BCAT News

More organizing and preparation is needed before the Town of Burlington will be ready to join a local initiative to increase public transportation.

At Monday night’s Select Board meeting, Economic Development Director Melisa Tintocalis said a recently-discussed plan to join with the 128 Business Council and the town of Lexington for the new shuttle system connecting Burlington to the MBTA’s Alewife Station needs further study and organization before the town can make the commitment.

As reported on BNEWS, the plan was to have the town get buy-in from the business community to help cover the costs of the shuttle program which is estimated at $4-5 million per year. Tintocalis said there is a possibility of getting grant money from the state but Burlington would be required to cover at least half of the price tag. Tintocalis said before making that kind of commitment she would like to see the town, working with the Transportation Committee and other area partners dedicated to transportation, further specify the exact needs of Burlington.

“​​The endeavor has shined a light on the need for more of a transportation coalition to talk about the different issues we face,” she said. “We’ve had some conversations and at this time like the idea, support the idea, but we need to regroup and rebuild our coalition before we can commit to that kind of money as well as bring in private sector funding.”

Finally, Tintocalis said that even to apply for the grant money from the state, Burlington would need to commit to half of the funds so there are no plans at this time to move forward until further study is completed.