WOBURN - Need to get around Woburn or Burlington, but don’t have reliable transportation? The Link, new to the Woburn community, is a free on-demand, shared ride service that will get you around the city for all essential needs.
The Link, which launched on Aug. 31, will serve Burlington and Woburn. The ride service is an all-electric micro transit service operated by Circuit. The service also has a wheelchair accessible van for residents with strollers or walkers. To request a ride, residents can download the Ride Circuit App or call 781-782-2521 to speak to a live person. This one-year pilot program is operated by Circuit and funded through a micro transit grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
The Link has two separate service zones. One is Woburn and Burlington, and the other is Reading and Wakefield. Riders in both zones can travel to Lahey Clinic in Burlington and Winchester Hospital. The Link’s hours of operation are from Monday-Friday 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. The Daily Times Chronicle got a chance to meet with Samantha Stone, Assistant to the Mayor for Community Outreach and Communications, at the Community Resource Center to chat about the new free ride service and how it will benefit the community.
Stone commented, “I am incredibly proud of the city being able to launch this new free transportation service. The Link really plugs a gap we had in public transportation.”
She said that they have an amazing train station and a couple of bus routes that go through Woburn but have very little by way of transportation that takes residents from the train station or within the city anywhere.
She continued to state that “It can be very costly if you’re dependent on third-party transportation, private transportation to take you to work, to get to the grocery store, to do all the things that we want to.”
The Link is fully funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s first/last mile grant program, and the city is fortunate to be a part of that grant program to enable it to provide completely free ride service throughout the city.
The inspiration behind the Link is to do a better job of serving Woburn residents as well as employers.
Stone noted, “we heard over and over again people who were struggling to get to a grocery store, struggling to get to the food pantry, struggling to get to work, and having to work within walking distance was really limiting for some people.”
She continued, “(it) even (made) it difficult for them to socialize with friends and go to the library or participate in a city event or visit us here at the Community Resource Center.”
Stone believes that the Link will allow people who live in Woburn or visit Woburn to have the ability to take advantage of all the amazing things they have in the city, whether that is going for a walk at the pond, visiting a friend, checking out one of the amazing restaurants in the community, getting to medical appointments, getting to work, or visiting City Hall, etc.
She said, “This really is a freedom to make sure that everybody who has limited transportation for a variety of different kinds of reasons is now able to get anywhere they might want to and to be able to make the most of their time here in Woburn.”
The Ride Circuit App works similarly to an Uber or Lyft app. Residents can go online; it will recognize where they are, and from there they will be able to request a driver. Residents will specify where they are going, and then the service will tell them what time they will be picked up. You cannot schedule a ride in Circuit.
If there are no drivers available, then there will be a note stating that there is not a driver available and to try back. Stone recommends trying back in 10 or 15 minutes. There is also a phone number to call for those who do not have access to a smartphone.
She said it is very helpful for residents who have some physical limitations or other disabilities - maybe vision impairment - that will make it difficult for them to use the app.
Stone sees this service benefiting a lot of people. She noted that it will help people who don’t want to take their car out on days with heavy traffic, people that don’t have a car and people who rely on a bike or motorcycle but when the weather is bad need an alternative form of transportation. It will help employers attract employees and also customers. It will help everyone have a much easier experience of getting around.
A successful year of the Link would look very busy, Stone noted. It would look like hundreds of rides per week, and people really utilizing the service. A year from now, Stone hopes residents are saying that this is a convenience that has made their lives easier and really helped them get out and take advantage of all the things the city has to offer.
The city is so excited to be able to bring this service to the community, as they have been talking about this for a few years, wanting to close the transportation gap, and now they have found a way to do that. Currently, they are in testing mode, and what this means is that not all of their vehicles are in service just yet, so wait times may be a bit longer. On Sept. 15 they will be fully operational and out of testing mode.