Lowell Regional Transit Authority

The Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA) is a public, non-profit organization in Massachusetts, charged with providing public transportation to the Greater Lowell area. This primarily includes the city of Lowell and the towns of Andover, Billerica, Burlington, Dracut, Chelmsford, Littleton, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington. The LRTA provides fixed route bus services and paratransit services within this area, although some fixed lines do extend beyond these towns.^[1][2]

Lowell Regional Transit Authority

An LRTA bus at the Robert B. Kennedy Bus Transfer Center in December 2018
Founded	1974
Headquarters	145 Thorndike St.
Locale	Lowell, Massachusetts
Service area	Greater Lowell
Service type	Bus service, paratransit
Routes	20
Destinations	Andover, Lowell, Chelmsford, Billerica, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Burlington, Dracut, Tyngsborough, Westford, Littleton
Fleet	Gillig, Cutaway Vans
Fuel type	Diesel, hybrid
Operator	First Transit
Website	lrta.com

The LRTA was created in September 1974 under Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Laws, the law that impacts all transit authorities in the state of Massachusetts. Since 2004, operation of the LRTA has been subcontracted to First Transit, a subsidiary of the United Kingdom based FirstGroup.^[1][3]

The area served by the LRTA is within the commuter rail service area of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). At the Gallagher Transit Terminal in Lowell, LRTA buses provide connection to each other, to trains on MBTA's Lowell Line, and to various intercity bus routes.^[1][3]

Routes

All of the routes serve Monday through Friday and most provide Saturday service. All routes originate at the LRTA Gallagher Terminal in Lowell.

Route	Outbound terminal	Major streets of operation	History and notes
1[4] Christian Hill	Dracut Village Square Plaza	Beacon Street (NB), Humphrey St (SB)	Weekend Service consolidated with Route 8 Village Square Plaza service served by Route 10 on Saturdays
2[5] Belvidere	Belvidere River Road and Trull Lane	Roger Street, Douglas Road, Andover Street
3[6] South Lowell	North Billerica (MBTA station)	Lawrence Street, Woburn Street
4[7] Highland Via Stevens	Ayres City V.A Clinic	Stevens Street	Formerly "7-Shaw/Stevens"
5[8] Westford Street/Drum Hill	Chelmsford Drum Hill Shopping Center	Westford Street, Drum Hill Road	Drum Hill Shopping Center also served by the 16
6[9] Broadway/UMass Lowell	University of Massachusetts Lowell South Campus (Riverview Bus Loop)	Thorndike Street, Broadway Street	Formerly "10-Broadway via U-Lowell South" Lord Manor Served by inbound buses only
7[10] Pawtucketville/UMass Lowell North	Tyngsborough Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical School	Merrimack Street, University Avenue, Vamum Avenue	Formerly "11-Pawtucketville via U-Lowell North"
8[11] Centralville	Dracut Hannaford Shop & Save	Dutton Street, West Sixth Street	Formerly "12-Centralville"
9[12] Lowell Circulator	University of Massachusetts Lowell Fox Hall	Inbound: Fletcher Street, Merrimack Street, Market Street Outbound: Appleton Street, East Merrimack Street, Father Morissette Boulevard	Runs in a loop form, serving the most northern sectors first, then the sectors in Central Lowell
10[13] Dracut/Tyngsborough	Tyngsborough Dracut Road & Massachusetts-New Hampshire State Line	Bridge Street, Lakeview Avenue	Formerly "17-Dracut/Tyngsboro" Serves Village Square Plaza on Saturdays
11[14] IRS/Raytheon	Andover Raytheon Company	Andover Street, Lowell Street (Route 133)	Formerly "20-Route 133/IRS" Operates during rush hours; no midday or weekend service
12[15] Tewksbury	Wilmington (MBTA station)	Roger Street, Livingston Street, Main Street	Formerly "18-Tewksbury"
13[16] Billerica via Edson	Burlington Cambridge Street & Chestnut Street	Gorham Street, Boston Road, Cambridge Street	Connections available to MBTA bus 350 and 354 in Burlington
14[17] Burlington/Lahey	Lahey Clinic	Gorham Street, Boston Road, Middlesex Turnpike	Formerly "19-Burlington/Lahey Clinic" Serves Burlington Mall
15[18] Chelmsford/Westford	Littleton IBM	Gorham Street, Billerica Street, Littleton Road (Route 110)	Formerly "16-Route 129/110-via BrickKlim Road
16[19] Chelmsford	Chelmsford Drum Hill Shopping Center	Chelmsford Street, Smith Street	Formerly "6- Chelmsford" and operated to Ayres City Drum Hill Shopping Center also served by the 5
17[20] North Chelmsford	North Chelmsford Main Street & Groton Road	Middlesex Street, North Road (Outbound), Tyngsborough Road (Inbound)	Formerly "9-Middlesex Street" and "15- North Chelmsford" Chelmsford Senior Center served by inbound buses only
18[21] Downtown Shuttle	Lowell	Inbound: Merrimack Street, Market Street, Middlesex Street Outbound: Dutton Street, French Street	Operates as a loop route Route number not displayed on bus headboards or stop signs
19[22] Pheasant Lane	Nashua Pheasant Lane Mall	Middlesex Street, Tyngsborough Road	Runs during holiday season (between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day) Year-round service east of North Chelmsford available on route 17
20[23] Downtown/UMass North	University of Massachusetts Lowell North Campus	Merrimack Street	Starts at UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center, not at the bus terminal Monday through Friday only, 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. only Almost exclusively used by UMass Lowell students and staff, who ride free Supplementary to UMass Lowell's Yellow Line North shuttle services

Fleet

The LRTA owns a fleet of 108 revenue-producing vehicles, which includes 57 Gillig Low Floor buses for scheduled route service and 49 Ford Transit and 2 Ford E450 minibuses for paratransit service.^[24]

Gallery

• 
  An LRTA route 12 bus in Wilmington
• 
  LRTA route 14 bus at Burlington Mall
• 
  LRTA route 3 bus at North Billerica station in 2015
• 
  Three LRTA buses stopped at the Robert B. Kennedy Bus Terminal
• 
  An LRTA trolley-replica bus on route 9
• 
  An LRTA minibus in Maynard, Massachusetts