Lexpress is a bus system that provides transportation for Lexington residents through its many routes within the town. Lexpress has been running since 1979 when Lexington’s new Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) created a proposal for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) new “suburban project.” Once selected for this project, the town received 25,000 dollars for their own in-town transportation system.
Sally Castleman, one of the original members of the TAC who wrote the proposal, remembers the members’ excitement when the Committee brought it to town meeting for approval.
“Town meeting members were so excited that they said, ‘Well, how much extra would it cost if we ran during commuting hours, if we started earlier and went later?’ [It] was unheard of for a town meeting to say, ‘Wait, we want to give you more money,'” Castleman said.
Eventually, their proposal was accepted by the MBTA. People of all ages started riding the bus, ranging from students going to religious schools to seniors who could not drive. Thus, when budget cuts started to reduce Lexpress’ funding, the Lexington community stood its ground.
“When [the topic of Lexpress] came up at subsequent town meetings, a lot of people would show up. Realtors would show up and say, ‘Wait a minute, people always wanted to just live within walking distance of the center because they didn’t want to drive their kids everywhere…[But] now all the areas of town are valuable because of Lexpress,'” Castleman said.
Community efforts like these were what brought Lexpress back after it was eliminated in the early 2000s by a failed override vote. However, this is not to say that Lexpress has not been affected by the town’s budget overrides.
“In addition to having cut service, we also lost money for marketing and PR to continually educate people about [Lexpress]. We used to mail a map to every single house at the beginning of the year, one that they could hang on their refrigerators that showed all the routes. It showed the MBTA routes, and it talked about the other transportation services serving Lexington,” Castleman said.
Unfortunately, they are no longer able to do this. Meghana Sen, a junior at Lexington High School, has taken the Lexpress since she was in middle school, and now works with Lexpress as a data collector.
“I originally started taking it home after school…Then, over the previous summer, my friend told me about this opportunity to work behind the scenes of Lexpress,” Sen said.
Lexpress has undergone major changes over the years, including decreasing the price of a yearly pass from 275 dollars to 20 dollars.
“One of the data collector of Lexpress [was] telling me that they thought the price was ridiculously expensive, and when they decreased the prices, a lot more people started buying it, so I’m pretty sure it was both a marketing and a business tactic,” Sen said.
Susan Barrett, the Transportation Manager of Lexpress and other forms of transportation in Lexington, is in charge of designing the recently updated bus routes.
“We had to update the routes [because] traffic had gotten so bad throughout town and all the places our buses were running…Lexpress has [also] been asked to go more places that didn’t used to exist. [The Lexington Community Center] really wanted the bus to come there. But that means if we stretch a service over here, we have to take service away from someplace else,” Barrett said.
Choosing which stops to add or remove, especially when not given the funding to add new buses, has proven to be difficult. However, Lexpress prioritizes having stops near schools and homes.
“We have these low income housing villages, and we wanted to make sure we were serving those. Those are primarily seniors, but also people with disabilities…We made sure to put almost all of the large multifamily complexes along our routes,” Barrett said.
Lexpress is also popular among students, especially those in high school. For instance, the Lexpress bus service allowed Sen to have meaningful interactions with other people who take the bus around town.
“[One time] this really old lady…starts talking to me a bunch…She tells me to play this random song from the 90s, and she tells me her history with the song. She talks to me about how I’m in high school, and how I shouldn’t be stressed about my grades and everything, and that life will play out,” Sen said.
These exchanges are what make Lexpress a key part to many residents of the Lexington community.
“Sometimes some random people will just start talking to you. You [will] meet many new people, and it’s a nice community building aspect,” Sen said.
