MEVA Beach Express Bus
Looking for a reprieve from the summer heat? MeVa Transit will be rolling out a revamped version of its popular Beach Bus just in time starting this Saturday, July 1st. The new Route #23 will introduce several great incentives to ride, including direct express service from Lawrence to Salisbury Beach, minimizing travel time and maximizing beach enjoyment; air-conditioned buses, ensuring passengers travel in comfort even on the hottest summer days; and FREE parking for bus riders at the McGovern Garage, saving passengers the hassle and expense of parking at the beach. And of course, like all MeVa service, the ride itself is fare free as well!
The route will run every Saturday throughout the summer, beginning at McGovern Garage. From McGovern, the bus will continue to Buckley/Downtown Lawrence, before proceeding up Rt. 110 to Exit 104 of I-495 for express service to the beach. In the morning, the bus will leave McGovern at 9:15AM and 11:15AM, Buckley at 9:25AM and 11:25AM, and Jackson and Swan Street at 9:30AM and 11:30AM. Return buses will leave Salisbury Beach for Lawrence at 3:00PM and 5:00PM. In addition, the new #17 bus, which was introduced in April, provides direct hourly service Monday through Saturday between Salisbury Beach, Amesbury and Haverhill.
MeVa Chief Communications Officer Niorka Mendez notes that “not only does the bus route allow beach goers to leave the stress of traffic and parking behind them, it is also an equity issue.” As she explains, “Even though Massachusetts has a beautiful coastline, beach access has not always been available to all communities such as Lawrence with higher concentrations of minority and lower income residents.”
The new beach bus is part of several new efforts MeVa has undertaken to improve transit service to the Merrimack Valley, including going fare free system-wide, doubling frequencies in Lawrence, optimizing routes to make them more direct, and rebranding with brightly-painted buses inspired by the colors of Old San Juan and Zona Colonial, which is particularly appropriate for a ride to the beach. The improvements are paying off – through May 2023 ridership is up 254.6% since going fare free in March 2022 and MeVa is now exceeding pre-COVID ridership by 9.9 percentage points, compared with May 2019.
MeVa will be hosting a celebration along with the first beach bus of the season, with a fiesta complete with small beach-themed giveaways for riders. Plan to meet the #23 bus this Saturday at 9:15AM at the McGovern Transportation Center on Merrimack Street or 9:25AM at the Buckley Transportation on Common Street—either to cheer the bus on or to ride to the beach for a day of fun in the sun! As is written on all new MeVa buses: “Let’s go/ ¡Vamos!”
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La directora de comunicaciones de MeVa, Niorka Méndez, señala que "la ruta del autobús no solo permite a los bañistas dejar atrás el estrés del tráfico y el estacionamiento, sino que también busca solucionar el problema de equidad". Como ella explica, "Aunque Massachusetts tiene una costa hermosa, el acceso a la playa no siempre ha estado disponible para todas las comunidades, como Lawrence, la cual tiene la concentración más alta de residentes minoritarios y de bajos ingresos".
El nuevo autobús hacia la playa es parte de varios esfuerzos nuevos que MeVa ha emprendido para mejorar el servicio de transporte al Valle de Merrimack, que incluyen la tarifa gratuita en todo el sistema, la duplicación de frecuencias en Lawrence, la optimización de rutas para hacerlas más directas y el cambio de marca con autobuses pintados de colores llamativos inspirados en los colores del Viejo San Juan y la Zona Colonial, que son particularmente apropiados para un paseo a la playa. Las mejoras están dando sus frutos: hasta mayo de 2023, el número de pasajeros aumentó un 254,6 % desde que la tarifa ha sido gratuita en marzo de 2022 y MeVa ahora supera el número de pasajeros que utilizaban los autobuses antes de COVID por un 9.9 por ciento, en comparación con mayo de 2019.
MeVa organizará una celebración a la hora del primer autobús de la temporada hacia la playa, con una fiesta completa con pequeños juegos con temas de playa para los pasajeros. Planee coincidir con el autobús #23 este sábado a las 9:15AM en el Centro de Transporte McGovern localizado en la calle Merrimack o a las 9:25AM en Buckley localizado en la calle Common, ¡ya sea para animar en el autobús o para ir a la playa a pasar un día divertido bajo el sol! Como está escrito en todos los nuevos autobuses MeVa: “Let’s go ¡Vamos!”