wanted to take the bus to go. I told him

3:26No, he wanted to take my car to go to

3:28the gym and I was already out to lunch

3:30and I'm like, "No, you can't take the

3:31car. Just take the bus." And he's like,

3:32"I would have had to leave 2 hours ago

3:34to take the bus to get to the gym cuz

3:35you have to always transfer downtown."

3:37So, anyway, I'm I support the the rapid

3:39transit that he's going to be presenting

3:40because I see all the problems that we

3:42have with the buses, having kids and

3:44being in the community, and trying to

3:45take the bus myself, and sometimes it

3:47not passing. Even my daughter tried to

3:48take it recently to go downtown, and the

3:50bus passed her even though she was at

3:51the bus stop and didn't pick her up. So,

3:53we have a lot of issues with the the the

3:55WRTA right now. So, I'm in support of

3:57what he's going to speak about.

3:58>> Thank you, Fiona.

3:59Um yeah, just to to go ahead. We're

4:01going to We're going to have uh folks

4:02from uh

4:04Tufts University and the Real Rapid uh

4:06Transit Coalition do a a brief

4:08presentation on item 3B. But, uh if

4:10anyone else would like to do public

4:11comment, feel free.

4:16>> [clears throat]

4:21>> Hello. My name is Benji Kemper. I am the

4:25community organizer at Your Access

4:28Advocates. Um we are an organization

4:31that promote independent living um

4:34through providing services to people

4:37with disabilities. Um one of our main

4:41goals is to create true on-demand

4:47um

4:48Too often in this in Wester,

4:52um

4:53people with disabilities are forced to

4:55live small, whether that be have having

4:59to not being able to go meet their

5:02friends um

5:04because they're um

5:07there's you because with paratransit,

5:10you have um which you can get if you um

5:14have a qualifying disability um and you

5:16can't use um

5:19uh the the bus service is that um

5:23is that you have to schedule a day in

5:25advance. So, if your friend hits you up

5:27and goes, "Hey, I want to go out for

5:29lunch." you can't go out for lunch.

5:31That's a That's a social determinant of

5:33health. The other thing is that um

5:36if you if you feel like you might have

5:39ha- have a problem with your back, you

5:42have to go to the ER

5:44in- instead of being able to go to an

5:47urgent clinic, which can cost a lot of

5:51money.

5:52Um the other thing um I I want to

5:55express my gratitude to all the

5:56counselors here for um all signing on in

6:00addition to all the whole council

6:02actually for signing on to um

6:05the sign-on letter asking um the WRTA to

6:10um have true on-demand. And this would

6:13be a premium service. So, it would be

6:16less than a taxi, less Well, you can't

6:19really get Ubers um uh if you if you

6:23wheelchair accessible

6:24Ubers, but if you're if you're blind,

6:26you could get a Uber like less than an

6:28Uber.

6:29Um

6:30uh and um

6:32but um limited rides less than a Uber

6:35and um

6:37um but it would allow you to have

6:39spontaneity and to live uh

6:43the great life Worcester has to offer.

6:46Thank you.

6:47>> Thank you.

6:48Thanks, Benji.

6:53>> [cough]

7:00>> Good evening, everyone. Uh my name is

7:03Will Talbott and I'm a Worcester

7:04resident in of District 5 and a member

7:07of the Strong Towns Worcester leadership

7:09team.

7:11Uh this evening, I am here to speak on

7:13item 3B

7:15and in favor of enhanced public

7:16transportation service in the city.

7:19I would like to thank the Real Rapid

7:20Transit Initiative team, including

7:23Professor Hollander and the Tufts

7:24University students, professors and

7:26students from other universities who

7:28worked on the initiative.

7:29Uh and I also want to thank uh

7:31Counselors Rosen, Bergman, and King for

7:34bringing up the item.

7:35And um Counselor Wally, I believe as

7:37well. And then the you all on the public

7:41service and transportation committee uh

7:43for scheduling and hearing uh scheduling

7:45this hearing and moving this important

7:47conversation forward.

7:49Uh

7:50although Worcester's current public

7:51transportation system has several

7:53strengths, including few free fares that

7:56reduce idling time and allow residents

7:58to benefit from transit connections

8:00regardless of their income,

8:03as well as uh strong connections to

8:05downtown from many different parts of

8:06the city, uh there are many aspects of

8:09the system which are in need of

8:10improvement uh for the city to meet its

8:12connectivity, equity, and environmental

8:15goals.

8:16Uh

8:16bus stops in many places

8:19um

8:19as a consideration

8:21um

8:22should be placed further apart um

8:25obviously after careful study which can

8:28considers community input as this can

8:30aid in increasing the frequency of

8:32buses.

8:33Um

8:35also

8:36continuing to improve um

8:40buses running on schedule is something

8:42that would be really great as well. Um

8:45dedicated bus lanes and transit signal

8:48transit signal priority uh should be

8:50established

8:52uh throughout the city uh for the same

8:54reason at first on high priority

8:56corridors.

8:57Um

8:58and lines also should be established

9:00instead of just between the hub and

9:03other uh destinations between uh

9:06multiple destinations outside the hub.

9:09Um

9:10to increase connections between places

9:12outside the hub.

9:14Um and as well as bus stops should

9:16include amenities including comfortable

9:18seating with shade, uh enhanced

9:21wayfinding signage uh to enhance the

9:24rider experience.

9:26Um all of these improvements to public

9:28transit service in the city will

9:30increase access to opportunity for

9:32people throughout the city so they can

9:34have a less stressful and more

9:36convenient

9:38um

9:38to work, to school, to recreational

9:41opportunities, either if they're a

9:43person who relies on bus service or, you

9:45know, has a car but would like to to use

9:47the bus if it had better service.

9:50And this would also allow the city to

9:53meet its environmental goals by

9:55increasing alternatives to single use

9:57single occupancy vehicles using

10:00internal combustion engines.

10:02In conclusion, I urge the public service

10:05and transportation committee

10:07and the full council to support the

10:09continuation of this conversation

10:12and support enhancements to public

10:14transit service in the city. And also I

10:16thank everyone for being here to

10:18continue this discussion this evening.

10:20Thanks everyone.

10:20>> Thanks Will.

10:27>> Hello, my name is Asa. I'm an organizer

10:29with the Zero Fair WRTA Coalition.

10:32Just wanted to come up here and thank

10:34you for holding these and trying to

10:36continue the conversation here. And also

10:39thank you all for being supportive of of

10:41fair free after last month celebrating

10:43another year of fair free continuing the

10:46longest standing fair free regional

10:47transit system in the country. And also

10:49seeing the governor's report showing

10:52huge benefit of fair free across the

10:53state. I'm really

10:55thankful that our city administration is

10:56supportive of it. And also supportive of

10:59the Your Advocates

11:01true on demand pilot proposal. I'm

11:05thankful for signing on to that. I just

11:07want to urge you know, that the the next

11:10WRTA board meeting is the the final

11:13meeting before the applications for that

11:15grant for that pilot pilot program open

11:17up in September.

11:18So we definitely need need a push there.

11:21And just another thing to sort of

11:23reiterate the need for that. The cooling

11:25centers where transit users were not

11:26able to access the the cooling centers

11:28because they had to schedule it schedule

11:31them 24 hours in advance. So just to

11:33show the need of why we need this.

11:35And again, we have one more meeting next

11:38month for the WRTA board meeting before

11:40the grants open in September. Thank you.

11:42>> Thank you. This is an excellent point.

11:46Um if you don't have anyone else, I

11:47think it would be great to I know we

11:48have some repres Okay, go ahead.

11:50>> it does appear that somebody is online.

11:52If you'd like me to

11:54go to online users at this time.

11:55>> Sure. Thank you, Claire.

