Sustainable Watertown - Watertown Task Force on Public Transit

June 16th Forum to Address Transportation Planning

Bill — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:18:55 +0000

The Watertown Public Transit Task Force, the Watertown Town Council and the Town’s Department of Community Development and Planning will present a community educational forum on municipal transportation planning on Thursday evening, June 16, at 6:30 PM in the Watertown Free Public Library. All local residents, employees and business owners are invited to this free event.

The goal of the forum is to increase the shared knowledge about what modern transportation planning can do in municipalities like Watertown to improve local transportation and ease traffic congestion. The Watertown Public Transit Task Force (WPTTF), a volunteer community advocacy group, says that people in Watertown can advocate for and support better transportation services if they know more about what transportation tools are available to local government.

The June 16th Forum will present information about what municipalities can do to improve transportation planning. Panelists will include James Freas, Newton’s Planning Director; Mike Garvin, the Waltham Traffic Engineer; Ralph DeNisco, a principal at the Boston office of the international transportation planning firm Nelson\Nygaard; and Steve Magoon, Watertown Assistant Town Manager. Newton and Waltham are both currently engaged in town wide transportation planning efforts.

Local transportation infrastructure changes have tended to be piecemeal mitigations for specific private developments. The focus has been on things like traffic signals and turn lanes. In contrast, the 2015 Comprehensive Plan called for a comprehensive transportation plan for the Town, saying, “A comprehensive transportation plan, which both provides active and passive connectivity internally to neighborhoods within Watertown (and to the greater region), is essential to ensure a sustainable system over the long-term.”

Several local transportation improvement projects or studies have been undertaken recently or are now underway. These include:

Commitment to create a local Transportation Management Association (TMA) with shuttle bus service
Town wide traffic baseline count
2009 Bicycle Transportation Plan
MassDOT Arsenal Corridor Study
Town Mt. Auburn Corridor Study
Mass DCR Fresh Pond Pkwy/Mt. Auburn St. Intersection Study
Establishment of Town Council ad hoc Transportation Committee
Town FY 2017 funding for transportation planner in DCDP
Provisions in the new Regional Mixed Use District (RMUD) for traffic demand management plans, separate pricing for residential parking spaces and smart parking garages
Town FY 2017 funding for enhanced parking meter technology, allow parking demand management in Watertown Square
The multi-use Watertown Community Path project
Working toward a Complete Streets Policy

While the WPTTF praises these efforts, it says that what has been missing is a coherent set of policies, goals and implementation plans to pull together and coordinate the efforts in different transportation modes and in different corridors that all affect one another. WPTTF also calls for these policies to put a priority on reducing single occupancy vehicle trips in Watertown.

According to the WPTTF, studies by the MassDOT and local developers’ traffic studies, as well as the anecdotal reports of most Watertown drivers and transit users, Watertown roads are badly congested at rush hours and public transit services are very inadequate.

A recent MassDOT study found that at the AM peak, as many as 40% of trips on the Arsenal Street bus line are not on time. (Source: MassDOT Arsenal Corridor Study Existing Conditions Evaluations, January 26, 2016, Weekday Average Trip On-Time Performance by Time Period.) WPTTF has complained to MassDOT that these averages, unsatisfactory as they are, hid many worse specific problems and do not adequately reflect the difficulty of rider’s real experience.

The same MassDOT study of intersections between Watertown Square and where Arsenal Street connect with Brighton found that key intersections at either end of that corridor are at the F or D Level of Service. The traffic study for athenahealth’s campus development found that almost 40,000 vehicle pass by the athenahealth site on an average weekday. That study also projected that with developments already underway or expected in town, plus standard “background” growth, traffic volumes in seven years (2023) are expected to increase by about 22% in Watertown Square and 20% where Arsenal Street meets Greenough Boulevard. A 2011 study of Mt. Auburn St. conducted for the Town projected that under future 2030 conditions, six of the eight signalized intersections in the study area would have at least one movement operating at an unacceptable level of service – but that study did not project any of the subsequent developments actually built, under way or proposed on Arsenal or Pleasants Streets.

