Friday, July 1, 2022
MVRTA BUS EXTENDS TO GROVELAND
The #18 Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority MVRTA) bus leaving Washington Square in Haverhill at 6:00 am on July 5th will go where no MVRTA bus has gone before. For the first time in history, after serving Rivers Edge Plaza in Haverhill, the bus continues over the Groveland Bridge into Elm Square in Groveland, before heading left on Main Street/Route 113 until River Pines Drive, serving the town offices, Council on Aging and Library, before terminating at the Groveland Housing Authority.
While Groveland is one of the sixteen communities that make up the MVRTA, it had previously only been served by the Ring & Ride van service, which requires advance reservations. With the extension of the #18 bus, people living, working or visiting Groveland will now have service every hour from 6:00AM until 6:00PM Monday through Friday and 7:00AM until 6:00PM on Saturday. The change is part of a larger service optimization that the MVRTA rolled out this month for all Haverhill-based routes, to make trips more direct. Check https://www.mvrta.com for details on all route changes.
The MVRTA went fare-free back in March, so a ride from Groveland, or anywhere else in the MVRTA service area, will not cost riders anything. The added service will not cost the town of Groveland anything either, since municipalities served both by an RTA and the MBTA may deduct their RTA assessment from their MBTA assessment and in Groveland’s case, the MBTA assessment exceeds their MVRTA assessment. The Town and MVRTA will be holding a ribbon-cutting for the new service at noon on Tuesday, July 5th in front of Groveland Town Hall.