11:56>> Great.

11:57Steve, it looks like you have your hand

11:59raised. Steve, I will unmute you now and

12:01allow you to speak.

12:02Steve, you are unmuted if you'd like to

12:04speak. If you could state your name,

12:05city of residence, and the item you're

12:06speaking on.

12:12>> It's Steve

12:13Steve Stolberg.

12:14>> Steve, if you can hear us?

12:16>> Okay. So, hi. I'm Nancy Da Colsie. I'm

12:19here with Steve Stolberg. And I'd like

12:21to speak on item 3B,

12:23uh specifically the True On Demand. And

12:26I'm hoping again that you will

12:28be in full support of that. I am a

12:29paratransit user with the WRTA. And at

12:33this point, we have kind of looking to

12:36create in the

12:38a daily use or let me say something that

12:40we don't have to book 24 hours in

12:43advance. As Benji had stated, there are

12:45many things that come up spontaneously

12:48that as a person with a disability we'd

12:50like to be a part of. And having True On

12:53Demand would certainly give us the

12:55inclusion that we're looking for.

12:57So, again, if you can um

13:00We've spoken to Josh Rickman and the

13:03Doug Belanger, also on the board, the

13:05advisory board. And again, any

13:07communication that you can keep going

13:09and supportive this movement will be

13:11greatly appreciated. Thank you.

13:16>> Um to the chair, at at this time it

13:18looks like

13:19there are no other users with their hand

13:21raised.

13:22>> Thank you, Claire.

13:23Yeah, thank you everyone for for joining

13:25in public participation. We can jump

13:28right into item 3A again, report of the

13:29committee on public service and

13:31transportation upon the order of Council

13:33Sarai Rivera and Council Crucian King

13:35requesting any committee on public

13:36service and transportation meet with the

13:38WRTA administrative provide city council

13:40with a report concerning the WRTA's

13:43winter weather plan especially including

13:44information as to how snow will be

13:46removed at each of the bus stops. Again,

13:48I think we have some representatives

13:49from WRTA here. Thank you for joining us

13:51tonight. I

13:52was hoping

13:54if any of my colleagues had any

13:55questions about the snow removal but I

13:57definitely just have a few questions

13:58myself if anyone would like to join

14:00and we can go from there.

14:03Thank you guys.

14:08I think it would be helpful if you were

14:09just to provide like an overview of the

14:11WRTA's snow removal program.

14:17>> My name is Tom Quinn. I'm the deputy

14:18administrator and chief financial

14:20officer for the WRTA.

14:21>> And I'm Nick Burnham, the director of

14:23operations and planning for the WRTA.

14:26So regarding snow plan for FY 27,

14:30currently we committed to the city

14:34to remove all snow from the 27 bus

14:37shelters that WRTA owns and this was

14:40memorialized in a master license

14:42agreement that we've negotiated with the

14:44city over the past couple years.

14:46So right now it's 26 shelters. I think

14:48the 27th was installed today.

14:50And any any future shelters will also be

14:52part of that group of of shelters that

14:54we will we are committed to removing

14:56snow from. Regarding bus stops,

14:59historically

15:00we have just a few bus stops, 18 I

15:03believe is the number in the central

15:04business district in downtown Worcester

15:07that we have committed to

15:09removing snow from.

15:11As you may know, we have well over a

15:12thousand bus stops within the city of

15:15Worcester. Outside of the city of

15:17Worcester, it's all flag stop system. So

15:20that is currently what we're committed

15:21to doing.

15:23We don't have any future plans to expand

15:25that list of 18 bus stops.

15:28So, that's kind of where we're at right

15:29now.

15:31If there's right now the the the policy

15:33with our contractor and this is an

15:36annual contract that we go out and

15:39procure is that if there is any more

15:41than 4 in of snow, they'll go out there

15:43automatically. They're not going to wait

15:45for us to to give them notification to

15:47go out. They typically wait until after

15:50the city of Worcester does their full

15:52pushback because there's no we don't

15:54want them to go out there before the

15:55city of Worcester is done and

15:58and have to go back out there again. And

15:59again, we're committed to doing the

16:00shelters from the shelter to the to the

16:03street. So, making sure there's enough

16:04room for any kind of mobility devices to

16:07get onto a bus

16:08through a snow bank.

16:09>> Okay.

16:11>> So, that's kind of where we're at. Nick,

16:12did I miss anything?

16:13>> Nope.

16:14That's great.

16:16That definitely answered the three of

16:17the questions. I know I had submitted

16:18them earlier to to Mr. Rickman. So,

16:21appreciate, you know, that the VRTA is

16:24is doing a little bit more downtown. You

16:25said 18 bus stops downtown?

16:27>> We've been doing that for a long We've

16:28been doing that for

16:30I'm going to say close to 20 years.

16:32Yeah.

16:33>> That's great to know. And

16:35the 27 bus shelters, do you happen to

16:37know like a breakdown on which lines

16:39those are on or is that If not, that's

16:41okay.

16:41>> Uh pretty much the majority of them

16:43within the city of Worcester. We

16:44actually do have a page on our website

16:47that is dedicated to kind of our snow

16:49removal

16:51snow routes and things of that nature.

16:53And I believe there is a map there that

16:55shows which shelters and which bus stops

16:57because that is something we do include

16:59as Thomas said we do an annual

17:01procurement for snow removal and that's

17:03basically we give, you know, prospective

17:05vendors that link so they could see and

17:07kind of map it out on their own.

17:09But, it's primarily most of the routes

17:12within the city of Worcester.

17:14>> Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah, those are

17:16all the questions I had. I don't know if

17:17any of my colleagues have questions, but

17:19if not, it's okay.

17:29>> Um, thank you for coming. Appreciate it.

17:31Um, just a question. When you say uh,

17:33snow removal,

17:35um,

17:36can you just give us a breakdown on like

17:38what's the width? And if you say,

17:41um, around the the location, does that

17:44mean sidewalk sidewalk? Like the end of

17:46the street to the to the other end of

17:47the street on the sidewalk? Like Just

17:49getting an idea of exactly what's going

17:50on.

17:51>> recall the exact specifications, but it

17:53was something to the effect of enough

17:54for a wheelchair to get around the um,

17:57the shelter and right to the curb. So,

18:00it wouldn't be any more than I'm going

18:02to guess probably 36 maybe 48 in on each

18:05side back in the front and then we're

18:06making sure there's a clear path to the

18:08to the street.

18:10So, they can board a bus.

18:11>> All right, thank you. I know this year,

18:13um, obviously we dealt with a lot of

18:14snow. There were some some issues at

18:16some locations. So, who do we contact?

18:19Um, as a counselor counselors, I know we

18:21receive tons of phone calls about some

18:23of the bus stops not just shoveled out.

18:24So, is there a point person to contact?

18:26Is it one of you guys? Just so we know

18:28on our end.

18:30>> So, if it's one of the bus stops that

18:31we've committed or one of the bus

18:32shelters that we're committed, you can

18:34call the WRTA. You can call either um,

18:36administrator Rick Manning um, or

18:38there's probably a um,

18:40there is a customer service customer

18:41service line.

18:42Um, and we'll and we'll respond to that.

18:44Um, so, yeah, for any of the ones that

18:46we're committed to, absolutely reach

18:47out.

18:49>> All right, thank you.

18:52Well, thank you thank you both for

18:53coming down. Um,

18:55I think it kind of concludes this item.

18:57It's been on the agenda for a while, so

18:58we just wanted to do some housekeeping

18:59and have a better understanding of what

19:01the snow removal process is. So, thank

19:02you. Any questions? Okay, thank you.

19:05Yeah, thank you all for coming out.

19:06Really appreciate it.

19:07>> All right. Did you want us to stick

19:09around for B or

19:10>> Oh, sure. Yeah, of course.

