UMass Lowell Revs Up New Program Connecting Campus, Community

01/20/2017

Media contacts:  Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell today rolled out a new program that provides free, regional transportation services to students and employees.

The program – being offered in partnership with the Lowell and Merrimack Valley regional transit authorities – was officially launched at an event today at University Crossing with UMass Lowell students, faculty and staff, along with transit authority representatives.

Through the partnership, UMass Lowell will pay the fares for students and employees, who can ride for free by simply showing their UMass Lowell ID card when boarding any route in the Lowell Regional Transit Authority system and the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority’s Haverhill-Lawrence-Lowell route.

With the new program, UMass Lowell is increasing transportation options – which include a network of campus shuttles and a free bicycle-sharing program – for the 20,000 students, faculty and staff and employees that make up the university community. Approximately 100 of them, along with transit authority representatives, attended today’s event. The reduced vehicle trips that result from the program will contribute to the university’s goal of further decreasing its carbon footprint.

“Through this collaboration, UMass Lowell is able to expand the services it offers the university community and advance our sustainability efforts. Our new partnership with our local transit authorities will make it even easier for our students, faculty and staff to get to and from campus and to take advantage of all the region has to offer while supporting businesses and cultural venues,” said UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney.

The LRTA service area includes Andover, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington (including Burlington Mall and Lahey Clinic), Chelmsford, Dracut, Littleton, Lowell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington. Four routes have stops at UMass Lowell and all begin and end at the Charles A. Gallagher Transit Terminal in Lowell, where riders can connect to the MBTA commuter rail and MVRTA service.

“The LRTA is here to serve our member communities and UMass Lowell is a significant part of the Lowell community. Partnering with the university only makes sense as it allows us to better serve the students, enhance the rider experience and reduce vehicle trips in the city,” said LRTA Administrator Jim Scanlan.

The MVRTA route connecting Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill that the university’s students and employees can ride for free includes a stop in downtown Haverhill that is just steps from Harbor Place, the site of the new UMass Lowell satellite campus opening this fall. The MVRTA has also added a new stop in Lowell at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center that allows riders to easily transfer to the university’s River Hawk Roadster shuttles, which serve all points of the campus.

“Given the ridership from Haverhill and Lawrence to UMass Lowell, solidifying a partnership with the university seemed like the right thing to do for those students. We also believe that in the long run, this arrangement will help to tie the soon-to-open UMass Lowell campus in downtown Haverhill with the main campus in Lowell,” said MVRTA Administrator Joe Costanzo. 

“We look forward to a strong partnership with the LRTA and MVRTA, as we are committed to the common good of enhancing and supporting regional public-transit ridership. UMass Lowell has thousands of students and employees who live or attend classes in the region who will benefit from this program in many ways,” said Richard Lemoine, the university’s executive director of administrative services and environmental and emergency management.

The partners in the program will review ridership metrics over the summer to determine whether any refinements to the service should be made. The LRTA RouteShout and UMass Lowell RoadsterRoutes apps for Apple and Android devices offer riders real-time information on arrivals, departures and routes for their respective transportation systems.

UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,750 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu