Transportation 2008: Woes and opportunities
by Joseph SantangeloMention the words Cape Cod, and they immediately convey the sea, sand dunes, salt marshes and, especially during the summer, traffic.
Ask residents and visitors their number one concern, and most will answer congestion. High traffic volume is a symptom of the Cape’s success in attracting visitors, second-home owners and year-round residents, growing in tandem with jobs, income and population.
On a typical summer day, more than 128,000 vehicles cross the 40-foot-wide, four-lane Sagamore and Bourne bridges either to or from the Cape. The year-round average is about 96,000. That includes 15,000 Cape Cod people who travel over the canal to work, plus another 7,000 reverse commuters onto the Cape. Most drive alone in a car.
In the busy Mid-Cape area, an average of 40,000 vehicles a day clog Route 132 where cars, trucks and buses often move along at a snail’s pace. A similar pattern occurs on Route 28, especially on cloudy summer days as people head toward Hyannis in search of alternatives to the beaches. Conditions grow worse if there is a vehicle breakdown, accident or construction.
A trip to work, shopping or business appointment can unexpectedly cost an extra 15 or 20 minutes, not counting wasted fuel, exhaust emissions in the air and other indirect costs.
Though traffic counts on most Cape Cod roads peaked in about 2002, sustained traffic volume continues at levels that are causing concern about the quality of life and the future economic vitality of the Cape.
“The perception of too much traffic is a constant challenge,” said Wendy K. Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. “In some ways the issue is real and in some ways it is perception. But the perception is reality. Clearly, we have to plan to build more infrastructure that is not tied to the automobile. If we are not going to expand roads, then we have to expand transit.”
Roads at capacity
Roads and bridges designed more than 70 years ago are overloaded by traffic that has soared more than 800 percent. Many of the Cape’s primary and secondary routes are meandering two-lane, tree-lined roads that evoke the Cape Cod of the past. They cannot be widened, even if scarce funding could be found.
Instead, beginning with two Capewide transit summits in 2000 and 2001, federal, state, local and civic leaders have mobilized to:
• Relieve major chokepoints
• Provide more alternatives for drivers
• Make better use of existing infrastructure
• Give motorists more information about delays
• Add some limited road capacity
Bus and road improvements
Expanded local bus service has been a prime focus since 2000. Cape Cod now offers residents and visitors fixed routes and some off-route flex service along the peninsula from Falmouth to Hyannis to Chatham, Orleans and Provincetown. In a backbone and rib cage configuration, other routes branch off to nearby destinations. A combined flex and fixed route from Harwich to Truro and Provincetown began with great fanfare in 2006.
For 2008, the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority is totally reexamining the system. Administrator Joseph Potzka said, “What’s happening is we are evaluating all the service in and out of Hyannis.
“It’s an in-depth analysis of all the routes. It focuses on the demographics of where people live, are the routes getting to the neighborhoods, with the proper frequency, with the correct span of services, where people are working and if the routes are serving those passengers. How are they meeting the intercity buses, how do they meet the ferries and service the airport?
“These routes were put on piecemeal over the years,” he added, “and we’re looking at whether they are operating as efficiently as possible.”
On the roads, the $58 million Sagamore Rotary removal project has made life simpler for drivers coming to the Cape. Congestion at Exit 7 off Route 6 has eased after a $2.5 million reconstruction of Willow Street. Adding two lanes to a two-mile stretch of Route 132 will provide a divided parkway from Exit 6 toward Hyannis at a cost of $10.8 million. Officials warn, however, of a funding shortage for future road projects.
Air and rail prospects
For the coming decade, improved air service may be the next innovation to attract more high-end national and international tourists, bring in more business conferences and serve the travel-oriented residents of the Cape. In the process, more direct air service from Hyannis will help take traffic off the roads to Boston’s Logan International Airport.
A long shot, but very much on the drawing board, is year-round, daily railroad service from Buzzards Bay and Hyannis to South Station Boston and other locations.
“This is really the number one issue that has to be addressed,” said Thomas Cahir, Massachusetts deputy secretary for transportation programs. “Years ago, we planned for the multimodal transportation center in Hyannis with rail access and a platform in anticipation of additional passenger service. I am convinced one day there will be rail service to Hyannis.”
A new rail line recently opened from Boston to Scituate, and Governor Deval Patrick is concentrating next on rail service from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford by 2016.
Changes in the works
An overall goal is to make better use of existing roads by providing more information so drivers can plan alternate routes and by giving motorists more options than driving alone in their cars.
During the summer vacation season, car-free travel options to, from and around the Cape are being promoted. A guidebook is available at smartguide.org. “Getting people over the canal without their cars can go a long way to preserve the quality of life and not choke ourselves off with automobiles,” said Cape Chamber CEO Northcross.
Numerous initiatives for Cape Cod and the interrelated region of Eastern Massachusetts are taking shape, including:
Intelligent transportation systems. Visit gocapecod.org for a link to the actual locations of Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority buses. At geolabvirtualmaps.com/CapeCodRegionalTransitAuthority_Legacy.aspx, hover over the bus icons with a mouse and see direction, speed and location. This system will allow smart transfers, improve dispatching and provide traffic conditions using the buses as “probes.” If the bus is stuck in traffic, there is likely congestion.
MassHighway 511 system. If your destination is over the canal, you can dial 511 on a cell phone or (617) 374-1234 from a land line for the latest traffic and weather conditions, including Route 3 between the Sagamore Bridge and Braintree. The 511 system, now operating in 27 other states, allows people to plan alternate routes and departure times.