19:12>> All right, so you want to what are our

19:13order of operations?

19:14>> [laughter]

19:14>> Yeah, no problem. Yeah, yeah. So, I

19:16think what we'll do next is we did have

19:18a presentation from uh

19:21uh Professor Justin Holander from Tufts

19:23and the Rail Rapid Transit Coalition

19:25regarding uh improving WRTA as item uh

19:29as part of item 3B. So, uh thank you for

19:32joining us and

19:40Yes, thank you Professor uh Holander and

19:42thank you for the folks from Tufts for

19:43joining us tonight. Uh we did print out

19:46brief uh this brief presentation you

19:47have about Rail Rapid Transit for uh

19:50Worcester and we appreciate your your

19:52effort on this and bringing this to our

19:54uh committee. So, thank you.

19:57>> Great. Well, thank you so much for

19:58having us. Um so, yeah, so my name is

20:00Justin Holander and I I teach urban

20:02planning at at Tufts University and I

20:04brought with me um some students who uh

20:07do research with me. Um Sascha I think

20:10Edity, uh Natalie Ollick, Emmanuel Bang.

20:13And so, um

20:14I'm going to hopefully be less than 10

20:16minutes and then the hope is if there's

20:17questions that maybe they might be able

20:19to help answer because um they they've

20:21really done a lot in in this project.

20:23But yeah, so for the last several years

20:25uh our team has been interested in how

20:29um you know, trying to bring like a

20:30bigger perspective um

20:32outside perspective to the city which is

20:34like how can Worcester do a better job

20:36of helping people get around? Um and you

20:39know, relative to other cities of its

20:41size, uh Worcester does not really do a

20:44good job with providing um uh other

20:47options besides cars. And I think

20:49everybody knows that there's a lot of

20:51traffic um and there are a lot of uh

20:54accidents. There's pedestrian

20:55fatalities. These are all problems that

20:57are associated with so many people

20:59driving all the time. Um and so, we can

21:02do better um here in Worcester and and

21:04that's part of what motivates me and my

21:06students, and we've also um built some

21:09community partnerships.

21:11We've been kind of out there riding the

21:13bus, talking to people.

21:15We've done a couple of big events. We We

21:17did this something at the Robert H.

21:18Goddard Museum about a year and a half

21:20ago partnering with Worcester State

21:22University. And then we did something

21:23else at the Worcester Public Library

21:25back in the end of last year.

21:27Just kind of listening to people, trying

21:29to hear what's going on. What are their

21:30thoughts? How can Worcester really make

21:33a big

21:34improvement in in in public transit.

21:37And so Let's go to the next slide.

21:40Um

21:42We really appreciate all the hard work

21:43that the WRTA does. And thank you

21:45especially, you know, Nick has been

21:46great in helping us get data. We met

21:49with

21:50the leadership there.

21:52But they're a regional transit agency.

21:55They cover the whole region. So, what

21:56about within the city of Worcester, the

21:58second largest city in all of New

22:00England? What's going on here? Not much.

22:03Less than 5% of Worcester residents

22:05commute by bus. And in a in a city as

22:09dynamic as as really amazing as the

22:11city,

22:13why is that the case? There's There's

22:15something like wrong here. And I think

22:17there's some people who thought it was

22:18because of the cost. And fair free did

22:21show We did see some

22:22increase in ridership. But only to a

22:25certain you know, it's still It's still

22:27very low. So, we go to the next slide.

22:30Um so, the answer is not It's not rocket

22:31science.

22:33The reason that people don't commute

22:35take the bus is because it doesn't come

22:37frequently enough. It's not a reliable

22:39This is what Fiona was sharing her own

22:41personal stories.

22:43It's It just doesn't come often enough.

22:45And so, it It's not a reliable way for

22:47people within the city of Worcester to

22:49get from from point A to point B. And

22:52you know, just some statistics I have up

22:53here. Only four out of the 26 WRTA

22:57routes

22:59run every half hour or more. So, so you

23:01know, these are not um places It's not

23:04like a system that's attractive to um

23:07to visitors, uh to people who um

23:10you know, want to be able to get around

23:11the city, maybe go out to dinner with

23:13their friends, or um or a tourist or

23:16something. It's It's not attractive to

23:18anyone um unless you have to. And that's

23:21the point, that 16% of Worcester

23:22households um don't have access to a

23:25car. And so, for those people, the WRTA

23:28um you know, with it or without it, it

23:30it gets it gets people around. But, my I

23:33think our point in this uh initiative is

23:36is that the city could do better. That a

23:38a nice, healthy investment could really

23:41make the system more attractive to

23:42outsiders, can bring in tourism to the

23:44city, can encourage economic

23:46development, can really turn things

23:47around. And in the in the meantime,

23:49those 16% of people will they'll also be

23:52better off because that system will be

23:54better for them. Can you go to the next

23:55slide?

23:57Um so, yeah, so, the city knows this. Um

23:59I appreciate um the work that Stephen

24:01and his team does. Um

24:03and the surveys are in. Um frequency is

24:07is is the biggest barrier. That's why

24:08people aren't riding the bus. Can you go

24:10to the next slide?

24:11And um

24:12and the thing is, we've also looked at

24:14vehicle data. We were able to access the

24:15data that showed where are cars driving.

24:18And the the reality is that they're

24:20basically driving the same place the bus

24:21goes. So, you could see that's the uh um

24:25the green are the car is the car

24:27traffic, and the purple [snorts] is the

24:29bus traffic. And so, so, we can replace

24:33the these car trips by bus trips. We can

24:36get people out of their cars and

24:39encourage them to take the bus if the

24:42buses are more frequent. And that's

24:44going to be less traffic, and that's

24:45going to be less accidents. This is a

24:46safer city. Can you go to the next

24:48slide?

24:50So, this is a a diagram that my very

24:53gifted graphic design student created as

24:56a way to try to tell the story visually

24:59because again, WRTA regional, right? So,

25:02but what about just in the city of

25:03Worcester? Well, if you look at the

25:05those

25:06high frequency corridors, what the WRTA

25:09calls their trunk lines, the orange and

25:11the green,

25:13this is a terrific way to get around the

25:15city.

25:16These buses come roughly every 15

25:18minutes.

25:20Now, that's not really well

25:21communicated.

25:23Outside people don't know that someone

25:25who's looking he gets a new job in

25:26Worcester, is going to move here, they

25:27don't know that. That's not like an

25:29obvious thing that's like imprinted on

25:30people's mind. But, it is true for the

25:33orange and the and the green. The blue

25:36um in the the district three corridor,

25:38that it's not quite there. It's on its

25:40way. So, those buses come pretty often,

25:42but you know, some additional buses

25:45could really make a big difference to

25:46make that and that make that whole those

25:49three like a solid way. And the fact is

25:52that is a lot of people in Worcester. We

25:54looked at that same car data, 11% of all

25:58car trips that start and Worcester

26:01are along that those that corridor,

26:03those three routes. So, basically anyone

26:05trying to go from like say Clark

26:07University down to like that Perkins

26:09Farms area,

26:11they they could they could take this bus

26:13and and it could be faster. It could be

26:15faster than driving. And they don't have

26:17to pay they don't have to deal with

26:17parking near Clark. So, um just one more

26:21I think one more slide.

26:23Um yeah, we wanted to just show these

26:25diagrams. I know it's a little small, um

26:27but

26:28the one of the problems is frequency of

26:30buses. There's there's sometimes

26:31especially on that blue corridor, there

26:33aren't enough buses. But, the other

26:34problem is the bunching that the the

26:37these are these diagrams are kind of

26:38showing over the course of a day all the

26:40different routes and you can see that

26:42yes, sometimes you you go out there to

26:43wait for a bus and five minutes later

26:45there's another bus.

