fare hikes

Extensive state-financed service changes are being rolled out later this month at the largest regional transit authority in western Massachusetts.   Pioneer Valley Transit Authority riders are being promised faster, more efficient, and cost-effective service.      

The changes include seven new routes, longer hours of service – mostly on the weekends – on 14 routes, and buses running more frequently on 15 routes.  This will be the transit authority’s biggest change in fixed-route bus schedules in nearly a decade, according to PVTA Administrator Mary MacInnes.

The Massachusetts legislature is considering a stop gap funding bill to help out the state’s transit authorities.  People who depend on public transportation hope it will be enough to avoid fare  hikes.  WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports