Government

Newly Elected Councilors At-Large Talk About Their Priorities for the Next Term

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Watertown Town Hall

The winners of the big race in the 2019 Watertown Election, the Council At-Large seats, can now look forward to what they would like to do over their next two years on the Council. The four winners, Anthony Donato, Tony Palomba, Caroline Bays and John Gannon, each talked about issues they would like to make a priority. Tony Palomba got the second most votes in the election, and returns for a sixth term on the Council. He said that his level of community engagement and his work to help those most in need appealed to voters. Palomba said he would like to “Continue to move the needle on creating affordable housing in Watertown.”

Transportation

Town, TMA Seeking Grant to Launch Watertown Shuttle

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For the past few years, Watertown officials have sought to start a shuttle service to serve Pleasant Street, which has no MTBA bus service. The Watertown Transportation Management Association (TMA) has applied for a grant from the State to start a shuttle. The grant would be from the Mass. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Workforce Transportation Program, said Watertown’s Transportation Planner Laura Wiener. The Town Council sent a letter in support of the TMA’s grant application.

Government

Town Councilors Disappointed That Starting Date For Watertown Shuttle is Still Uncertain

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Progress on getting shuttle buses on the roads of Watertown appears to have stalled, with no start date in sight. The news disappointed Town Councilors and others at the Economic Development and Planning subcommittee meeting. In August, coordinators of the Watertown TMA (Transportation Management Association) hoped to get a pilot for a shuttle on Pleasant Street started by the spring of 2018. On Tuesday night, Michele Brooks from TransAction Associates, the firm hired by the Watertown TMA to mange the TMA, said the start of the shuttle will have to wait. She has been meeting with the TMA’s Board of Directors, which includes members paying into the TMA.

Government

Watertown Exploring Testing of Self-Driving Vehicles for Public Transit

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Sometime in the future, self-driving shuttles could be transporting people around Watertown, and that future may not be that far down the road. 

The Town Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation asked Town officials to look into opportunities for grants and pilot programs to test autonomous vehicles to provide public transportation in Watertown. The town would not be the first community to test such self-driving shuttles. Las Vegas and London have started programs and Columbus, Ohio, is exploring the idea, according to this report by CNET. They can also be seen on campuses and as inter-terminal trains at airports. In October 2016, Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order promoting the testing and deployment of automated vehicles.

Shuttle

Will Watertown TMA be Managed by Own Director or Consulting Firm?

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As the Watertown TMA moves towards reality, the board of directors must make some key decisions, including whether it will be managed by a devoted executive director of a team from a consulting firm. Consultant Allison Simmons of Ease Connect told the Town Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation that she does not strongly favor either option for management of the Watertown TMA (Transportation Management Association). She hopes that the official launch of the Watertown TMA will be in July. She anticipates that slightly more than half the $158,000 budget will go toward salaries. The pros of a full-time executive director include that the person would be dedicated to the Watertown TMA, however the person would have to do everything.

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.

Government

Developers Will Pay More for Shuttle, TMA When They Move Forward

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The $30,000 pledged by developers toward Watertown’s Transportation Management Association is just the start of the funding, said Assistant Town Manger Steve Magoon. A report of the Town Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation in February said that the owners of large commercial and residential projects had committed $30,000 towards the TMA. Magoon said this money will help establish the TMA, and once it gets going the members will pay more. “A big part of the work establishing a TMA is front loaded,” Magoon said. “It’s hard to get payments when there is not an organization yet.”

Around Town

Town Council Disappointed to Hear About Delay of Watertown Shuttle

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After years of pushing for a shuttle as an addition to the public transportation options in Watertown, Town Councilors were disappointed to hear that for the second time the roll out of the shuttle buses would be delayed, and that there was a suggestion to do away with the shuttle. On Tuesday, the Ad Hoc Committee on Transportation report from its Jan. 12 meeting was presented to the Town Council, including word that the shuttles would not start in the spring, as hoped, but in the fall of 2017 – at the earliest. This comes after it was announced in September that the start of the shuttle would be delayed from the Fall of 2016 to the spring of 2017. The effort to create a Watertown Transportation Management Association (TMA) is being spearheaded by the 128 Business Council, which has been hired as a consultant.