26:46But, then it could be 45 minutes or

26:48more. So, you go to the next slide and

26:51what we what my student Manuel did is he

26:53showed what what if you just spread them

26:54out a little bit more. Now, I know the

26:56WRTA has a lot of different

26:58considerations with with scheduling

26:59these buses, and

27:01and we're not we're not saying that it's

27:02an easy fix, but part of the solution,

27:05we think, is that

27:06is that paying attention to these

27:08priority corridors, get those buses

27:10coming really frequently on those

27:11corridors, and you're going to send this

27:13message to people that if you need to

27:14get anywhere along those high-frequency

27:17corridors, you're going to get there

27:18faster and and more easily by bus.

27:22Um is there another slide?

27:24Yeah. And so, what we looked at some

27:26pretty compelling numbers that um

27:29if you could get that blue corridor,

27:31which right now is on average about 27

27:33minutes, you can get that closer to that

27:3415 minutes or less,

27:36um you could in a typical year take

27:40reduce the number of car trips by

27:42200,000.

27:44So, think about all those cars. That's

27:46the next slide, thank you. Um all those

27:48cars that are passing by, 200,000 fewer

27:51of them of them would be off the off the

27:54city's roads if if um

27:56you can make those that service more

27:57regular. And we think that makes a big

27:59difference for traffic congestion, for

28:01economic development, make the city more

28:02attractive, reduces air pollution, and

28:05it makes it safer.

28:07So, I think that's uh just my last

28:08thing, just some recommendations. You

28:10know, just focus on the blue corridor,

28:12and and don't be satisfied with those

28:13three. I mean, we did this nice little

28:15diagram with the three. What about four?

28:17What about five? You know,

28:18the whole city could be covered in these

28:20high-frequency corridors. City of

28:22Austin's been doing it, they call it the

28:23Better Bus Project, and slowly but

28:26steadily they're they're adding more and

28:27more of those. Um but I think public

28:29messaging is a big part of it, letting

28:31people understand that there are these

28:33routes that can get them around. Um and

28:35that's and that's uh the idea to kind of

28:38like celebrate that. One final slide, a

28:41thank you slide.

28:42Um and that and that diagram. But, thank

28:44you for your time, and and we're all

28:45happy to answer any questions you guys

28:47have.

28:48>> Sure, thank you very much.

28:53So, one of the one of the first

28:54questions I had was which do you do you

28:57have to know

28:58the

28:59of the four routes that are right that

29:02do offer more than every half hour which

29:05routes those are?

29:06>> I don't have that information

29:08I don't have that off the top of

29:10>> Yeah, definitely

29:12>> [clears throat]

29:12>> up to Lincoln Street.

29:15>> That's okay, no worries. Just curious.

29:17Sorry.

29:20>> I think that might be in our report

29:21though.

29:22>> I might be able to get those numbers

29:24>> Okay, no worries.

29:27>> Oh yeah, happy to go over that

29:29with you and other counselors at the

29:34Okay.

29:40>> Okay.

29:41Thank you for that presentation. Very

29:43good.

29:45I want to tell you that when I was a

29:46young kid

29:48we ran we rode the bus all the time.

29:52And I grew up just down the street from

29:55And the one province, the number one

29:57province it was called at the time, ran

29:59every half hour.

30:01So, you knew every half hour

30:03there was a bus.

30:05And we would go down as kids

30:08because we had a shopping mall in town.

30:11The center of it was then called the

30:12Galleria.

30:13At that time the Galleria was great.

30:16People went there.

30:18Unfortunately, it didn't last that long,

30:20but it lasted a while, but we went

30:22there, we enjoyed the Galleria, and we

30:23also went downtown

30:25because there were bowling alleys

30:26downtown. We went to the bowling alley.

30:29And then when the bowling alleys closed

30:31we took a transfer and we went to

30:33Colonial Bowl on Mill Street.

30:36We knew

30:37that the bus would take us there.

30:40And it was reliable.

30:44Now, flash back here back to the current

30:46days,

30:49I would have my car worked on right down

30:51the street

30:52here

30:53near Crompton Park.

30:56You you bring your car, it's going to be

30:58there all day. I don't have a ride back.

31:00My kids are working. They have they have

31:02their own lives.

31:04And

31:05I would love to take the bus back, but I

31:08don't know what the bus

31:10>> [laughter]

31:10>> what time it comes, where it is. Now,

31:13and I'm active and I'm involved. Now,

31:16granted, I ran for office, but

31:18for the 13 years prior that I was out of

31:21office,

31:22I was active in my community. I should

31:24know when a bus runs.

31:26And I don't.

31:28And

31:30now you get a ride home from that

31:32particular instant instance,

31:34>> [clears throat]

31:35>> and now you need a ride back

31:37to pick it up.

31:39And the five Wheelock, or whatever it's

31:42called now, that takes you to

31:43Massachusetts Road and takes you to

31:45Broadmeadow Brook.

31:47Is it Is it bus stop right at the top of

31:50where I where you know, of Massachusetts

31:52Road, where my where a street that I

31:55would take to get to my home, Missco

31:57Road. Is a bus stop right there, but I

31:59don't know when the bus gets there.

32:01And I'm involved and I don't know. I

32:03have to honestly state my ignorance. I

32:06don't know. And I would love to be able

32:08to go up there

32:10and I've I've thought about it, saying,

32:12"How am I going to get my car instead of

32:13walking 2 and 1/2 miles?" Which

32:16I love to walk, but sometimes it's

32:18raining,

32:19it's too hot,

32:20you know, hot and humid, 100°, you don't

32:22want to walk.

32:24And I would definitely do that, but I

32:27don't know

32:28when the bus runs. No.

32:30Uh

32:31I guess I could Google it and find the a

32:34number of customer service line and find

32:36out, but

32:37you know,

32:39I don't.

32:40And

32:41I hear you loud and clear. That is a

32:44main reason why I believe people People

32:46should be out there

32:48using the buses. I see the bus come now

32:51and then

32:53uh when I'm driving in in my

32:55neighborhood, and there's no one on it.

32:57There's no one on it.

32:59And I'm not talking negatively because I

33:01think the ITA does a great job, but

33:04you're right. We have to educate, and we

33:06have to

33:09somehow drill home to people that we

33:11have buses. They do take you all all the

33:14way out to

33:15close to Route 20, close to the Millbury

33:17line,

33:18but no one takes it. And I see it go

33:20into

33:22the Broad Meadowbrook

33:24uh sanctuary,

33:25and it

33:26goes there, stops there. I don't see

33:28anybody on it to get off or get on

33:30there.

33:30So,

33:32I don't know what the answer I'm just

33:34telling you first hand.

33:36I used to take the buses as a kid. I

33:38don't see any kids at bus stops

33:40taking the bus to go anywhere. And I

33:43think I think they should. Now, it's a

33:44different world. We were young kids. We

33:46were We were 10, 11, 12 years old taking

33:50the bus. I know today parents wouldn't

33:52let their kids 10, 11, 12 years old go

33:54out on their own

33:56for anything. So, I get it. I'm not

33:58trying to be pie in the sky, but I give

34:00you that synopsis because I agree with

34:04so much of your presentation. But how do

34:06we change that? I don't know. And maybe

34:08maybe

34:10you students have thoughts. I don't

34:12know, but I'd like to hear it.

34:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

34:18>> Oh, he has the answer to the earlier

34:20question.

34:20>> Yes, the question about which routes we

34:23were talking about. For the Orange

34:25Corridor, it's routes 19, 27, and 33.

34:28For the Blue Corridor, it's routes 5 and

34:3112. and for the green corridor, it's

34:34routes 23 and 26.

