BOSTON -- Thousands of commuters pouring into Massachusetts every morning from southern New Hampshire only serve to heighten the need for investment in public transportation projects, according to a new study that calls for commuter-rail service to be extended from Lowell to Nashua.
An alternative proposal, however, suggests that express bus routes along Massachusetts highways would be more cost-effective in some cases, particularly along I-93.
Population growth in southern New Hampshire has contributed to a boom in motorists using Massachusetts highways to commute to and from work.
Vehicle travel on Massachusetts highways has increased 57 percent since 1980, according to a report released yesterday by MASSPIRG, an advocate for the public interest, that estimates that 13 percent of all commuters in New Hampshire work in Massachusetts.
The MASSPIRG study suggests it will be crucial in the coming years to expand rail service to southern New Hampshire if transportation officials hope to address congestion on Massachusetts highways.
"When you look at the amount of people who live in New Hampshire and commute into Mass. and Boston, it really makes sense to have a rail extension," said Eric Bourassa, MASSPIRG consumer advocate and a co-author of the report. "It is the kind of infrastructure we should be investing in."
While expanded rail service from Lowell to Nashua would help alleviate traffic snarls along the Route 3 corridor, another
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proposal pitched by a transit consulting firm hired by both states recommends an express bus lane along I-93 to shuttle passengers from Manchester, N.H., to Boston.
The "bus-on-shoulder" system would save millions by shuttling commuters down I-93 along a 12-foot-wide dedicated lane from Manchester to Boston, replacing a plan to extend the Lawrence-Haverhill commuter-rail line through southern New Hampshire.
The bus lane, according to a draft report from Kansas City-based transit planners HNTB, would cost about $80 million to start service, compared to $200 million for an expanded Lawrence-to-Manchester rail line. Operating and maintaining the rail line would cost about $9.2 million a year, while the bus would cost about $4.9 million a year.
HNTB was hired about two years ago by Massachusetts and New Hampshire transportation officials to study traffic along the I-93 corridor.
Though rail proponents argue that train service would be an economic boon to the region by encouraging business to locate along the extended route, HNTB consultants said the shuttle bus would be easier and cheaper to operate in the near future, requiring only a simple widening of the highway.
Riders would drive to park-and-ride stations and take the bus to terminals along the route, traveling down a type of breakdown lane reserved for the buses.
Beverly Woods, executive director of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments, said it is important not to overlap both projects.
"The extension of rail services from Lowell to Manchester is seen as easing the Route 3 corridor," Woods said. "The other would be 93. They're not in competition, in terms of it being one or the other. One is focused on Lawrence and Haverhill, while the other is looking (on) Lowell, Chelmsford, Tyngsboro and Nashua."
New Hampshire Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton agreed that the express bus route and the expansion of the Lowell commuter-rail line should be considered separate projects.
"We were and have been working toward the extension of that Lowell line," Boynton said.
One of the major obstacles has been funding. Because the New Hampshire courts ruled that gas-tax and state highway funding could not be used for rail projects, officials have been working with leaders in Congress to secure additional federal funding for the project.
The MASSPIRG study comes as Congress prepares to debate a new omnibus transportation bill that will set funding priorities for the next six years. Bourassa said it is more important now than ever to invest in public transportation like rail service instead of expanding highways and inviting more car and truck traffic.
The most recent proposal calls for a rail shuttle between Lowell, Nashua and other points in southern New Hampshire that would not be operated by the MBTA and require passengers to transfer in Lowell if they want to continue on to Boston.
That project is estimated to cost $77 million and would add an estimated 1,600 daily riders by 2025, according to MASSPIRG.
Bourassa, however, said the preferable idea would be to extend the Lowell tracks through Nashua and operate MBTA trains all the way. He argued that commuters would be more apt to use the service if fewer transfers are required. He did not rule out bus service either, acknowledging the economic advantages for states.
"As we've seen with the economy recently and fuel prices, commuters are certainly looking for alternatives," Woods said. "There has been increased rail ridership, and I think we recognize that, as a society, we can't keep building our way out of traffic problems."