Rail freight. Mass Coastal Railroad has leased the tracks from Middleborough to Hyannis and plans to carry rail freight, other than trash. This could provide economic opportunities to deliver heavy cargo for new and existing businesses such as: Canal Electric, Nelson Coal & Oil, Mid-Cape Home Centers and any number of building supply businesses, Sun Transportation, Hyannis Sand & Gravel, Cape Cod Times/Enterprise Newspapers, Gallo Salt and Fly Ash, Otis Air Base, FedEx, UPS, and the United States Postal Service.
Passenger rail. A related rail company operates excursion and dinner trains between Hyannis and Buzzards Bay and is exploring regular passenger rail service. This has been studied for years, and it currently under active discussion. Capital and operating costs are the obstacle.
Renewable fuels. Clay Scofield at the Cape Cod Commission has developed the Cape Cod Renewable Fuels Partnership (see cirenew.info/CCRFP.htm) with U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt’s office. The idea is to start a “renewable energy highway” on Cape Cod with biodiesel and ethanol stations. A biodiesel forum in September 2007 explored topics such as the potential for a Cape biodiesel industry making biodiesel out of cranberries and algae. The CCRTA diesel buses now operate on biodiesel. The biodiesel fueled buses get better miles per gallon that more than offsets the higher biodiesel cost. Estimated savings are about $36,000 or about19 percent of diesel fuel cost.
Airport modernization. The Barnstable town council has voted to support a scaled down $32 million airport renovation to be completed in stages by 2013. This could attract another airline, bring direct service to and from major cities and make Cape Cod a worldwide resort destination.
Congestion pricing. There are limits on how much can be raised through gasoline taxes to maintain and improve infrastructure. The commonwealth is taking the politically unpleasant step of raising tolls. In the future, tolls could increase during rush hour. This congestion pricing would make more efficient use of existing roads by shifting discretionary travel to less congested time periods. See gocapecod.org/congpric.htm.
Reverse commuting. Officials are examining ways to help people from high unemployment areas off-Cape to fill job openings on Cape Cod. Individual restaurants and hotels have periodically shuttled in workers, but there may be regular vans or buses in the future.
Bike routes. The Cape now offers about 50 miles of bike routes, including a newly paved continuous 22-mile rail trail from South Dennis to Brewster, Orleans, the Cape Cod National Seashore and Wellfleet.
MassRides. With the high cost of gasoline, often 20 to 30 cents more on Cape Cod, Massachusetts is urging motorists to try transit or other options. MassRides and CCRTA have a program where businesses can buy employees a transit pass and a guaranteed ride home in case of emergency. Visit commute.com or capecodtransit.org or call 1-888-4COMMUTE. Jennifer Walsh Carroll, marketing and communications manager at MassRides, notes that Cape residents also can log on to a car pool matching service. “If you’re going from Dennis to Provincetown, you can see if anyone else is taking that route,” she said. MassRides also has helped groups of commuters set up van pools from the Cape and Plymouth areas to Boston.
Transportation plan priorities
A regional transportation plan with 15-town input has been created that identifies goals and objectives and set priorities for federal and state funding.
Short-term (2007-2010)
• Bourne Scenic Highway median barrier
• Route 6 various interchange improvements
• Rail trail extensions to Hyannis
• Bourne rotary improvements
• Year-round passenger rail service to Middleborough, Buzzards Bay, Hyannis
• Canal area real-time traffic information system
• Route 132 boulevard landscaping
• Orleans Transportation Center
Future projects (2011-2030)
• Route 132 access management
• Route 6, reconfigure Exit 1 westbound on ramp
• Hyannis to T.F. Green Airport bus service
• Airport Rotary modification
• Yarmouth Road widening to four lanes
• Sandwich Road parkway, four lanes and median
• Otis Rotary improvements
• Orleans: Route 6A and 28 intersection improvements
• Buzzards Bay Transportation Center
Source: Cape Cod 2007 Regional Transportation Plan
Out-of-the-box traffic ideas
Dr. Christopher Lovelock, an authority on service management from Eastham, recommends somewhat unconventional approaches for traffic mitigation:
• A Capewide shift in weekly cottage rentals to begin on Sundays, when traffic volumes are lower, rather than on Saturdays.
• Expand express bus service to Boston from locations such as Mashpee and Exit 10 in Harwich, as well as Barnstable and Falmouth. Conduct a professional survey to determine rider demand.
• More commuter parking lots in other towns, to supplement the crowded Exit 6 Barnstable lot, particularly using already paved church parking lots and cleared power line rights of way.
• A large railroad station in Wareham at Route 195 with easy on and off parking, serving the entire region, rather than more expensive, slower service from Buzzards Bay and Hyannis.
• High-speed passenger, automobile and freight service from New Bedford to the Islands, similar to the Cat fast ferry service from Maine to Nova Scotia (thus reducing island-bound cars and trucks).
• Transportation models and electronic vehicle counters to predict travel conditions 40 minutes ahead rather than broadcasting observations from 20 minutes ago.
“If people are given better information on when to travel,” Lovelock said, “then there will be some smoothing of traffic.”
Published in Cape Business January/February 2008
Joseph Santangelo Joseph Santangelo has been a statehouse bureau chief, a corporate executive and currently works for the Connecticut Legislature. 
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