1

JOHN MUSANTE

AMHERST - Public transportation is vital to getting workers to their jobs, students to their classes and serving to reduce congestion on area roads, says Town Manager John Musante.

As an advocate for services provided by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, both in Amherst and throughout the region, Musante was recently named chairman of the PVTA Advisory Board.

Musante said he is looking forward to serving in this capacity for the next two calendar years, succeeding former Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins in the role.

"This will allow us to strengthen our relationship with PVTA," Musante said. "We think it's already strong and can be even stronger."

Musante, who was appointed as Amherst's representative by the Select Board about 18 months ago, said he will run advisory board meetings, held six to seven times a year, and will be one of the chief spokesmen for PVTA alongside its administrator, Mary MacInnes.

The board is made up of representatives from all 24 member towns in Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties.

Musante said a primary focus for both the board and MacInnes continues to be how to get annual funding for the agency in advance of the budget year. Because PVTA's budget is put together by a so-called "arrears funding" method, the agency is required to borrow money each year and pay the associated carrying costs prior to receiving its state reimbursement.

"It's a key issue for us that will allow us to spend more of the assessment dollars on direct services to riders," Musante said.

Musante said he thanks Sen. Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, for continuing to explore ways of transitioning from this current method to a preferred method of "forward funding," which is how most municipal and state agency budgets are handled.

Amherst in the budget year beginning July 1 is expected to pay a $196,869 assessment for PVTA's service in town and an additional $124,940 for outreach routes that it contracts with UMass Transit. Amherst's full assessment is significantly higher, but two-thirds of the cost, or $675,215, is picked up by UMass Transit and Five Colleges Inc.

Musante said PVTA provides good value for the communities served, pointing out that in Amherst it would be challenging to absorb more traffic on many of the roads.

"PVTA is a fundamental component to making communities work" Musante said.

The advisory board's other duties includes approving an annual budget of around $37.5 million, adding, subtracting and modifying bus routes, assessing the fare structure, getting reports on projects such as new and renovated intermodal transportation stations and seeking grants to purchase new buses.