Local Booster Keeps Buses On Time And Within Sight | Edward Carr, MetroWest Regional Transit Authority
Photo/Ron Bouley
Taking control of the MetroWest Transit Authority was “a
no-brainer†for Edward Carr. So is taking pride in his community.
Edward Carr, the administrator of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority, was a fan of Natick when he was a kid and the town was a rural community, home to hunters and fishermen, where "everybody knew everybody else." And he's still a fan at 62 when Natick is the headquarters of major companies like BJs Wholesale Club and Boston Scientific Corp.
Carr says he was born and raised in Natick and only left when he was 20 to join the Marines. After some travel, he returned at 35, married, and raised his own family there.
When the MWRTA was formed in 2006 to expand public transportation in the rapidly growing MetroWest area, Carr was the obvious person to lead it. After stints in the Marines and the restaurant industry, he had held positions in Massachusetts transit since 1997, including serving as the secretary of transportation's director of transit.
"Then this MetroWest Transit Authority came into existence, and it was a no-brainer for me," Carr says. "It was something I knew how to do, something I wanted to do - and the commute didn't hurt either."
Tracking Success
Carr says the thing he's proudest of a few years into the job is simply keeping the system going and improving ridership. But he's also helped add some innovative bells and whistles to the system.
For instance, the MetroWest authority was only the second system in the state to give riders a way to watch their buses' movement in real time online. With the help of Bridgewater State College and some 99-cent cell phones, the authority rigged up a system that gives the public access to a map showing both regular buses and the door-to-door service for disabled and elderly riders.
"A system like this would generally cost about three grand to put on a bus," Carr says.
In bad weather, the web site lets people stay indoors until they see the icon representing a MWTA bus approaching their house.
Carr's involvement in the MetroWest area goes far beyond his job. He's coached youth football in various communities in the area for more than 20 years, including helping with his own now-grown-up children's teams from Pop Warner on up.
He was also the cofounder of the Veterans Oral History Project in Natick. The project, done through the Morse Institute Library in Natick, contains recordings of 250 veterans telling their stories, and it's still growing. Users of the Minuteman library system can access the recordings for their research.
"It's a system where, as the World War II vets are passing, we have something that's primary source material that's out of their own mouths," he says.
For all his activities, Carr is also a family man. His daughter is an honors student and captain of the basketball team at Joseph P. Keefe Technical School in Framingham. His two grown sons still live in Massachusetts, and one is a contractor and the other works for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
"I'm very proud of my children," Carr says.
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