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A Transportation and Mobility Coordinator Key to Driving Burlington Forward

Burlington’s transportation strategy must begin with the creation of a Transportation and Mobility Coordinator position. That was the message of the Transportation Subcommittee — born on the heels of the Transportation Committee that made recommendations at Town Meeting — in its report to the Select Board recently.

t1According to Committee Chair Rick Parker, this position would be the center of the universe for transportation issues. The candidate can be the go-to person for the DPW, Parks & Recreation, MBTA, Planning Board, schools, Council on Aging, Veteran’s Services and more. The idea candidate can also pursue grants — federal, state and local.

“Having served on Town Meeting myself for many, many years, anytime we saw a new position come in you first start looking at what that position might cost, what are the benefits,” Parker said. “This is one of those positions, similar to the economic development position, if we get the right person in, this position should more than pay for itself.”

Parker said there is lots of money coming online, from state, federal and private sectors. When it comes to transportation, you need an expert to chase these grants. “We’re in competition with other communities that have these people on board,” he added.

Parker, joined at the meeting with Jeremy Harrington of the Zoning Board of Appeals and Marge Yetman of the Council on Aging, said the committee began its journey 14 months ago by breaking down Burlington’s population, looking at young people, students, their parents and seniors. Then it looked at the daytime population that descends upon the town for work.

One of the “driving factors” for the subcommittee, Parker said, was that a survey revealed 45 percent of high school students did not engage in clubs or any after-school activity based on not having transportation after school.

“That was a real eye-opener for us,” Parker said.

Opening road blocks
Board Vice-Chair Michael Runyon asked why not take a more regional approach and work with neighboring towns?

“We have had conversations with Lexington and we looked at the regional study,” Parker said. “Just know that while we partner with other communities, we’re competing with them as well.”

Parker pointed out that Burlington sits at the end of the line for the MBTA, the LRTA, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) — a regional planning agency. “The end of the line has to really work hard for itself,” Parker said.

During its 14-month stint, the committee advocated for the MBTA Bus Route 80, which starts in Davis Square, to help increase the town’s labor force. That, in turn, will help fill up some of the empty office buildings in town.

Solutions are also being sought to connect businesses to the restaurants and retail community via shuttles, bike-share programs, etc.

“We’ve got to get that one car, one person out of the equation,” Parker said. “Burlington has been very dependent on that, as residents we all know and that’s one of the things we saw in Burlington, you’re stranded if you don’t have. car. This is one of the keys to moving it forward.”

Select Board Chair Person Nicholas Priest was impressed with the amount of work the subcommittee performed.

“You dug in and tried to crack a nut that’s very, very hard to crack,” Priest said. “It’s hard to crack because it’s a chicken and egg problem, coupled with the fact that Suburbia was not designed for public transportation, it was designed for cars.”

He said the town needs a multi-model solution, which is a “massive undertaking.”

The Select Board asked for time to digest the report and restart the conversation in the coming new year.

Other members of the sub committee included Ernie Covino, Planning Board; Melissa Interess, recording secretary; and Katherine Bond, School Committee.