Fitchburg, Leominster Officials: Better Transit Is The Answer
Massachusetts seems to be on the other side of the nationwide unemployment problem brought on by the Great Recession, as the percentage of unemployed Bay State workers has trended downward since peaking at 9.6 percent in 2010.
But the geographical disparity in unemployment rates within the state continues. As was the case before the recession, the twin cities of Fitchburg and Leominster, and the towns bordering them, are faced with unemployment rates that are consistently higher than the state average — a problem that has plagued the region since the significance of the area's manufacturing industry began to erode over the last 25 years.
The latest unemployment data by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development shows that while Massachusetts unemployment stayed below 7 percent in March 2013 and March 2012, Fitchburg and Leominster continued to struggle with rates of 10.2 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. Next door, Lunenburg had a rate of 8.5 percent this March.
The three communities have comparatively high unemployment rates next to Central Massachusetts and MetroWest communities like Worcester (7.9 percent), Westborough (5.2 percent) and Natick (4.4 percent).
Rarely is there one answer to a complex problem like joblessness, but planning and economic development experts seem to agree that in the case of the Twin Cities region, transportation is the golden ticket to reducing unemployment and boosting the economy.
Several years ago, the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), which provides planning assistance to 22 communities in North Central Massachusetts, conducted a survey of commuters who used the MBTA's Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line.
Respondents overwhelmingly wanted to see more trains and better maintenance to make the eastbound commute to Boston more convenient, said George Kahale, transit director at MRPC.
The results led to a major renovation of the line, which is now underway. The project, slated for completion in December 2014, will reduce the commute time between Fitchburg and Cambridge from an hour-and-a-half to one hour, Kahale said. Construction of a double track between Ayer and South Acton will allow two trains to pass each other. And, a new station with a layover facility is planned for West Fitchburg. This would allow the MBTA to store trains there, creating the possibility of an early-morning reverse commute from Boston to the Twin Cities.
Fitchburg, Leominster and surrounding towns stand to gain a lot from the project, according to Kahale. Though the reverse commute option is not definite, he thinks it's the most important piece that can make the area more viable for businesses to locate, allowing employees a public transit option into he region. Right now, the earliest train from Boston arrives in Fitchburg after 10 a.m.
“How are businesses going to open in Fitchburg and Leominster when, really, there is no public transportation coming (here)?” Kahale said.
Long Road To Progress
The effort to establish a reverse commute that arrives in the Twin Cities in time for the workday is not new.
Peter Lowitt, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, helped found the Fitchburg Line Working Group in 2000 as a way to connect all the major players — politicians and planners — to lobby for a viable reverse commute.
The group found that the Fitchburg line was generating more revenue than what was spent on maintaining it, Lowitt said, as the longest commute with the highest fares in the MBTA system.
Due to the group's work, the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line project was secured through a number of different funding sources — a $250-million investment, Lowitt said. But the group is still pushing to make the reverse commute official, and planned to meet with MBTA officials May 3 to discuss the matter. A short-term solution would be to shuttle commuters from Acton to points west, while the West Fitchburg layover station is underconstruction, he said.
“That would be really exciting news, not only for Devens and businesses here, but for Fitchburg and Leominster and businesses there, and for college students who can hop on the train and go to school” at Fitchburg State University, Lowitt said.
Alan Clayton-Matthews, a professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University who specializes in labor market assessment, said perception may be a problem for the Twin Cities region as it looks to bolster its economy, and he agreed that better transportation is crucial.
“It might just not be perceived as a good place to live, in terms of jobs or amenities, and transportation would improve that," Clayton-Matthews said.
But there's more to making the area more business friendly than just improving commuter rail service to the Twin Cities, said Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong.
She said cities and towns must also think about planning and zoning, as well as creating spaces that will attract new companies.
In Fitchburg, city officials have focused on smart-growth zoning, which stresses the creation of housing in close proximity to transportation and workplaces to reduce reliance on cars. Wong believes people will be attracted to areas that employ this philosophy, because it reduces the worker's transportation costs. The city is considering how to zone the area around the site of the future West Fitchburg train station to achieve this, Wong said.
And the city is taking steps to protect industrial land from residential redevelopment, and build two new business parks to create more space for modern manufacturing tenants, Wong said.
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