We are the Citizens’ Committee to Support Regional Transit. Founded in late Spring, we are an informal group who meet regularly to promote improvements within the FRTA system and in public transportation more generally.
Public transit is chronically under-funded, especially in rural areas — but there are ways to improve service even with budget constraints. We believe that the place to start is to close the gap between those who oversee the FRTA and those who depend upon it.
The system that governs regional transit authorities (RTAs) in Mass is complicated, but at the heart of each RTA is an advisory board that functions as the board of directors, which approves contracts and hires an administrator to manage the agency. Three of five current members of our committee sit on FRTA’s board.
The advisory board is comprised of one representative for each town served by the RTA, and uses a weighted voting system based on the amount of service a town receives (the more service, the more votes given to the rep). These representatives are appointed by the chief executive of each community, either the chair of the selectboard or (in the case of Greenfield) the mayor; if no appointment is made, the mayor/chair serves as the rep. Only two of the 40 members of the FRTA Advisory Board actually use public transportation, and none of the administrative staff do either.
The Citizens’ Committee to Support Regional Transit believes that those who govern the FRTA should have a stake in the outcome, and that a system governed by riders would provide better service. Because Greenfield has the lion’s share of FRTA bus service, the Greenfield rep. (appointed by the mayor) has an outsized share of the vote.
Whoever the next mayor chooses to be the Greenfield representative will have a major influence on the degree to which public bus service meets the needs of the people of Franklin County. At this critical time, with a looming climate crisis juxtaposing a nascent Greenfield renaissance, we must bring service in line with need and improve quality and accountability with or without help from Boston or Washington, because we cannot afford to wait for them.
Our committee is asking all candidates for mayor to commit to appoint an FRTA rider to the position of Greenfield representative. Roxanne Wedegartner and Sheila Gilmour have both made this commitment; Brickett Allis has not yet responded to our calls or emails requesting to meet with us.
Regardless of the outcome of this election, the Citizens’ Committee will continue to advocate for improvements to public transit within and beyond the FRTA, and we welcome your participation. To join our next meeting, call our coordinator Jasper Lapienski at (413) 658-7011.
Citizens’ Committee to Support Regional Transit includes: Jasper Lapienski, coordinator, bus rider, rider representative to the Advisory Board; Elizabeth Quirk, bus rider, vice-president of the Franklin Regional Transit Advisory Committee; Jeff Singleton, bus rider, Montague representative to the Advisory Board; Don Walker Jr., Conway representative to the Advisory Board; Otis Wheeler, Greenfield City Council.