LOWELL – Five months after the Lowell Regional Transit Authority cut back its regular service in order to protect bus drivers and passengers from the coronavirus, the LRTA restored full bus service on Monday in what one official said is an effort to return to a “near normal.”
“It’s going to take time, but I’m hoping we can go from a low level of service up to a medium level,” Administrator James Scanlan told The Sun.
The LTRA announced its reduction of Monday-through-Saturday services at the end of March and as of Sept. 1 has seen its total ridership drop approximately 65%, according to Scanlan.
It also suspended its Sunday pilot program in June, which was funded by a $325,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Scanlan said at the time that those changes were implemented because they only wanted people riding the buses for “essential purposes.”
“We felt it was better for the employees, and we felt it was better for the customer,” he said in March.
Now, with a growing number of people going back to work and new plexiglass dividers installed in the buses between the driver and the passengers, Scanlan said that they felt it was time to start working toward increasing their low ridership numbers.
“Right now we’ve only got 35% of the riders we had before the pandemic, so what I’m hoping is that we can gradually go up the ladder to get to 50 or 55% over the next couple of months,” Scanlan said. “That’s my goal.”
Instead of buses only running every hour, they’ll now run every half hour in the morning and afternoon, Scanlan said. And while passengers are still required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing, they are no longer required to enter from the back of the bus.
However, bus drivers resumed collecting fares on Monday and the Sunday Service Pilot Program, which ran hourly on 10 main routes, will not restart until Sept. 13.
“We’re trying to go back to a near normal operation, but we’re not going to get them back unless they feel safe,” Scanlan said.
To mark the return to full service, Scanlan was joined by U.S Rep. Lori Trahan at the Robert B. Kennedy Bus Transfer Center in Lowell on Tuesday, where they toured a new bus the LRTA acquired using federal grant funding, which was secured in part by Trahan.
“As someone who grew up in Lowell and relied on buses to get around, I know that the Lowell Regional Transit Authority is a critical service for so many working families and students in the Greater Lowell area. The LRTA’s decision to return to full service while maintaining safety precautions will be good for residents who rely on public transportation, transit workers looking to do their jobs safely, and small businesses across the region who rely on customers traveling to their establishments. I’m proud of the work that my office has done to support the LRTA through substantial federal investments that will go a long way toward providing Lowell residents with high quality, state-of-the-art, and fuel efficient public transportation,” said Trahan. “A fully operational LRTA helps our community, and not just Lowell but 14 communities that it services,” Trahan said.
In August, the LRTA was awarded $4,620,000 through the FTA’s Buses and Bus Facilities Grant Program, which makes federal resources available to states and local regional transportation authorities to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities.
In May, the LRTA was awarded $356,013 in CARES Act funding through the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) to offset the net cost of services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, including: fixed route, para-transit and costs to maintain and operate commuter rail parking facilities serving the Greater Lowell area.
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September 02, 2020 at 06:40PM
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LRTA restores full bus service in attempt to return to ‘near normal’ - The Valley Dispatch
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