Nashua -> Lowell -> Winchester

Some day you will likely be able to hop on a "lowell" line train in downtown nashua. But right now, with that not being the case, how can someone that lives in downtown Nashua get to the Lowell MBTA station if they do not have a car? Yes, Uber is one option, are there any others? Any busses or anything like that?

Short answer, No.

There is an intercity bus (the Boston Express) serving a park and ride in the "Exit 8" region of Nashua. Walkable to a very small number of upscale residences. Nashua has its own local bus sytem that gets you the additional 3 miles to downtown..

This bus travels the same congested highways that drivers use.

The bus goes to South Station and Logan Airport. I suppose you could do Downtown Nashua - local bus - Exit 8 - Boston Express - South Station - Red Line - Downtown Crossing - Orange Line -Wellington - local bus - Winchester.

l008com wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 2:22 am Some day you will likely be able to hop on a "lowell" line train in downtown nashua. But right now, with that not being the case, how can someone that lives in downtown Nashua get to the Lowell MBTA station if they do not have a car? Yes, Uber is one option, are there any others? Any busses or anything like that?

I'd imagine there have to be some carpools.

A serious answer: the LRTA provides service to the Mass. side of Pheasant Lane Mall *during the holiday season*. So for now you could take one of the Nashua Transit routes to the mall, then walk over to the LRTA bus and take it to the train terminal.

You also could Uber/Lyft from Nashua to Ayotte's Market on the state line, where the LRTA 10 takes you to the Lowell train station.

Also, a very-long-ago attempt at making the trip in reverse, as posted by an MIT student. You can tell how long ago it was by the fact that the T only cost a-buck-25.

https://web.mit.edu/rama/www/nashua.htm

Aside from COAST and Wildcat Transit, NH has essentially zero regional transit. COAST runs in Portsmouth metro and NW along both sides of the Piscataqua to Dover, Rochester and Farmington, The NH seacoast has COAST because private bus service lasted longer in the commuter zone for Portsmouth Navy Yard. Nobody wanted to (or could afford to) demolish enough of Portsmouth and Kittery to get everyone the Navy Yard might need back and forth in private autos. Wildcat Transit, as you might imagine, connects UNH's Durham campus with cheap(er) housing in Dover and the malls and bars of Portsmouth. Schedule suggests it might have 2 buses, maybe plus a spare.

Few if any NH legislators spend the night in Concord, and I used to see the Governor making her way along 101 in her red Honda Insight in the morning (I could tell from the special plates). So State government has zero interest in public transit that doesn't have wings. Thus zero money, even though I bet NH DOT has sketches of what could exist in the Merrimack Valley if the voters ever demanded it.

Nashua, manchester and concord at first glance appear to have bus systems too. Cannot determine Coast's farebox recovery from the small amount of financial information. I know this isn't bustitution.com, and portsmouth is off topic for nashua, but they can prove demand/economics with buses to demonstrate a need for commuter rail.