Many grant opportunities are currently accepting applications:

Bookmark the MassMobility funding for community transportation webpage to stay up to date on the latest grant opportunities.

Riders can now bring their bike with them when they ride the FRTA Access microtransit service, thanks to a suggestion from the Brick House Community Resource Center. A local organization promoting individual, family, and community well-being, the Brick House is one of the human service agencies participating in the Franklin County Access Pilot, which uses funding from a state budget earmark to subsidize FRTA Access rides for consumers of partner agencies.

The Brick House saw that FRTA Access rides would be useful to many of their consumers, except that their consumers also traveled by bike and needed to be able to bring their bicycles with them. While the FRTA already offered bike racks on their full-size buses, the smaller vehicles used for the FRTA Access program did not provide any room for riders to store a bike. The Brick House approached the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), which administers the Franklin County Access Pilot, and made the recommendation. Working with the Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA), FRCOG determined that they could cover the cost of installing bike racks on all FRTA Access vehicles through the Pilot funding. The bike racks were installed in late March, and riders began using them immediately.

Building on this success, FRCOG and FRTA decided to spend additional Pilot money on a software program to allow FRTA to better predict demand for FRTA Access rides. FRTA will use the improved predictions to allocate vehicles and drivers more efficiently, thereby reducing wait times and increasing ridership.

Residents, visitors, and employees in Hudson have a new option for travel on Saturdays: the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) launched CATCH Connect microtransit service on June 4. Riders summon their ride through the MWRTA CATCH app – or by calling, if they do not have a smartphone – and can travel anywhere within Hudson, as well as to select destinations in Marlborough, where they can connect to MWRTA bus service. An on-demand service, CATCH Connect allows riders to travel without advance reservations. All vehicles are fully accessible, with trained professional drivers. MWRTA also offers CATCH Connect service in Wellesley Monday through Friday, and in parts of Framingham and Natick on weekends.

The idea to pilot Saturday service initially came from State Representative Kate Hogan and Hudson’s representative on the MWRTA Advisory Board. While MWRTA offers a bus in Hudson, the bus only runs Monday through Friday. Given rising ridership on that weekday bus service as well as increasing retail and housing developments in the area, MWRTA agreed that Hudson was a good candidate for a weekend pilot and determined that microtransit was likely to be more efficient than a weekend fixed route. Representative Hogan secured federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay for the pilot. In addition to expanding local mobility on Saturdays, the pilot will also provide MWRTA with data on travel patterns, which they plan to use to make improvements to the weekday fixed-route bus service.

May was Mobility Month in Wellesley, where town leaders hope to reduce emissions and address congestion by raising awareness of transportation alternatives to driving alone. Throughout the month, residents could partake in a range of transportation-related events such as a bike roadeo for kids or a demonstration of electric vehicles. A local online publication ran a series of guest articles about transportation options, highlighting MBTA services, microtransit, active transportation, and school transportation. The month culminated in the release of the town’s Sustainable Mobility Plan, a project underway since 2020 to set the Town on a path toward net zero emissions by 2050.

Colette Aufranc, a Select Board member and member of the Wellesley Mobility Committee, has been busy promoting alternative transportation modes in Wellesley since long before Mobility Month. Whether doing outreach to the local Council on Aging or Parent Teacher Organizations at schools, Aufranc is passionate about raising awareness of transportation options for Wellesley residents of all ages. In particular, she has been working to get the word out about CATCH Connect, the microtransit service that the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority offers in Wellesley.

“We want to encourage people to try something a little different. Just try it, test it out,” says Meghan Jop, Wellesley’s Executive Director. “Try walking downtown to dinner one night, or riding the CATCH Connect to the town pond. You may find out that you like it, that there are some trips where you don’t need to drive.” In addition to education and awareness efforts such as Mobility Month, Jop, Aufranc, and their colleagues are also working to effect longer-term structural change, such as improving accessibility of the town’s commuter rail stations.

CarFit is a joint initiative of AAA, AARP, and the American Occupational Therapy Association to promote older driver safety and mobility by assisting drivers in understanding how they fit in their vehicles and making adjustments to improve comfort and safety. During CarFit events, drivers have a 20-30 minute session with a trained technician and an occupational therapy practitioner.

As Massachusetts reopens and as residents of all ages start to increase their trip-taking, we want to make sure everyone is driving as safely as possible, and CarFit is one easy way to do that – but in order to offer CarFit events throughout Massachusetts, we need you! Join us on Monday, July 25 in Winchester to get trained to organize and staff your own CarFit events.

The July 25 workshop is a full-day training in two parts:

Important: if you would like to be able to organize and run your own events, please make sure to sign up for both the morning and afternoon sessions. If you just want to help adjust the cars at other people’s events, you may register for just the morning.

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Cordis, MA CarFit State Coordinator & CarFit Instructor.

The National Center for Mobility Management is compiling a database of promising practices in mobility management. If you have implemented a new or enhanced method of delivering mobility management that improved people's ability to travel in their communities, submit your promising practice for potential inclusion in this national database.

The Franklin Regional Transit Authority is hiring a Travel Ambassador.

The MBTA is opening a new Mobility Center in Boston that will assist older adults and individuals with disabilities in accessing and using a range of transportation services in the Boston area. To staff this Center, MTM is recruiting a Mobility Assessment Evaluator.

The Central Mass Regional Planning Commission is hiring a Transit Planner.

Many Regional Transit Authorities, the MBTA, and human service transportation providers are looking to hire drivers, while volunteer driver programs need additional volunteers.

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