34:47Um 19, 27 and 33 for orange. Um for

34:52blue, 5 and 12 and for green, 23 and 26.

35:02>> Number five, so what what where does

35:04that What does that There's always a

35:07title on you know on

35:09a route name. Is it Grafton five is

35:11what? What does it take you to? I know

35:13it takes you to Mass Ave Road, but when

35:15someone looks at what it says on it,

35:17what what would it say? Do you know?

35:21Perkins Farm?

35:22And what does 12 do? Where does that

35:24take you?

35:29North High?

35:32>> I think um a lot of the focus of

35:35of um what what we particularly think

35:38would benefit from improvement is that

35:40area All of that blue area is where the

35:43two routes overlap and they share pretty

35:45much every stop but every major stop

35:48they share and that's for all of the

35:49corridors. It's where each of the routes

35:51I mentioned for a corridor, they share

35:53almost every stop.

35:55>> Okay, when you say share, I never see a

35:57number 12 come to Mass Ave Road, only

36:00five.

36:01So, what do you mean by share?

36:03>> It's on Grafton Street. It's on Grafton

36:05Street.

36:06>> Oh, okay, yeah, but he says they share

36:07every every stop. Okay, you don't share

36:10every stop. Okay, no problem. I'm just I

36:12was just curious. Thank you.

36:15>> But I think also to answer your question

36:16about what what can you do? I mean so

36:18it's about um the city of Worcester

36:20taking a stand with the WRTA and say

36:22listen, you are a regional transit

36:24agency, but we are we can we can matter

36:27and that like it's not enough for you

36:29just to you know, send those buses out

36:31to out to Pakistan and hold them. Like

36:33you need to focus on these

36:34high-frequency corridors, and and demand

36:38additional service. And then once they

36:40do it, be able to communicate to the

36:42public this kind of a diagram, and to

36:44tell tell those kids get get it out to

36:46the schools. So the kids know if you if

36:49you are trying to get anywhere on these

36:51any of these corridors, it's not going

36:53to be more than 15 or 20-minute wait.

36:55That's how you knew it as a kid. So I

36:56think that's the answer.

36:58>> Okay. So thank you guys.

37:00One question additional question I had

37:01was the I've noticed like a lack of a

37:03route going west. Sorry.

37:06Can you elaborate on that or

37:08>> No, it it there are lots

37:09>> Or excuse I know there are lines, but

37:11>> Yeah, it's really just um

37:13They're none of them are that frequent.

37:15>> Okay.

37:15>> And so what we wanted to try to do is

37:18was tell a story about where right now

37:22people can get around the city pretty

37:24quickly. And I think that would be the

37:27next step, which would be the for

37:29working with the WRTA and the city to to

37:31really identify maybe additional

37:33corridors where those kinds of maybe

37:36additional service or more frequent,

37:38less bunching could happen. And then you

37:40could have a fourth line. You could have

37:42a purple line. You could have a yellow

37:43line. And

37:44and then all of a sudden you can cover

37:46right now this covers about 11% of of

37:50vehicle trips. Why not get to 50? Why

37:52can't most people be able to get

37:55anywhere in the city, you know, in a

37:57reliable way? It's

37:59it's not it's not impossible.

38:01>> Yeah.

38:02Great. Well, thank you for I appreciate

38:03the information.

38:04Um

38:07That was the only other follow-up

38:08question. I think this is a great

38:09presentation. I think it really shows

38:11where we have an opportunity to to to

38:13really uh

38:15improve, build upon with the frequency

38:17that's already there. And I know that

38:19can often serve as like a great

38:21jumping-off point and and build on that

38:23success and then maybe be able to prove

38:25that it works and carry that over to

38:27additional routes.

38:28Um, but I I think this is great and and

38:30I know the CRE CRTP survey is going to

38:33be very helpful for for guiding this

38:35work and also the paratransit work.

38:37Um, so I really appreciate your uh you

38:39know effort and and research on this

38:42because

38:43um

38:43data is so important to back up

38:45decisions data and narratives. So uh

38:47really appreciate this and I think it

38:50be great if um we could do more

38:52education for the public. I know WRTA

38:54tries to get the word out as much as

38:55they can but it is harder now like

38:56Frizell said Councillor Frizell said

38:58there's there are less people using the

38:59bus and less young adults using the bus

39:01but I know um living off of Hamilton

39:03Street seeing all the kids at North High

39:05there's always a lot of you know young

39:07high school students that are using the

39:09bus which is great and um I know

39:11Councillor Heda can attest to that as

39:12well. Um and hopefully we can do more

39:14with maybe engaging with Worcester

39:16public

39:17um but I I think that would be a great

39:18option but um

39:21Do you have any other questions?

39:23>> Thank you Jenny.

39:24Um just I have several questions. Um

39:28I guess what I'll just jump on the the

39:29Worcester public schools. Um

39:31>> [clears throat]

39:32>> I know that there are several students

39:34who have to take two buses and at times

39:37because it is two buses they either have

39:39to leave the house like maybe an hour

39:40and a half even earlier. And I don't

39:43think there's any teenager in the city

39:45that would want to wake up an hour and a

39:46half earlier

39:48to get to school or work or whatever it

39:50may be.

39:51Um

39:52so I think it's just identifying that

39:53with the Worcester public schools and

39:54getting a better idea of

39:56um

39:58one you know what is that percentage of

40:01students? Where are they coming from?

40:03And then um

40:05I guess my question to the chair to you

40:06guys is um

40:08and probably WRTA or Raleigh you guys

40:10can help me out. Um are there routes

40:13that are

40:14um or will there be routes specific to

40:16making sure that they're either near the

40:18schools, focused around the schools, or

40:20drop-offs like in front of the schools.

40:24>> Yeah, I mean so there are definitely

40:26some some public schools along the these

40:29corridors that we identified. So, um

40:32you know, that that's

40:34But it's a very limited number.

40:36Um so, I mean that the WRTA does not

40:39like focus on on providing that kind of,

40:42you know, full comprehensive coverage.

40:44So, but that could be part of like

40:46future planning if you if

40:48if the city wanted to support additional

40:50corridors that that could really do more

40:52of those connections, I think that would

40:54really help.

40:55>> Yeah, I think um I think it's important.

40:57I think um you know, one of the ways

40:59obviously to get people on board, um

41:01especially with the youth, um it it

41:03it'll get them where they need to be.

41:05Um parents are working.

41:07And it's a fast way to to I just had a

41:09phone call today. My child goes to your

41:11school and one kid gets out at a certain

41:13time, the other kid is are they going to

41:15be able to get out of school, pick up

41:16their little brother or sister, and get

41:18home. That's a bus route we have to

41:19figure out um and things like that. Um

41:23but I think obviously

41:25adding new routes and stuff like that, I

41:27guess this will go to you uh Raleigh,

41:28Commissioner Raleigh. Um

41:32We

41:33I think we I don't want to say we have

41:34issues with our traffic lights, but I

41:35know our traffic lights are pretty

41:37outdated. Um

41:39we were talking about traffic and things

41:41like that. So, if we add more routes,

41:43um more buses on the road, not to say

41:45there'll be more traffic, but the lights

41:47obviously play um a part in this as

41:49well. And then obviously we have to

41:51increase the signage of

41:54bus stops or even on the on on the road

41:56on the ground um with paint markers and

41:59things like that. So,

42:00is that something that we've been

42:01thinking about? Where do we stand with

42:03that?

42:04Sorry, I'm going to block.

42:07Is this on?

42:09Can't tell if it's on.

