Upper Main Street resident Sara Piazza gave a presentation to the Edgartown select board Monday to voice her opposition to the proposed inductive chargers at the Vineyard Transit Authority’s (VTA) Church Street bus stop.
“An inductive charging center on Church Street commits Church Street as a VTA hub for years to come, with no option to reroute as the town’s needs change,” Piazza said.
She criticized the size of the buses, their noise, their quantity in the VTA fleet, the traffic they cause in the area, their speed down the road, and their threat to bicyclists and pedestrians.
“There are anywhere between 20 and 30 big VTA buses per hour on Upper Main, beginning at Pease’s Point Way, on any given summer day or night,” Piazza said. “There are too many buses in the summer, and big, empty buses in the winter. Big, empty buses are not green energy.”
She said technology is constantly improving, and the induction chargers could become obsolete sooner rather than later.
The VTA wants to transition to an all-electric fleet of buses, and the $1.4 million charging station would allow buses to be charged during the day. The project comes at no cost to the town.
Piazza has been an outspoken critic of the bus chargers, saying the neighborhood isn’t the right place for the buses to be charged.
Instead of approving the project at last year’s annual town meeting, residents voted 96-83 for a committee to be established to study the project, even after the Edgartown historic district commission approved it, and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission reviewed it and found the charging station would not have a negative impact on the town.
That committee then gave resounding approval of the project in November. Piazza was a member of the committee, but resigned, citing committee chair Alan Strahler’s “rudeness” and “censoring.”
Piazza also played an edited video of VTA buses driving past her home, which fronts Upper Main Street.
“I’m concerned about locking Edgartown into this scenario and making a commitment that will not easily be done even if people wanted to change their minds,” Piazza said.
Select board chair Arthur Smadbeck said Piazza will have additional time at annual town meeting on May 22 when voters decide on the inductive chargers.
In other business, the death of Sean Murphy has left the town without a moderator for annual town meeting.
Town counsel Ron Rappaport informed the select board that voters will elect a one-time moderator at town meeting.
Smadbeck suggested that whoever is interested in being moderator for the town meeting should attend a May 18 joint meeting with the finance committee, Rappaport, and select board members to understand the warrant.
As for the annual town election on May 25, Murphy was also the only candidate on the ballot for moderator. Due to this, voters will have to vote for a write-in candidate of their choice.
The board also approved a request by Island Grown Initiative to have its mobile farmer’s market at the Edgartown library from July to February.
The select board also extended the scallop season in the outer harbor from May 12 to May 30, with the same regulations.
Why don’t they put the charger at the park and ride, that’s where the hub should be, not beautiful down town Edgartown.
The only thing that will change with the Inductive chargers, which are under the pavement and not visible, is that instead of loud, stinky diesel buses chugging into downtown, there will be silent, clean energy busses gliding into downtown. Church St is already a hub. It will remain a hub regardless of whether or not the chargers are installed. Every bus carrying visitors and employees into town removes dozens of cars circling endlessly around the narrow downtown streets in search of parking in the summer. It is fully funded by grants. And we get the added bonus of a face lift for the Visitor’s Center. This is a no-brainer.
The committee appointed last summer to review the Church Street inductive bus charging project considered the suggestion that the chargers could be located at the park and ride lot on Dark Woods Road.
The biggest reason why this doesn’t seem to be a good idea is that all the VTA buses that now go to Church Street would need to cross the traffic on the Oak Bluffs Road and/or the Vineyard Haven Road to get in and out of Dark Woods Road. This would make the already difficult traffic at the Triangle exponentially worse.
In addition, the Dark Woods park and ride lot is not where the bus passengers want to go. Some would probably be willing and able to walk the 9/10 of a mile into the Village when the weather is good, but a number of new mini-buses would be needed to transport a substantial number of people into the Village to work and shop. These mini-buses would be added to the number of buses needing to cross the traffic on the Oak Bluffs Road and/or the Vineyard Haven Road to get in and out of Dark Woods Road, making the traffic at the Triangle that much worse. Also, these new mini-buses and their drivers would add significant new costs to the VTA operating budget.
If you would like to know more, the report of the committee that was appointed last summer to review the project is posted on the Edgartown website and the VTA website. The report has photos.
What a relief to read a comment from someone who’s been paying attention and knows what she’s talking about! Thank you.