NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: July 3, 2013
Contact Information:
Stephen O’Neil, Administrator, Worcester Regional Transit Authority, (508) 453-3403
WORCESTER_ Effective July 1, 2013, the Worcester Regional Transit Authority began offering late night service weekdays from Monday – Friday. This new service is in direct response to a public outcry for longer service hours.
“The WRTA is pleased to offer this service to the Worcester community. It has been more than a decade since we had the opportunity to provide this convenience to our riders, and we are grateful for the funding received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to make this a reality,” said WRTA Administrator Steve O’Neil. “We hope riders will take advantage of this safe and efficient late night service, and believe it will be an excellent way for our collegiate community to enjoy the City during evening hours.”
“These later routes for bus service combined with the new hub location at Union Station will serve Clark University students in many ways. Students will have later night options for visiting restaurants and clubs in the Shrewsbury Street and Canal District areas with these longer hours for bus service. Students will also be able to take later bus transportation from the hub to Clark after returning to Worcester on the MBTA,” said Jack Foley, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, Clark University.
“Providing bus service well into weekday evenings should offer our undergraduate and graduate students greater flexibility in their commuter options. Extended evening weekday bus service will be a boon to our commuter students (and likely a number of our employees),” said Carl A. Herrin, Worcester State University spokesman. “On behalf of the entire campus, we are very pleased to have WRTA expand these opportunities for public transit.”
Routes offering extended service hours were chosen because they are the routes that offer the most significant ridership and are the most successful.
“Our hope is that the late night service will enable workers to get to third shift work and allow the second shift workers to get home. Further, those wishing to go to a movie or restaurant will be able to do that at a later hour,” said William Lehtola, Chairman of the WRTA Advisory Board.
These routes include: Routes 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 26 and Route 30. Some routes running on late night service will be modified on the late runs as follows:
Route 15: Will only operate as far as UMASS Medical Center and will not go to Shrewsbury.
Route 19: Will only operate as far as Webster Square Plaza, turning off Main Street to Stafford Street to the plaza, and then on to Curtis Parkway back to Main Street inbound.
Route 23 and Route 26: Route 23 will only operate late night outbound service and will end at the Great Brook Valley Community Center. For inbound service after 8:00 p.m., use Route 26, which will only operate late night inbound service and will begin at the Great Brook Valley Community Center. For outbound service after 8:00 p.m., use Route 23.
Route 30: The last outbound trip to Walmart leaves Union Station Hub at 8:00 p.m. The last inbound trip from Walmart leaves at 8:35 p.m. All other late night inbound and outbound trips start and end at the Showcase Cinemas.
The last departure for all late night routes from Union Station Hub will be at 11:35 p.m. Exceptions are Route 15, which will depart at 10:50 p.m. and Route 24, which will depart at 10:35 p.m.
“It’s exciting to offer this long-requested service back to our customers and to provide transportation options especially for those working second and third shifts,” said WRTA Assistant General Manager James Parker.
The Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) is a regional transit system that services the City of Worcester and the surrounding 35 communities in the Central Massachusetts area with a bus fleet that includes many diesel-electric hybrid buses. For more information, visit the WRTA website at www.therta.com.
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