GREENFIELD — Mayor William Martin is inviting the public to join him for a ride on the Franklin Regional Transit Authority’s Route 21 bus Thursday morning to chat about public transportation and other Greenfield-related topics.
Martin has partnered with the FRTA to help promote public transportation by riding the Route 21 bus around town. The bus will leave the John W. Olver Transit Center at 9:15 a.m. and returns at 10:35 a.m. The trip will be free, and free coffee will be available in the transit center from 10:30 to 11 a.m.
“It’s an opportunity for the FRTA to get some attention, and people can come on the bus and talk politics or ask any questions about Greenfield,” Martin said. “We’re trying to encourage more ridership, we’re trying to exemplify the idea that with the proper public transportation routes, we can satisfy the needs of many people, and maybe they don’t need the car.”
Route 21 travels along Main Street to High, and then across town on Silver past the high school and to Leyden Woods, before returning to downtown via Elm.
This year, the FRTA added two evening runs to the Route 21 loop as part of a number of fixed-route changes. Michael Perreault, assistant administrator at the FRTA, said so far, the changes have been working out well, but the bus schedule may be modified in the future to improve connections between some routes.
Martin said Thursday’s event will be an open discussion, and the public should feel free to offer compliments, complaints and suggestions.
“Public transportation is vital to moving residents around town, particularly in this rural area, and if we’re able to come up with new ideas and approaches to providing that service, then we’ll keep trying to do that,” he said.
This is the first time Martin has participated in this type of event, though he said his office doors in Town Hall are always open. Perreault said if the event is successful, the FRTA would like to do it again in some fashion.