42:10>> Uh

42:11thank you. Through the chair. Um,

42:13so the city has been thinking about this

42:15and it's one of the one of the core

42:17topic areas of our mobility action plan

42:20that we really released last year was

42:22looking at public transportation, how

42:23that can play a larger role, and what

42:26that requires from the city. So,

42:28you know, I think there's a few

42:29different things here. The first is that

42:33what are the things that are clearly the

42:34city's responsibility that we can do to

42:36support better transit service in the

42:38city. So, that's things like making sure

42:40we have a walkable community because if

42:43you're taking the bus, your trip is

42:45going to begin and end most likely with

42:47a walking trip somewhere to get to your

42:49your final destination you're going to.

42:52Um, making a more bikeable city which

42:53extends the reach you can reasonably use

42:56transit service for. You know, if you

42:57put your bus on the or your bike on the

42:59front of the bus,

43:01doesn't matter if the bus stops a

43:04quarter mile away, half mile away,

43:05that's really easy to finish on your

43:07bike. Um, in terms of the bus operations

43:10themselves,

43:13uh, you mentioned the traffic signal.

43:14So, one of the one of the things that we

43:16have to contend with is that right now,

43:19and this is one of the things that, you

43:21know, these students and and Professor

43:23Hollander have been looking at is right

43:25now that that service is in traffic with

43:28everyone else. So, the same congestion

43:30that you're facing with your car, the

43:31bus is is facing.

43:33Um, which is a disadvantage to it

43:35because it also has to stop at all of

43:37the stops along the way. So, then their

43:39their travel time gets

43:41slower than the competition, if you want

43:43to call it that, the the vehicle. Um,

43:46so, what can we do to speed that up?

43:48You know, when you get to a point where

43:49you have a really well-developed and

43:51large transit system, then you can start

43:53thinking about things like dedicating

43:55lanes and dedicating right-of-way to it.

43:57Um, but you have to be at a point where

43:58you're providing enough service for that

44:00to make sense, right? You're really

44:02looking at 15, 20 buses an hour minimum

44:05on a corridor when you start thinking

44:07about dedicating that type of space. And

44:09one of the challenges we have in New

44:11England in particular is we don't have a

44:13lot of space to dedicate. So, it's often

44:15times

44:16difficult to carve out space to dedicate

44:19only for bus service.

44:21Um but that's not the only thing you can

44:22do and you know, I think the way we're

44:24looking at this is a more incremental

44:26approach, which is how can we work with

44:28our traffic signal systems on these

44:30major corridors and actually two of the

44:33three and I guess even three

44:35[clears throat] of the three thinking

44:36longer term are ones that we have been

44:37focusing on um partnering with WRTA and

44:41thinking about something called transit

44:42signal priority.

44:44So, what that is is

44:46an additional set of instructions to the

44:48traffic signals uh and communication

44:51between the buses themselves and the

44:53traffic signals so that traffic [snorts]

44:55signal knows when there's a bus

44:57approaching.

44:59And it's not you know, I want to make

45:01sure people understand it's not like

45:02signal preemption that you see if an

45:04ambulance or police cars coming by and

45:06you see the little strobe light flash

45:08and

45:09everyone gets a red and the ambulance

45:11gets a green. Uh it's not that because

45:14that is super disruptive. So, you really

45:16reserve that for things like

45:18you know, public or emergency

45:20responders. This is a more subtle

45:22technology and what it will do is it'll

45:25say if I know there's a bus that's

45:27within striking distance, well, I've got

45:29a green light going. I'm going to keep

45:31that light green a little bit longer to

45:33give that bus a chance to get through

45:34the intersection and not get held up.

45:37Um

45:38so, it's it's those kinds of of

45:40technologies. Um

45:43we have we've been talking to MassDOT

45:45and WRTA about potential pilot for that

45:49type of technology on Lincoln Street and

45:51that's one of the corridors that's

45:52highlighted here

45:53because it does have

45:55you know, in aggregate when you think

45:56about all the routes that are using it,

45:58has fairly frequent service.

46:00Um Grafton Street is another one that

46:02had been considered uh over time.

46:04Frankly, we have some challenges with

46:05the traffic signals there we're trying

46:06to figure out first. Um, so I think like

46:09Lincoln Street does make sense. Um, and

46:12then the third corridor shown here, Main

46:14Street, that's a corridor that has a lot

46:15of transit ridership right now and the

46:17potential I think to to grow more.

46:19We do have older traffic signal

46:22equipment there. So, I think as we think

46:23about um, improving that street and you

46:26know, counselors, you you're well aware

46:28we have we started talking about

46:30improvements to the streetscape and and

46:33uh resurfacing the street and those

46:34kinds of things, we need to think about

46:36also

46:37uh upgrading the traffic control systems

46:39along the way so that we can incorporate

46:41these sorts of technologies there.

46:44>> All right. Um, and and

46:49Sorry. And lastly, uh through the chair,

46:51uh yeah, I think it's important to to

46:53find either ways to

46:55incorporate with the public schools, um

46:57work with the students, [clears throat]

46:58or just work with their with their

46:59personnel to understand um how do we get

47:02this information out? Um, it's

47:04important. It was funny today,

47:06um

47:07one of my workers from my summer

47:08program,

47:09both of them, one kid said, um,

47:12"How am I going to get to Main Street

47:13from here?"

47:14And I said, "Well, and we were on uh

47:17Holly Street, Piedmont Street." And he

47:19took his phone and was like, "I'll tell

47:20you." And he told me probably you should

47:22catch it on on Chandler's I'm sorry, on

47:24Park Ave.

47:25Take it all the way up and as far as you

47:26can go and then get out and walk. Um,

47:28and he just pulled it out and so so

47:30there are kids that know that and that's

47:31pretty good. Um,

47:32but again, sharing that out um as much

47:35as possible is I I think it's important,

47:37especially you know, there are a lot of

47:38kids at certain ages they're going to

47:39start working. And as soon as they get

47:41out of school they would need to get to

47:42work. And if we can get that information

47:44out, um it's so important. So, I

47:47appreciate that. Thank you.

47:52>> Okay. I don't

47:54>> [clears throat]

47:54>> I don't know if Uh, someone here can can

47:56answer this question.

47:58Uh,

47:58the number five, I'm just using that as

48:00an example. Uh, where I live and and I'm

48:04bringing this up because, you know,

48:05we're on

48:06public access or uh, the government

48:08channel and people watching this,

48:11maybe this is a way to educate people

48:13that live in that area. How far That's

48:15that's the last stop, you know, of that

48:17route. Now, after that,

48:20uh,

48:21nobody uh,

48:22Broadmeadow Brook Sanctuary, they go

48:24back to the hub.

48:26Um, how how often does that

48:29route number five go out that way? And

48:32not just on

48:34you know, the District 3 route, the

48:36other two routes, the green and the and

48:39the Is it orange? Um,

48:42they're farthest point out. How far How

48:44often does that bus

48:46go out that far? Is it once an hour? Is

48:49it

48:50>> Well, this guy is

48:51>> Cuz I know it's a

48:52>> Well, if you're talking about I can I

48:53can answer that.

48:54>> No, that's good. Thank

48:56>> Guys, correct me if I'm wrong.

48:58>> It it looks like it's uh, during the

49:00peaks it's about 45-minute frequency.

49:03And uh,

49:06looks like it maintains that throughout

49:08the day pretty much. Yeah.

49:09>> Basically 40 every 45 minutes. So, it

49:11starts at 4:48 a.m. and ends uh, just

49:14after 8:00 p.m.

49:16>> Okay.

49:17>> route the route five

49:18>> I I don't know if you have a microphone,

49:20but uh, the route five you talked about,

49:22so that goes from our hub down Grafton

49:26Street. It goes Blithewood to Massasoit

49:29and ends at Broadmeadow Brook. And you

49:31spoke about the route 12 earlier. That's

49:33a newer route that we started uh, a

49:36number of years ago when the DTA offices

49:39and RMB moved to Southwest Commons. And

49:42then we extended it to Shrewsbury to the

49:44new market basket development. So, what

49:46we did when the route 12 started was to

49:48make sure that the five and the 12

49:50weren't running at the exact same time,

49:52because the 12 essentially mirrors route

49:54five from the hub down Grafton Street.

