This is about it for Williamsburg Center... |
An open area. |
A bridge over the river. |
Another bridge in Haydenville. |
A cemetery. |
Trying to get a view of Leeds Center... |
Entering the hospital. |
Coming into Florence Center. |
The bus at Northampton. |
Ridership: This is a pretty bad route for ridership - only 238 passengers per day. Riders per trip is similarly poor, with only 11 people on average. The main ridership hubs for the route are generally the major stops - Florence Center, VA Hospital, Haydenville, and Williamsburg.
Pros: This is an important route, and people definitely rely on it. It's not like it's an urban city route - in fact, it's one of the most rural buses on the PVTA - but the people who ride this have no other option, and there are more of them than, say, a typical GATRA route. Also, the schedule is decent - every hour on weekdays and Saturdays. There's no Sunday service, but the R44serves the VA Hospital on Sundays, still sending a bus to probably the R42's busiest stop. Oh, and finally, the R42 is a really scenic ride.
Cons: The ridership is still low, there's no denying that. It's also kinda strange that the route leaves on the :50 from Northampton, missing the pseudo-"pulse" of key routes by 10 minutes. Finally, it's kind of annoying that this route serves Salvo House on the outbound. I know it's an important residential building, but so many routes serve it. Plus, it takes seven minutes just to loop around back to downtown Northampton on the R42's outbound journey. Really?
Nearby and Noteworthy: This is the only PVTA route that serves Look Memorial Park, a big scenic park in the northwest area of Northampton. There seems to be a lot of fun stuff to do there.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Okay, I'm not gonna say that this route is efficient or anything, because it's certainly not - 238 riders per day is still miserable, and I'm not gonna deny it. Sometime I might propose an idea I had to serve Salvo House without having all the other routes deviate to serve it, but for now, all I'll say is that it's really annoying. The R42 is an important route, though, and it serves as a lifeline to residents of Williamsburg and northwestern Northampton. Plus, you can't beat the scenery on this ride; it's lovely.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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