Nashua to Boston bus line gets OK

Nashua-Boston bus line gets OK

CONCORD - Daily commuter bus travel to and from Boston is coming to Nashua next month. On Wednesday, the Executive Council and Gov. John Lynch approved the last piece needed to bring this about, a $1.1 million agreement to give start-up money to help a new entity, Boston Express Inc., begin the service Feb. 13.

Riders will enjoy a half-fare of $5 to South Station in Boston and $6 to Logan Airport for the first six weeks to help create a healthy base of regular riders, said Harry Blount, president of Concord Trailways.

"We think this can be very popular and provide a real bridge service until there is resumption of commuter rail from Boston to Nashua," Blount said.

The new firm offering the service is an affiliate of Concord Coach Lines Inc., which offered bus service to Boston until 1994.

Those trips ended in a dispute with city officials who at the time wanted to expand a downtown bus center that offered no designated parking for commuters.

"We can't make those things work. You need to have parking. To get people to think about commuter bus travel, you've got to give them a place to park their vehicle," Blount said.

This new service will offer that and more, as commuters will get picked up at large, free parking lots off of Exit 8 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike and at the Welcome Center off Exit 6 in Nashua.

A different bus vendor offered rides from 1994 until about two years ago when the service abruptly ended.

"We are excited to see this happening. When the service came to a halt, a lot of people were left adrift," said Transportation Commissioner Carol Murray.A survey of commuters found some drove from Nashua to Lowell or Woburn, Mass., to pick up a train, but most resumed driving to Boston in their cars, Murray said.

"I think ridership will grow rapidly as word spreads of this," Murray said.

By the end of the year, Blount said the firm expects there will be 10,000 users every month. That's a level that makes the effort financially feasible, he said.

The start-up money is needed, supporters said, because private investors can't be found due to the future likelihood of commuter train service, Blount added.

Nashua Democratic Councilor Debora Pignatelli said she'd attend a planned Feb. 12 celebration and ride one of the buses to Boston and back on the first day.

"This is a long time in coming. I'm very pleased," Pignatelli said.

Nashua Democratic Sens. David Gottesman and Joseph Foster, along with Hudson Republican Sen. Robert Clegg, led an effort last year to win state approval to pursue $1 million in federal money to get the service back off the ground.

"With all the traffic congestion, this gives the citizens another choice on how to commute to Boston," Clegg said.

The state contribution is only $82,000 and the vendor is supplying $180,000, Murray added.

The council-approved contract gives the vendor the business through Dec. 31, 2011, with a right to extend the arrangement for another five years.

The firm will enlist four buses to offer up to nine daily trips to and from Boston, Blount said.

A draft schedule has the first riders picked up at Exit 8 at 5:45 a.m. and at Exit 6, 15 minutes later. This bus would then arrive at South Station in Boston at 7:15 a.m. and at Logan Airport at 7:25 a.m.

The last buses leaving from Boston headed back to Nashua would start from Logan Airport at 8:40 p.m. and conclude in the Exit 8 parking lot in Nashua at 10:25.

Commuter rail service would not end bus service, especially in the near term, Blount said.

The company operates a bus service from Portland, Maine, to Boston in concert with a separate commuter train business.

"We have three times as many taking the bus as the train from Portland. Typically, you see a blending of travel options as the bus offers routes at times that train does not run," Blount added.

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