Metro West bus line eyed

MWRTA gets initial approval for service between Framingham and Green Line

 A bus service that would connect the Green Line’s D branch with the Metro West area is the works.

Ed Carr, administrator for the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA), said the agency received initial approval last week for the shuttle, which would run from Woodland station in Newton to where Route 9 and the Mass Pike meet in Framingham.

The MWRTA will soon be applying for funding with the Federal Transportation Authority — asking for $350,000 in operating costs and $400,000 for capital costs, including four buses.

The service would have the four buses running between Newton and Framingham for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. The buses would make several stops in between and the trip would take an hour from end to end.  

Carr said the service would be a strong complement to commuter rail service from Framingham and Natick into Boston.

“From a reverse-commute perspective, people coming from the Newton area to Metro West can’t use the commuter rail. So this is opportunity for them to use public transportation,” he said. “The second major thing is for people who can’t be locked into the schedule of the commuter rail. The Green Line trains come every few minutes, and this would make it a little more flexible for those people.”