49:57The difference is five continues to

49:59Blake One Ave, whereas 12 goes down

50:02Sunderland into Southwest Commons to the

50:05DTA or former Southwest Commons DTA and

50:08R&B. Then they'll head to Market Basket

50:10and then both come back to the hub.

50:13>> Thank you. I I appreciate that because

50:16now I'm [clears throat] a district

50:16councilor. Do you know I didn't know 12

50:18went to Market Basket? I knew it went to

50:21uh the new DTA. You know, that was part

50:24of

50:25uh a fear that people had how how would

50:28those people get to the registry or the

50:30Department of Transitional Assistance.

50:32And uh

50:33I knew that route was going to take them

50:36there, but

50:37that's something that people should know

50:38that in that area they could take the

50:41bus

50:42uh and get to Market Basket and then

50:44shop and then with within 45 minutes

50:47the bus would be back there at Market

50:49Basket.

50:50>> The

50:5112 is a little bit longer. It's 50-55

50:53minutes, but the point still stands.

50:55>> Yeah, within within an hour. So, you

50:57shop and you wait not that long and the

50:59bus would be back to get back on it.

51:01That's something that I don't believe I

51:03know. I I I shouldn't say I don't

51:05believe. I know the general public

51:06didn't know that. So, that's a great

51:09that's a great

51:11you know, option that that you provide

51:14to take people out to Market Basket.

51:16Also, Stop & Shop is on that route.

51:18>> Correct.

51:18>> Obviously.

51:20So, there's uh

51:21there's a way that

51:23people of all ages could use that

51:25uh in their in their daily daily uh you

51:29know,

51:30activities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I

51:31appreciate it.

51:32>> Thank you, Councilor.

51:34>> Thank you both, Councilors, for your

51:34questions. Um I I don't have any, but I

51:37think it is

51:39funny and coincidental that all three

51:41routes that you're listing are

51:43routes that go through all three of our

51:44districts.

51:45>> [laughter]

51:45>> Uh

51:46>> Just the coincidence.

51:46>> So, which is which is just interesting.

51:48But, I think so, I would I think it's

51:50only fitting to I'd like to do a

51:52chairman's order that uh requesting uh

51:56the DTM and WRTA prioritize uh rapid

52:00transit and I believe it's signal

52:02prioritization. Excuse me, is that

52:03correct? Um

52:04>> Yeah, that's that's correct. And and

52:06they're, you know, they're they're uh

52:08they're related strategies. So, transit

52:10signal priority is something that

52:11supports rapid transit.

52:13>> Okay.

52:14So, what do we

52:15>> Fair to just not include

52:16>> No, I I I'd include both. That makes

52:17sense.

52:18>> Thank you. Yeah.

52:19Okay, just a

52:22>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um

52:24Just I mean, it was mentioned earlier

52:26about um

52:28Where is it?

52:31Um rapid

52:33Oh, sorry. On-demand.

52:34>> Yeah.

52:35>> Um

52:37What is What does that look like for um

52:42for WRTA?

52:43Um is that something that we're working

52:45towards?

52:46Um is that something you guys are a part

52:48of

52:49as far as on-demand or is this something

52:51that we're we're thinking about,

52:53Commissioner Raleigh, through this?

52:55Because I'm thinking about

52:57um say it's an elderly person

53:01um where they have an opportunity to

53:04have a doctor's appointment and um

53:06they may struggle with getting to the

53:08bus.

53:09Um is there a smaller version of a bus

53:12or something else, a different type of

53:14um transportation that would be able to

53:16pick people up and and bring them along

53:18that corridor along that route? If

53:19that's something that was thought about.

53:21>> So, I I can start through the chair. Um

53:24you know, that's something we did

53:25identify in the mobility action plan is

53:27uh wanting to to study the applications

53:30for more on-demand transit service.

53:33Um and it fills a a couple of specific

53:35niches. One is is what you described,

53:37which are

53:38um people who may have trips that just

53:41aren't

53:42easily accomplishable by sort of

53:44traditional transit. The other is it can

53:47help you start to build transit

53:48ridership in neighborhoods that

53:51maybe don't yet have the density or a

53:53little further out to support fixed

53:55route service

53:57and start to develop some bus ridership

53:59in those neighborhoods and provide

54:00people with a different travel option.

54:01So, you know, those are areas that we

54:04think there's some potential.

54:07I know one of the things we had talked

54:08about with WRTN

54:11I don't want to put you know

54:13I don't know where we stand exactly on

54:14this now but you know the um

54:18The area around North High School is an

54:19example. It was identified in the

54:21mobility action plan as hey this is an

54:23area that maybe can't [clears throat]

54:24support a whole lot of fixed route

54:26service yet but maybe it's it's an area

54:28we could think about at some point in

54:29the future

54:31some on demand service. So, there's

54:34definitely I think some some roles for

54:36it. The one thing I will say it's

54:38expensive. You know, it's it's an

54:40expensive service to run because you

54:41have fewer people

54:43in each vehicle and so you're

54:45you're paying for the the vehicle, the

54:47driver and all of that. So you know,

54:49there for all of these things and these

54:51are all

54:52um

54:53good ideas and important things and I

54:56you know, I said this several weeks ago

54:58at one of the council meetings and said

54:59look

55:00we are our bus system has reached

55:02capacity and we're continuing continuing

55:05to grow. The way we're going to have to

55:07do that is by improving our transit

55:09system and having more people

55:12um utilizing those services.

55:15um

55:16So, we're going to have to have

55:17conversations about how that gets paid

55:18for because there are there are real

55:20costs behind all of them. So

55:22>> I think yeah

55:23one of the main reasons why I brought

55:25that up

55:26and um

55:28be honest with my father he's

55:3185 now

55:32and

55:33you know, there are services to pick him

55:34up and take him to a doctor's office

55:36appointments.

55:37He'll get dropped off say at 10:00.

55:39They're not going to come pick them back

55:40up till like 2:00.

55:41So, he's like

55:43So, there's times where we're going back

55:44and forth and I'm like, well, you still

55:45got to go, like that. Like, you got to

55:47get there. And some And I can imagine

55:49that he's probably not the only one that

55:50says, you know what, I'm just not going

55:51to go.

55:52So, that's that's an issue that um

55:54you know, I know a lot of people are are

55:56are experiencing. So, how do we make

55:58sure we can help where we cut down that

56:00time? Thank you.

56:04>> Can I speak?

56:05>> Sure. Um

56:06I can move.

56:09Um

56:14Uh to that um

56:17to um first

56:20Thank you for sharing that story,

56:21Counselor O'Hare.

56:23And um

56:24to um commission

56:27to

56:28to

56:28Steve's point, um

56:31one, there there is real cost to micro

56:34transit. However, there coming up in

56:38September, there is a statewide $10

56:42million

56:44um grant

56:46for micro transit, and we think it would

56:48be a real shame if we did not provide to

56:51the Worcester community this $10 million

56:55a part of this $10 million.

56:57Um

56:58sec

57:00Secondly, that point about the doctor's

57:02office and having to be between 8:00

57:06a.m. and 2:00 p.m. is so is such a

57:10important point because many paratransit

57:13users Well, for for paratransit, you

57:15have to schedule it a a day ahead,

57:17right? So, let's say a paratransit user

57:20has a doctor's appointment at 10:00. Go

57:24Getting there is the easy part, but you

57:26don't know how long that that

57:27appointment can take, you know?

