If you spend any time in Franklin County, you start to notice something that rarely gets mentioned when people talk about life in rural New England: a lot of people here don’t drive. You see it in Greenfield early in the morning, when the FRTA buses begin their loops and riders gather at the transit center. You see it in Northampton, where PVTA buses at the Academy of Music pile on students, workers, and older adults across the river or up Routes 5&10. And you see it in North Adams, where a surprising number of households don’t have a car at all. We imagine this part of the state as a place where everyone has a vehicle in the driveway. The truth is different. Because all of the people I know have cars, I have rarely given fair thought to those without. But let’s dig deeper, with a bit of empathy, because people suffer from not having cars; it makes life much harder.
Statewide, about one million adults of driving age don’t have a license. In Franklin and Hampshire counties, 12 to 18 percent of households have no vehicle. That’s thousands of people who depend on buses for work, school, medical appointments, groceries, and everything else that requires movement. They’re not occasional riders. They’re part of the daily fabric of these towns.
This is why the new regional bus routes that began in January matter. Link413 — the service connecting North Adams to Greenfield and Pittsfield to Northampton — is more than a new line on a map. It’s the first practical, affordable way in decades for people without cars to move between Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire counties. For many riders, it’s not an experiment. It’s the only way they can get where they need to go.
North Adams is a good example. It’s a tough little town, down on its luck but always talking about a resurgence. It’s a city with one of the highest rates of car‑free households in western Mass. Jobs are spread across the region. Specialists and hospitals are often in Pittsfield or Greenfield. Without a car, a simple appointment becomes a complicated trip involving transfers and long waits. Link413 changes that. One bus. Ninety minutes. Ten dollars. It’s only $5 if you’re over 60 or have a Medicare card. There are two round-trips a day between North Adams and Pittsfield, and through June 2027, it’s fare-free. There are serious discussions about adding weekend service to this popular line-up, too, down the road.
Suddenly, the map opens up.
Greenfield shows the same need. The FRTA transit center is busy all day with riders heading to work, GCC, Baystate Franklin, and the industrial park. For them, the new connection to North Adams isn’t just convenient — it expands their options. It makes jobs, college, and family visits possible in ways they weren’t before.
And in Northampton, where PVTA buses already form a strong local network, the new Pittsfield connection adds something the Valley has never had: a direct regional link across county lines. Hampshire County has thousands of residents who don’t drive. They are students, older adults, people with disabilities, people who simply can’t afford a car. For them, this bus is not a backup plan. It’s the main way they get around.
Massachusetts places licenses into non‑renewal status for unpaid tolls, excise taxes, and certain court fees. When a license expires, these individuals cannot legally drive until the debt is paid in full. The Registry of Motor Vehicles blocked license renewals an average of 593,580 times per year between 2020 and 2024.
And Link413 isn’t just a set of boring bus routes. It’s a recognition that western Mass. deserves and has real regional mobility. The Gillig buses, averaging about eight years old, bend down for wheelchairs and run multiple times a day. They’re priced so that a retail worker or student can ride without hesitation. They’re built for the people who need them the most.
Free buses
And they’re part of a larger shift. Across the state, bus service is expanding. PVTA has added later evening service in Springfield and Holyoke. BRTA has extended hours in Pittsfield and added Sunday routes. FRTA has increased frequency between Greenfield and Turners Falls. Both FRTA and Worcester’s WRTA have gone fare‑free and seen ridership surge. These changes aren’t dramatic, but they’re practical. They make life easier for the people who rely on buses every day.
In Franklin and Hampshire counties, the stakes are especially clear. Rural poverty doesn’t show up in headlines. It shows up in the person walking along Route 5, who doesn’t have a car. Or in the worker who has to turn down a job because the shift ends after the last bus. Or a student who can’t get to class without a ride. When a new bus route appears, one that crosses county lines and connects towns that have long been isolated from each other — it’s not just transportation; it connects the people who need it with more options. Hope comes from connection.
We talk a lot about economic development in western Mass. We talk about attracting businesses, supporting downtowns, keeping young people here. But none of that works if people can’t get around. A regional bus network is basic infrastructure. It connects workers to jobs, students to schools, patients to doctors, and families to each other.
Max Hartshorne of South Deerfield writes a travel column for the Recorder and publishes his blog https://maxdeerfield.substack.com/.