Concord committee explores regional transit options and reviving Crosstown Connect

Committee members pressed for a regional approach to public transit after staff and volunteers reported lessons from Lexington, Bedford and Acton. Nick stressed that planning work is needed to understand what neighboring towns have tried and how their services are funded and operated; he suggested using the existing Stantec planning budget to study models and operations.

Laura urged the committee to investigate reviving Crosstown Connect — an intermunicipal transportation-management approach that previously pooled municipal and employer funding for local shuttle services — and asked staff to invite Crosstown Connect leadership to the Nov. 14 TAC meeting. She noted that Acton has an active local loop and that employer and developer contributions (for example in exchange for parking reductions) could help seed funding.

Members emphasized that frequency, not just coverage, determines ridership: “Sometimes having very limited stops but high frequency… that may be the thing that we need to start,” a member said. The committee also discussed using pilot days with frequent shuttles to demonstrate demand and suggested consulting peer towns with existing services for operational and funding examples.

The committee asked staff and Stantec to consider targeted planning work to compile case studies from nearby towns and explore whether Crosstown Connect or similar public–private models could be feasible for Concord.