New bus service to run hourly
Seniors, disabled get more access
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Marshfield and Duxbury finally have a bus service to call their own.
Three buses are running hourly loops through the two neighboring South Shore towns on routes that will give passengers access to town facilities, shopping centers in bordering towns, the train station in Kingston, and other bus routes.
"It's very exciting," said Joanne Moore, director of Duxbury's Council on Aging, of the service, called the Seaside Area InterTown Line. "We're so happy to see people riding the bus."
For seniors who can't or don't want to drive, a bus service offers a measure of independence, Moore said. "One woman at the senior center said, 'The bus is my freedom. I can go where I want, when I want,' without waiting for someone else to take her there," Moore said.
Administered by the regional transportation authority called GATRA (the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority), the service will provide transportation for seniors, young people, people who can't drive or don't own a car, and people with disabilities, said Joanne LaFerrara, GATRA's director of customer relations.
"You can flag the bus down anywhere along the route," LaFerrara said. "It's a great service."
The GATRA buses seat 20 and are wheelchair-accessible. The cost is $1 per ride; 50 cents for seniors and children. The buses were free for the first 10 days of service, beginning Dec. 1.
From any point on the route in Duxbury, Moore said, buses will go north and south once an hour from 5:50 a.m. to 7 p.m., five days a week. They will run a reduced schedule on Saturday, with no service Sunday. Three buses each morning will take commuters to the MBTA rail station in Kingston.
Buses will also link with the private long-distance Plymouth & Brockton bus service in Kingston (at the Hannaford supermarket in Kingsbury Plaza) and in Marshfield. Detailed schedules are available on the buses, at local sites such as the senior centers, and on the GATRA website (www.gatra.org).
The Duxbury route starts in Kingston and passes such sites as the public school complex and library, the senior center and senior housing, Foodies supermarket, and other stores.
Two routes go through Marshfield, covering commercially developed Route 139 and the Brant Rock neighborhood. The routes cover Webster Square, Marshfield High School, the library, the Stop & Shop and
The Brant Rock route takes riders to the shore, and some passengers who don't own cars may ride the bus just to see the ocean, Moore said. For otherwise homebound seniors or people with restricted mobility, riding the bus is a way to get out, talk to people, and have an outing, she said.
In Duxbury, plans for a local bus service have been talked about for more than a decade but took a legislative change two years ago to make possible. Duxbury officials have long sought to have the annual payment the town makes to the MBTA used for bus service, since the town receives no direct service from the MBTA. The nearest train station is in Kingston. Nevertheless, the town is assessed approximately $90,000 for MBTA service. The money is subtracted from state aid.
Town officials were told that Duxbury could not receive services from GATRA, a regional transit authority, because towns were legally restricted to one transit region. That law was changed two years ago, and Duxbury Town Manager Richard MacDonald began working over a year ago on a plan to bring a GATRA bus to his town.
However, the project needed additional funding beyond the MBTA assessment.
This year a suburban transportation grant from the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization, combined with MBTA assessments from both Duxbury and Marshfield, provided sufficient funding to get the bus service underway.
Duxbury Town Planner Christine Stickney wrote the grant. The start-up for the new service was delayed repeatedly over the last six months, however, while officials waited for the grant to come through.
GATRA contracts the actual service operation to the Plymouth & Brockton bus company.
LaFerrara said Monday she did not have figures yet on how many people rode the bus on its first chilly week, but local officials are enthusiastic about the new service as a way to free residents from relying entirely on private vehicles.
Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.
