A Decade in The Making: MWRTA Opens New Operations/Maintenance Facility in Framingham

A decade ago, MetroWest “didn’t have any cohesive or consistent public transportation.”

But Senator Karen Spilka and Ed Carr had a vision.

In 2006, the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority was formed.

On July 1, 2007, the MWRTA began service.

And on Friday, the Authority held a grand opening celebration for its new “bus hub” on Blandin Avenue in Framingham.

“It’s been a long journey. It’s been a long strange trip,” said Sen. Karen Spilka.

Spilka, a Democrat from Ashland, who represents Framingham, saifd when she first became senator her “ top goal was to create and help MetroWest have an RTA.”

She said Friday’s celebration came after ”multiple governors, secretaries of transportation, a “dog-and-pony show” with town officials, legislators and citizens.”

Spilka, who is now the senate’s ways and means chair, said she first met MWRTA Administrator Carr in a conference room of ways & means. Carr was carrying a stack of maps and spreadsheets. He showed Spilka the regional transit authorities across the Commonwealth and the “gaping hole in MetroWest.”

“This state of the art facility shows how far we have come,” said Spilka. “This building went from an eye sore to a modern, beautiful temple of transportation.”

The approximately $12 million MWRTA maintenance and operations facility was made possible by federal and state funding. MassDOT contributed $3 million in Commonwealth RTA capital assistance programing
funds and the remaining $9 million came from Washington, D.C.

Today, the MWRTA offers bus and paratransit service from Framingham to Wellesley to Milford.

The MWRTA serves a total of 15 communities - Ashland, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston.

“The MWRTA provides a critical service to the MetroWest communities,” said Sen. Spilka, who was the keynote speaker in an hour-long elaborate grand opening ceremony on Friday morning, which featured a flag ceremony with the Framingham Police and Framingham Fire color guards and the singing of the national anthem by Boston Bruins famed singer Rene Rancourt.

“Reliable, convenient public transportation is key for quality of life and a local economy,” said Spilka. “Public transportation is critical to keep our region growing.”

Spilka said the south Framingham location “better helps to connect downtown and the train station.”

The MWRTA “connects businesses that want to expand and the talented and diverse workforce,,” said Congresswoman Katherine Clark on Friday.

“It connects students to exceptional colleges like Framingham State University and Regis,” said Rep. Clark. “It connects commuters to jobs and families to world-class hospitals and health care facilities.”

Sen. Spilka called the new center a “cornerstone of downtown revitalization.”

This new facility will ”better connect MetroWest communities to each other and the rest of state.”

A groundbreaking was held in October 2013 for the Blandin Avenue MWRTA Operations/Maintenance Center.

The center is located in Rep. Tom Sannicando’s district. The Ashland Democrat said he remembered Carr taking him on a tour of the run-down building on a cold winter day.

“This building will allow the MWRTA to provide better service at lower cost,” said Spilka.

While the Blandin Ave. was under construction, the MWRTA pursued four significant initiatives which are housed (or will be housed) at the new facility

• state-of-the-art Mobility Management Call Center
• Commercial Driver’s License program
• Compressed Natural Gas program
• Vietnam Veteran’s Monument soon to be built on the property.
  

The new call center will become the heart of central reservations and mobility management in the MetroWest.

The mission of this Compressed Natural Gas fueling station would be not only to provide for the transition of the Authority’s fleet to compressed natural gas, but also provide for the surrounding municipalities as they convert, explained Carr.

Eventually, the bus hub will be open to the public.

The Authority seeks to privatize the operation, own the assets, and would use a small percent of the revenue generated to underwrite its transit operations.

The Compressed Natural Gas fueling station although not built yet will provide a clean and safe, economical alternative fuel source for the region. The RFP for the Compressed Natural Gas fueling station will be out by the end of this summer with construction slated for Spring 2016.

There are also several “green” aspects to the new facility.

More than 90 percent of the structure has been saved, reused, recycled and not hauled off to the landfill.

There is a water reclamation program that uses the rain water to operate the toilets.

The lighting system is completely LED. All the electric, plumbing, fire suppression, HVAC, and other mechanicals have been replaced and updated with state of the art, energy efficient systems.

The new facility will allow the MWRTA to eventually consolidate both fixed route and paratransit services under one location as well as facilitate the connection between the Transit Authority and downtown Framingham.

Another advantage to this facility will be the continuing control of assets by bringing both the maintenance and storage of the vehicles under direct oversight of the Transit Authority.

As a result, annual maintenance expenses will be reduced, by at least $100,000, said Carr.

There are even accessibility redundancies throughout the building and on the outside of the property, allowing for not only the service “to” but also the employment “of” those persons with disabilities.

Partly still under construction, the facility will also have a community room available to the public.

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Photos by Petroni Media Company