BRTA Working on Comprehensive Regional Transit Plan
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is discussing its five-year comprehensive regional transit plan (CRTP).
"The goal of the CRTP is to review BRTA's goals and mission as a regional transit provider, to assess transit service from the past five years and then expand on enhancements that have worked well, and then make changes in areas where there's opportunities for improvement." said Diane Broderick, with consultant HDR Engineering, at a recent meeting of the BRTA board.
The transit authority's last five-year plan in 2020 had three big takeaways from the outreach efforts: that BRTA brings value to the region, a desire for more bus shelters and benches, and a need for a later evening service.
The 2025 goals of the BRTA are increased fixed-route frequencies, aligning vehicles with capacity and demand, expanding service to rural communities, improving passenger experience through infrastructure upgrades and technology enhancements, exploring micro-transit service to support first and last mile connections, and continuing to upgrade and enhance operations through technology and capital improvements.
Stakeholders were polled on their thoughts, with one question being where they'd like to see the BRTA go, with some saying said Veterans Affairs medical center in Leeds and to smaller communities.
In the polls, the service was commended for riders' personal safety on the bus and at the Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center as well as for notifications of a service change.
BRTA Administrator Robert Malnati discussed how much the transit service has grown in ridership.
"The fact that we came from a number last year of, I believe, 535,000 to make a jump of over 600,000 that's huge. And it just goes to show that there is a need for the service that we have out there, the fact that it is fare free now, I believe a lot more people are looking at it as now I can do what I need to do, because I've been able to get on the bus and try it and see how it works for me, and expanding on that," Malnati said.
He says this could lead to looking into and potentially applying for bigger buses.
"With that, we're talking about appropriate-sized vehicles. We're now getting into the point where people are saying, hey, my bus is overcrowded. It's standing room only," he said.
BRTA will be holding a outreach pop-up in July at the Intermodal Center and will have a survey for people to participate in.
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