Ease Connect
Financial Commitments Made to Start Watertown TMA, More Needed for Shuttle
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The cost of getting the Watertown TMA (Transportation Management Association) up and running will be more than $150,000, but the shuttle would be an additional cost. Allison Simmons of Ease Connect, showed the members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation the cost estimates Tuesday night, which include about $26,000 in upfront costs (incorporation, legal fees, creating a website and marketing), $100,000 in salary for the program manager, benefits, and the cost of running the office, and another $5,000 for ongoing marketing – a total of $158,000. All those costs, and the assessments, would go toward the creation and running of a TMA, but not for the cost of setting up and running a shuttle. The developments required to contribute to the TMA will also be required to help support the shuttle, however, Simmons added that the members of the TMA would only have to pay for the shuttle if it serves their development or complex. While it is agreed that Watertown residents will be able to ride the shuttles, what remains up in the air is whether they will have to pay to ride.