In the 2020 Nashua Regional Planning Commission’s Locally Coordinated Transportation Plan, the NRPC studied public transit in the Greater Nashua Area. In the comprehensive report, several statistics and facts stood out:

•  83% of welfare officers' "clients do not have access to a personal vehicle"
• 67% of their clients “do not have access to public transit” 
• 52% of non-transportation-providing human service agencies' clients "have difficulty obtaining transportation to desired destinations”
• "The [Nashua Transit System's] process for determining eligibility for paratransit service is challenging. The forms that need to be filled out are a barrier for clients"
• "Sunday transit service, especially to retail employment, is needed" (Most NTS Bus lines also do not operate on Saturdays)
• "Transportation to key destinations (health care, grocery, other needs) outside of the region is needed"
• "Transportation within Merrimack and Hudson to key destinations is needed"

Over the years, as the country has shifted towards a car-dominated infrastructure plan, communities have forgotten about people who do not have cars, which are usually the most vulnerable populations, such as veterans, the elderly, and people with mental illnesses. These people have had to rely on poorly funded and thought-out alternatives to using a car. Simply, the current transportation options, which are only practical for people who do not own cars, are not even adequately serving those who benefit from them the most.

Across Nashua Transit’s ten bus lines, each stop is serviced once per hour. This infrequent service also means that people without vehicles must plan their day around the bus schedule. If a trip to the DMV goes ten minutes later than planned, one may have to wait another fifty minutes for the next bus to arrive.

Today, a car is a luxury that not everyone can afford and/or operate. 

Potential Ideas to Improve the Greater Nashua Transportation Options:

1. Expansion of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation CommuteSmart program
2. Cutting Red Tape (outlined in the 2020 NRPC Plan) related to accessing Nashua Paratransit Services through the Nashua Transit Service
3. Volunteer Rideshare Services to help Veterans, the elderly, etc., get to important appointments and activities
4. Extend the Commuter Rail from Lowell, MA, to Nashua, NH, which would allow people without cars to access Manchester, Concord, Lowell, Boston, and other parts of Massachusetts that are currently largely inaccessible to people without cars
5. Construction of the South Nashua Station and Nashua Crown Street Station for CR service
6. Expansion of Nashua Transit System to Hudson
7. Connect the Nashua Transit System to the Lowell Regional Transit Authority's (LRTA) stop on the border of the Hudson

While these solutions would improve transportation options, they come with a fiscal cost and possible ecological considerations. Density is a problem, too. Many of Nashua's suburbs are simply too rural to have meaningful transportation options. Public transportation is great. However, attention to how people will navigate the "first and last mile" of their trip is an important consideration. Until then, people will be more likely to forgo using public transportation.

However, despite these limitations, we must explore financially creative funding options for them to be feasible. Until then, less cost-effective options (volunteer ridesharing and expanding existing bus services) should be explored while planning gets underway for larger capital improvements like the MBTA Commuter Rail extension.