Sense and strategy: BRTA needs both
The objective should be more riders, and that means frequent, safe, reliable service on the routes people are now driving most
The advisory board of the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is meeting on Wednesday to vote on the newest version of the “route realignment,” which is really a route reduction that the management hopes to be able to reverse when they have enough drivers. I will attend that meeting, and attended one last week.
I learned a lot about how local transit is being managed. This passage from someone far more expert than I speaks to the major issue:
When transit is frequent, safe, and reliable, it’s more than just a service. It’s infrastructure.
You don’t wait for the sidewalk. You don’t check an app to see if it’s working. You don’t wonder if it’s meant for someone else. Sidewalks are just there—always available, always on. And when they’re well-designed, you barely notice them. They quietly support everything: commerce, mobility, safety, health, and freedom of movement. Sidewalks don’t require instructions. They’re intuitive. Step on, move forward.
That’s the framing we need for local bus service. A well-run bus system is an express sidewalk—a piece of infrastructure that dramatically expands the number of destinations within walking distance.
Unfortunately, buses aren’t thought of that way. In most American cities, public transit is treated like a last-resort service, a social program for people who can’t afford cars, something to be endured rather than embraced. And so they’re designed that way: infrequent, inconvenient, hard to use, and often stuck in traffic.
Read the whole thing at Urbanism Speakeasy.
I have been told that all of the Comprehensive Regional Transit Plans had been released but two and those two should be out in no more than a couple of weeks. It seems the BRTA is one of those two. I have asked for a date for the release of that plan. The BRTA board meeting minutes are online and give one some sense of what’s going on and where the focus is. Here is an example.
Please send comments to info@berkshirerta.gov
Press links
About last week’s meeting: “BRTA Accepting Public Comments on Route Realignments,” iBerkshires. I also have a transcript; email me if you want a copy.
Last week: “What will it take to end BRTA’s driver shortage?” Mitchell Chapman, The Berkshire Eagle
From 2024: “BRTA is reducing service on some routes in Pittsfield and South County” Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle
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Transit helps people who don’t use transit. Full buses are a car commuter’s dream.
Mass Transit magazine did a profile on MEVA, the former Merrimack Valley RTA. It can be found at How MeVa Rebuilt Its Transit Identity
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