The WPTTF has also called for significant upgrades in MBTA service in Watertown, but the efforts to address local problems has been frustrated by the MBTA system wide dysfunction.

People interested in joining WPTTF or finding out more about it can write to info@wpttf.org.

Watertown Public Transit Task Force Mission Statement, Vision, and Goals

Bill — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 02:43:35 +0000

Watertown Public Transit Task Force (WPTTF) announced its Mission, Vision, and Goals to guide its advocacy for the betterment of public transit in Watertown, December 15, 2014. Task Force chair Joseph Levendusky said, "After making substantial progress in our first year of existence, this statement clarifies our vision of the future of transportation in Watertown and how we see our role as advocates. We look forward to continuing to give voice to the needs and concerns of the transit riding public." The Watertown Public Transit Task Force is an initiative of Sustainable Watertown.

A public meeting in February will include updates on the planning process for future transportation enhancements in the Arsenal Street Corridor and on efforts to expedite 71 and 73 buses through the Mount Auburn Street and Fresh Pond Parkway intersection. The collaborative planning group of WPTTF will also demonstrate its new online Incident Reporting Questionnaire for bus service issues.

For information, please contact:
Joseph Levendusky
Watertown Task Force on Public Transit
An Initiative of Sustainable Watertown
www.sustainablewatertown.org
watertowntransit@earthlink.net

Click the link below for the full text of the statement

Additional Information:

Watertown_Public_Transit_Taskforce_Mission_Vision_Goals.pdf

Watertown residents lobby for better MBTA services

Bill — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 03:15:37 +0000

Sustainable Watertown's Task Force on Public Transit was mentioned in a Boston Globe article. The article discusses how bus service is not meeting the needs of the community amid concerns that things will get worse as more people move to town. Read the Boston Globe article.

Watertown Task Force on Public Transit Inaugural Meeting

Bill — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 16:35:03 +0000

NEW DATE: Thursday May 1st, 7-9pm.
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main St.
Watertown Square
Raya Stern Trustees Room

Open to the Public
Please come and share your T riding experiences and your ideas on Public Transportation in our community, present and future.

An Initiative of Sustainable Watertown
www.sustainablewatertown.org
watertowntransit@earthlink.net

PUBLIC TRANSIT is officially on the table in Watertown. Sustainable Watertown member Joe Levendusky asked the Town Council to support the transit riders of Watertown by working with the MBTA to improve public transportation and identify measures to improve the system here. We think of ourselves as a hub for public transportation and will attract major development, yet buses are overcrowded and suffer delays at both peak and non-peak hours. Pleasant Street and Arsenal Street are important areas of concern as well. If we are to increase ridership and decrease our carbon footprint in the region, excellent public transit is key. The Subcommittee on State, Federal, and Regional Government discussed short-range and long-range suggestions for improvements with members of the Council, State transportation groups, Senator Will Brownsberger, and Representative Jon Hecht, and Planning Director Steve Magoon before sending its recommendation of support to the Town Council. The Town Council voted to work with the MBTA on these issues. Rejecting an idea for a town sponsored task force, the Council Subcommittee recommended that citizens organize themselves into a task force for public participation. Mr Levendusky has initiated just that as an initiative of Sustainable Watertown.

The first meeting of the Watertown Task Force on Public Transit will be Thursday May 1st, 7pm, upstairs at the Library. All are welcome. This is our chance to make a difference. Please look at Quick Links for background and contact information. If you are willing to distribute flyers for the inaugural meeting, or would like more information, please write to WatertownTransit@earthlink.net.

Here is some additional information (You'll need Adobe Reader or other pdf reader to view them):

Additional Information:

Transit Notes 4/4/2013

Town Council Beverly Scott Letter

Town Council E-mail 1

Town Council E-mail 2