Fare-free MART rides to continue over the summer - what you need to know

The free rides will continue over the summer.

A program sponsored by the state legislature to boost public transportation ridership that has offered fare-free service for all fixed-route MART buses and ADA services since January will be extended through Aug. 31, according to Scott Rich, assistant administrator for the Montachusett Regional Transport Authority.

“We’re actually seeing our ridership go up fairly decently because of this (program), about six or seven percent, and we can see that it’s very popular based on what we’re seeing in Facebook posts,” Rich said.

The MART network provides public transportation to 25 cities and towns, including Greater Gardner, Athol, Fitchburg, and Leominster. Fares for fixed route single trips are normally $1 for adults and 50 cents for veterans, disabled riders, and rider 60 years old and older.

Another reason for the boost in ridership in Gardner, according to Rich, was the introduction earlier this year of a new 30-minute loop in the city from Heywood Hospital to South Gardner. The new route, which includes stops at City Hall, Hannaford/CVS, Walmart, the South Gardner Community Health Center, and Timpany Plaza, has attracted over 200 additional riders per day, he said.

New redesigned routes to provide quicker service, more stops in Gardner

Because of the popularity of the new loop, MART officials will propose a redesign of the MART routes in Gardner that would make for quicker rides and more frequent stops in the city.

“What we’re going to do, instead of going around the entire city with one bus going one way and another going the other way, is have one north loop and one south loop in Gardner in addition to the route that goes from north to south through the city,” Rich said.

The proposed routes would reduce travel time through the city from over an hour to about 40 minutes on each loop, Rich explained, and increase the frequency of loops – instead of 11 trips around Gardner each day, there would now be 19 daily loops in the north and south part of the city.

“The main reason people don’t like to use public transportation is the time it takes to get from point A to point B,” Rich said. “These new routes should really make a huge difference for people in Gardner getting faster rides to their destination.”

MART officials to present proposed redesigned routes at meeting in July

MART officials plan to present their proposed changes to the city’s routes at a public meeting at City Hall at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10. Rich said he would welcome public input on the redesigned routes.

“Because we may learn things like locations we might be missing, or people might point out that a new route may take them longer to connect, so they can add their input and we’ll weigh that in our decision-making as we finalize these routes before they are launched,” he said.

Rich said he expected the proposed route changes would go into effect 30 days after the public hearing.

Other improvements to the MART routes in Gardner would include additional signage and new bus shelters in the city, Rich said.

The fare-free program is aimed at encouraging more people to try public transportation, especially residents who only use public transportation infrequently or never before, according to officials.