More buses may be mass transit answer

To the editor:I am as enthusiastic as any commuter about mass transit. But consideration of passenger trains, say from Boston to Lowell to Manchester, is just way off track (“Funding the big issue for transportation projects” May 7-20 NHBR).My back-of-the-ticket calculations show the operating cost gap for commuter trains alone could subsidize every person who now takes the bus to and from work. We don’t even have to factor in the (in)frequency of the would-be trains or the length of time a ride would take from Boston to Manchester to realize the planning process is a wreck.At this stage, wouldn’t it just make more sense to strive for fairly priced, conveniently scheduled, non-stop commuter bus service from Boston (and Boston Logan) to Manchester? After all, the taxpayers are already committed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to dig up huge swaths of land to widen I-93.

William D’Alessandro
Amherst