HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-13-TAC-min
Transportation Advisory Committee Minutes
March 13, 2017; 7:00 PM
Lexington Community Center
Members Present: Sara Arnold; Susan Barrett; Sally Castleman; Hank Manz, Co-Chair; Su
Shen
Members absent: Bill Levison, Co-Chair; Elaine Dratch
Liaisons: Richard Canale, Planning Board; Nancy Adler, Council On Aging
Staff: Jeanette Rebecchi, Transportation Manager
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM with four members present. One more member
arrived approximately five minutes after the meeting was called to order. Introductions were
made and new member, Su Shen, was welcomed.
Minutes: The January 23, 2017 Minutes were approved by unanimous vote of those present.
Vote: 4-0.
Transportation Systems update: Bike, Walk, & Bus Week will be held May 13-21. Volunteers
from TAC are needed for the Commuter Breakfast on May 19. It will be held at the Depot.
A Transportation Safety Group (TSG) liaison from TAC is needed. In the absence of other
volunteers, Hank Manz will attend the next meeting on March 16 in the Parker Room starting at
9 AM.
Once again there will be a Lexpress bus in the Patriots’ Day Parade. Volunteers to walk with the
bus are needed.
New bus contract: No low floor bus will be possible at this time because of the cost.
MBTA bus stop evaluation: A letter has been received from the MBTA listing several stops
within the town for the 62 and 76 buses that serve Lexington which are being considered for
elimination. Statistics on stop usage made last year were included. At first it was assumed,
because most of the listed stops showed low rider use, that this was a cost-cutting or service
improvement measure, but a closer reading of the letter and an examination of the stops
indicates that the stops that are listed are those that appear to have more than the usual safety
issues including no good landing area and no sidewalk to a site.
David Kucharsky from the Planning Office, working with Ms. Rebecchi, plotted all of the stops
on a large map. Pictures of each stop were included as well. This allowed all to quickly see
that especially in the Wood Street area, there will be a very long stretch with no bus stops.
There are already areas in town with long stretches between stops. One example is Worthen
Road near the Center Playfields where the distance between the stops at Hayden near the
intersection with Lincoln Street and LHS near the intersection with Massachusetts Avenue is
just over 0.5 miles. Another example is on Saturday when there is no stop outbound between
the intersection of Bedford/Hancock/Harrington and the Hayden Ice stop. The bus does not
stop at the fire station because it must make a left turn onto Worthen at that location and it
would be in the wrong lane if it made that stop. The distance between stops is just under 0.6
miles. Long distances between stops tends to discourage riders, especially the elderly or those
with mobility issues.
This brings up the dual issue of what role the town is expected to play in siting bus stops and
what their responsibility is in making sure they meet standards. It also brings up the question of
exactly what the standards for bus stops are. It was noted that many of the bus stops in
Lexington do not include paved landing areas and some cannot be reached via an existing
sidewalk. There was also some discussion about the pros and cons of eliminating just one stop
of a inbound/outbound pair. Typically stops are paired although it is unclear if not pairing leads
to any confusion for bus riders.
Part of the reason for a liaison to TSG is so TAC will be more aware of what the town is doing to
make bus stops more easily accessible. There is work going on in this area so it was suggested
that another meeting of TAC be held in approximately two weeks which would give time to find
out what is already being done and for members of TAC to study and understand the
information from the MBTA. The plan is to circle back to this subject at the next meeting of TAC
which would be Monday, April 3, but since Town Meeting is on the calendar for that night, we
may have to meet earlier in the evening than usual.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM
Materials presented at the meeting:
Agenda
MBTA letter outlining potential bus stop to be eliminated
Map showing all bus stops in Lexington with those to be eliminated highlighted
Pictures of the stops to be eliminated
Approved ______________