Town may join transit authority
Stow gets no MBTA train or bus service, and yet the town has been paying an annual assessment fee to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for years.
That could change shortly, as the Board of Selectmen weighs which of four regional transit authorities across the region it wants to join. The board reached a consensus at a meeting in June to pursue a membership with a regional authority and expects to make a final decision sometime in August, said Selectmen chairman Stephen Dungan.
Under new state legislation approved last year, the move would redirect the assessment fee -- around $37,000 at the moment -- back to the town, which can be used to pay for local transit service.
Stow has been paying its assessment to the MBTA because it is near a commuter rail stop in Acton. It is one of 175 communities in Eastern Massachusetts that have been paying an annual assessment and among 31 towns that have not gained any local transit services from it.
A growing number of towns in the area have joined a regional transit authority this year, hoping to capitalize on the new legislation. Bolton recently joined the Montachusett authority, opting to pay for a senior van service with the money it was previously assessed by the MBTA. Bolton selectmen secretary Linda Day said seniors pay 50 cents for a one-way trip to the senior center and $1 per round trip. The transit authority has furnished a van for the service, she said.
Harvard and Littleton have also decided to join the Montachusett authority in an effort to accrue cost savings on local transportation services.
In Stow, Dungan said the issue remains a point of debate, but the hope is to create a shuttle service to the South Acton rail station . Parking problems have plagued the station for years, and Acton officials have even floated plans for a three-story parking garage at the site. Residential opposition has hampered the project, however, he said.
Establishing a shuttle service with the help of the MBTA assessment funds could alleviate the parking congestion at the station and allow Acton to avoid the construction of the costly garage, said Dungan.
"I don't think Acton should pay for this huge garage just to accommodate surrounding towns," he said.
A regional transit authority would typically provide a van for the service, which could be added to Stow's fleet of senior vans to create a regular circulation of shuttles during the morning hours, Dungan added.
The recouped MBTA funds could also offset the ongoing costs of Stow's existing senior van service, which shuttles seniors around town for a small fee, he said.
"At this point, [the RTA membership] looks very attractive," he said.
According to Ed Carr, director of the newly formed Metrowest authority, which has seven member towns , Stow could choose to be part of the Worcester, Lowell, Metrowest, or Montachusett authorities. If a shuttle service to South Acton's rail station is of interest, Stow may want to join the Lowell authority, since Acton is already part of that group, he said.
"It's demographically driven by communities in the same area that have the same needs," said Carr.
