GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College and the Franklin Regional Transit Authority have teamed up to promote public transportation as a resource for students in the county.
The “Ride the Bus” campaign, prompted by Earth Day, aims to bring more awareness to public transportation and other alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles for both economic and environmental reasons. Although the campaign began during April, GCC President Bob Pura said he hopes it will become a sustained effort.
“So many of our students are looking for social and economic mobility, and the paths to better quality of life and for a better job … is education, and too many of our students don’t have their own private transportation to get to school,” Pura said. “So many of our students have to choose between rent, child care, food, tuition and on top of that transportation, and it makes it daunting. It’s hard to want to take the next step forward if you don’t have all the support services in place. The FRTA is critical to that end.”
Michael Perreault, assistant administrator at the FRTA, said the Transit Advisory Committee has been developing ideas for how to positively promote public transportation and keep it at the forefront of people’s minds, and the collaboration with GCC was a result of that.
“We hope it’s not just something to do for a day, but something that can continue to happen as a change in the culture,” Pura said. “It would be great to have more lines and more buses, and that can only happen if you have more riders.”
He added many of the bus drivers and riders get to know each other personally, which is reflective of the close-knit community in Greenfield.
Cathy Gorneault, who’s worked for the FRTA as a bus driver for a year and a half, said she often strikes up conversations with students.
“I talk to them a lot, get to hear their stories,” she said.
And the “Ride the Bus” campaign isn’t just about buses — Perreault said it’s also aimed at walking, biking and any other alternative to single occupancy vehicles. Gorneault added FRTA buses are equipped with a bike rack on the front, which some people may not be aware of.
“There are many reasons for it, for us it’s a more environmentally friendly way of transportation around the county,” Perreault said. “It’s just for anybody and everybody.”