57:30The the nurses may be

57:33um

57:34running behind, you know, the doctor's

57:36slow, it's a crazy day at the hospital,

57:39and so you

57:41and you you only get a certain amount of

57:43no shows before your

57:45um

57:45service is terminated. So, um

57:49what you have to do is create these

57:52extensive timelines

57:54past when you think you're going to be

57:57done, and then you end up wasting your

57:59whole day waiting at the doctor's

58:00office.

58:02>> Yeah, for for one trip. I used to use

58:04they used to use the paratransit, and

58:06yeah, you have to schedule a day a day

58:07ahead of time, and um

58:10yeah, you oftentimes have to extend your

58:12time period there so you don't miss your

58:14ride. And then oftentimes you get And it

58:16is, you know, it's a very reliable

58:17service, but it has, you know, its

58:19challenges. And And again, like even if

58:21you do get picked up, you could be

58:23going, let's say you live in Webster

58:25Square, you could be getting picked up

58:27at UMass down on Lake Ave, going all the

58:29way up to Lincoln Street to drop someone

58:30else off first, and then you have then

58:33you you get home. So, it does It's very

58:35reliable, but it really does take a

58:37whole day, and and it impacts quality of

58:39life for folks. So, um one quick

58:41question, um

58:42Benji, the the microtransit grant,

58:44what's what's the name of that grant

58:45program? Do you know? I always forget.

58:47I'm sorry.

58:47>> So, there's two. One through the budget,

58:51and one through

58:52um the Fair Share Act, also known as the

58:56Millionaire's Tax.

58:57Um

58:58uh

58:59One is called the Community Transit

59:03Grant. That is $4 million,

59:06and it is for

59:08um

59:10uh services that primarily serve elderly

59:13and people with disabilities.

59:15Um The other is

59:18um a $10 million grant.

59:21Um

59:22and um it's

59:24uh

59:25uh microtransit.

59:28Uh it's a microtransit grant. and it's

59:30specifically for micro-transit.

59:32And, um,

59:35that these are, I believe they're both

59:38Yeah, they're both coming out in

59:39September. And so, it's really important

59:42that we have our ducks in a row,

59:44especially because I spoke with, um,

59:48Rachel Fichtenbaum from the Mass

59:50Department of, uh, Transportation.

59:53And she said that one of the main things

59:57they look for in a application is

1:00:00regional equity. So, we, um, we would

1:00:04have a really strong chance, um, to win

1:00:08the grant if we applied.

1:00:12>> And and just just to add to that, we had

1:00:13a really positive conversation with the

1:00:15leadership of the board and the

1:00:16administrator, um, of the WRTA. Um, and

1:00:20what we talked about with this pilot

1:00:21program was serving, starting with

1:00:23serving Worcester, just the city of

1:00:25Worcester. Um,

1:00:27yeah, and just to reiterate, this this

1:00:29opens it in September. Um, you know,

1:00:31with with weighted vote, uh, of of

1:00:33Worcester in the board, um, we could

1:00:35really make this happen. Um, you know,

1:00:37the WRTA board usually goes through

1:00:38consensus, not weighted vote, but um,

1:00:41Worcester Worcester does hold most of

1:00:43the weight in in the weighted vote.

1:00:45>> Thank you.

1:00:47>> Yeah, and in light of that, I'll go back

1:00:49to the first order and, um,

1:00:51if

1:00:52uh,

1:00:53my colleagues are rememberable, do do

1:00:55do, um, request DTM and WRTA prioritize

1:00:59rapid transit and signal prioritization

1:01:02for, um,

1:01:04Lincoln Street, Main Street, and Grafton

1:01:06Street.

1:01:08Great. [snorts]

1:01:09Uh,

1:01:10start and, um,

1:01:12related to

1:01:14the great advocacy that we've had from,

1:01:16um,

1:01:17your access advocates and then the fair,

1:01:19uh, fair free coalition. I'd like to

1:01:22another chairman's order that we're

1:01:23requesting

1:01:24WRTA apply for the FY26

1:01:28community trip community transit

1:01:31program.

1:01:32I think those would be two great ways to

1:01:35move these items along and and it's

1:01:37great, you know, again both of these are

1:01:39part of the city's mobility action plan

1:01:40as well. So

1:01:41>> Yes, can you add the micro transit grant

1:01:44to the community transit grant?

1:01:46>> Great and and

1:01:48micro transit grant.

1:01:50>> Thank you. Thank you, Claire.

1:01:51>> Well, I really appreciate everyone's

1:01:53comments and questions. Um

1:01:55I think it's great we're always

1:01:57my colleagues and I and then the you

1:01:58know, community as well is always

1:01:59learning more about transportation. I

1:02:00think this is really help help us inform

1:02:02our other colleagues in the council and

1:02:04I you know, want to extend my thanks to

1:02:06both uh

1:02:07Councilor Raida and Councilor Forzato

1:02:09for signing on to that letter for the

1:02:11paratransit on demand. That really means

1:02:12a lot and I think it will will really

1:02:14help a lot of our

1:02:15you know, seniors and and and very

1:02:18apropos we're in the senior center

1:02:19today. So I think that's great. Um and

1:02:21then it will also help a lot of our

1:02:23individual disabilities in the

1:02:24community. So I want to thank you both

1:02:26for signing on to that. Um and Claire,

1:02:28could we make a motion for those two

1:02:30chairman's orders or

1:02:31>> To the chair, we certainly can. So for

1:02:33those two chairman's orders we'll take

1:02:35collectively.

1:02:36Uh

1:02:37Councilor Forzato.

1:02:38>> Yes.

1:02:40>> Councilor Raida.

1:02:41>> Yes.

1:02:41>> And Chairperson Councilor Valada.

1:02:43>> Yes.

1:02:44Um

1:02:45Again, thank you for everyone for

1:02:47coming. Uh I appreciate the WRTA being

1:02:49here and partnering with us on this. I

1:02:50know uh something all these ideas and

1:02:53programs are something that will take a

1:02:54lot of a lot of work and time and

1:02:55effort. So we appreciate your assistance

1:02:57and your uh collaboration. And thank you

1:02:59to all of you. Thank you to Tufts for

1:03:00coming. Thank you to the students and

1:03:01and uh Professor Hollander. And yeah,

1:03:04this is really great, really informative

1:03:05and I'm sure the public will will be

1:03:07able to get a lot of of this out of this

1:03:09as well. So thank

1:03:09>> To the chair, prior to adjourning, would

1:03:11you like to take action on these two

1:03:12items? So

1:03:14um your action on item 3A and then 3B.

1:03:17>> So I think 3A I'd like to move to file.

1:03:21And 3B we can hold it

1:03:25since I know this is ongoing.

1:03:26>> So, on item 3A that's a file, Counselor

1:03:29For Solo?

1:03:30>> Yes.

1:03:31>> Counselor Ojeda?

1:03:32>> Yes.

1:03:32>> And Chairperson Counselor Balata?

1:03:34>> Yes.

1:03:35>> And then for item 3B you're looking to

1:03:36hold, Counselor For Solo?

1:03:38>> Yes.

1:03:39>> Counselor Ojeda?

1:03:40>> Yes.

1:03:40>> And Chairperson Counselor Balata?

1:03:42>> Yes.

1:03:43Great. Again, thank you everyone for

1:03:45joining us tonight. Thank you for the

1:03:46senior center for hosting us. Thank you

1:03:49Commissioner Riley. Thank you to the

1:03:50public access team. And we'll make a

1:03:52motion to adjourn.

1:03:55>> Would you like a roll call for that as

1:03:56well?

1:03:57>> That's okay.

1:03:57>> Perfect. Then we're all set. Thank you.

1:03:59>> Thank you.

1:04:00Thank you everyone.