Green Settles In At MetroWest Transportation Agency
PHOTO/EILEEN KENNEDY
the new director of the MetroWest/495 Transportation Management Association.
Jake Green, the new director of the MetroWest/495 Transportation Management Association, came a long way for his new job. He arrived in MetroWest on Dec. 8 after a stint as a transportation planner in Salt Lake City, Utah. And now he's getting used to a vastly different region and enjoying some unexpected perks.
"I don't have to pump my own gas anymore," he said with a smile. "I really enjoy that." Most stations in the Salt Lake City area are self-service, but locally he's found several full-service stations.
He also notes that New England roads present unique challenges. In Utah, he said, everything is laid out in a grid. MetroWest's circuitous roads and few-and-far-between road signs have led to several unsuccessful trips, he recalled.
Eastward Ho!
Green came from the University of Utah, where he was the transportation planner for eight years. He worked with Salt Lake City officials and the Utah Transit Authority to help create a network that encouraged walking, cycling, buses and trains for commuting students and employees, along with car pools.
His job here differs a little from his Utah position, because out West he was often dealing with a larger geographic area. By contrast his new post is focused on a much smaller area.
The MetroWest /495 Transportation Management Association is the product of the MetroWest and Marlborough Regional chambers of commerce joining their individual transit associations in 1990. Member companies are in Framingham, Hopkinton, Marlborough, Natick Southborough, Sudbury and Westborough. The agency operates out of the Framingham headquarters of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce.
Twenty-eight MetroWest companies with 41,700 employees now belong to the association, including companies such as Bose Corp., Genzyme Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., EMC Corp. and Fidelity Investments.
So far, Green said his job is to "bridge the gap."
"There is a need for someone to help the businesses connect with the some of the state-run programs," he said. "They may know or sense generally that these types of programs are out there, but they don't know where to find out about it," Green said.
There are many funding opportunities that businesses and communities in the area may be missing out on, according to Green. For example, he said the Metropolitan Area Planning Council has $700 million to fund bike racks for local municipalities, but only a few towns are taking advantage of the program.
Green can also help municipalities in the region with more substantial grant applications, like finding money to purchase alternative fuel vehicles.
The association is also focused on helping companies change the behavior of their employees to reduce congestion and air pollution by carpooling.
"No matter where you live, if you work for one of our member companies, we can find you someone who lives near you, who works near you, if not at the same company," Green said.
The association also supports services like the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority's shuttle bus between Route 9 stops and the MBTA Green Line in Newton. Employers in the association also offer employees the chance to buy MBTA Charlie Cards with pre-tax earnings, which can save regular commuters up to $120 a month.
Employers not only want to help their employees get to work with a lighter environmental footprint, they also recognize the part their organizations play in the community, according to Green.
"I think they want to be good neighbors," he said. "They recognize the traffic impacts their businesses have on their other neighbors and they want those impacts to be as positive as possible. They're working constantly to encourage their employees to use any other way to commute except for single occupancy vehicles."
Sign up to receive MetroWest495 Biz today!
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments