Route Focus: PVTA Route 39E - Smith/Mount Holyoke Express

Route Focus: PVTA Route 39E - Smith/Mount Holyoke Express

  April 03, 2020    Kareem W

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Trip: Mt. Holyoke College Express via Rt 47

Taken: February 2020

I once saw a caption about the 39E on one of PVTA Meme’s posts on Instagram. It read “God help anyone who takes the 39e.” I could leave this route focus at that and move on to the next… but that would be a disservice to you.

For those unfamiliar with the regular Route 39, it is a UMass Transit operated route running between Smith College and Hampshire College, also serving Hampshire Mall on weeknights and weekends. The 39E on the other hand, is not operated by UMass Transit* and runs between Smith College and Mt. Holyoke College, making limited stops. It only gets more confusing from here.

The lowly cut-away bus pulling up

I took a morning trip of the 39E to Mt. Holyoke College. I already knew what was in store in terms of the vehicle used, but when the little cut-away bus pulled up, it still took me by surprise. Yes, the vehicle used for the 39E is PVTA cutaway bus #1205, a 2015 Phoenix Type D. Uniquely, this vehicle comes with a lot of the features of a full-size bus, including destination signs, a farebox, onboard announcements, and stop-request rope, but that doesn’t change that it’s a disappointment to see considering this is not a “shuttle” route.

The interior of #1205. This is what we’re working with

We left Smith College with just 4 other passengers, all of them appeared to be female students. The bus descended a hill passing the Smith College campus and we came to Northampton’s Main Street.

Approaching the Academy of Music

We stopped at the Academy of Music, the major bus transfer point for Northampton, but nobody got on. Leaving the stop, we continued on Main Street, passing Northampton’s mix of interesting mix of shops and businesses. Main Street became Bridge Street, and we made one more stop at the Northampton Post Office, picking up another person. Continuing on Bridge Street, we soon went underneath an interchange with I-91 and crossed the Connecticut River, leaving Northampton.

Crossing the Connecticut River, with the Norwottuck Rail Trail in view

Just after crossing the bridge, the bus left Russel Street, which continues through Hadley to Amherst. We turned onto Bay Road, and the scenery quickly became rural. This was Rt. 47, a rural road paralleling the Connecticut River. The surroundings for the next 8 miles were farms, fields, trees, spread out houses, and occasional views of the Connecticut River and Mount Holyoke Range.

Lots of farms and fields

The bus makes no stops along this stretch, so it’s a winding non-stop scenic journey to South Hadley. The other passengers filled their time en-route. Someone was working on a laptop. Someone else was reading a book. Others just enjoyed the scenery.

Views like this aren’t so bad

Eventually, houses began to line the road and that was a sign we were approaching civilization. Before long, South Hadley center appears with its town common and a couple of cafes and shops. We crossed the main road of College Street and entered the Mt. Holyoke College campus on Park Street. The bus turned on Lower Lake Road, passing a nice brook and other campus buildings.

The ponds of Mt. Holyoke

Soon, the bus pulled up to the main stop of Mt. Holyoke and layover point for the 39E and Route 38 to Amherst, and everyone got off the bus here.

Resting before a trip back to Northampton

Overview
With the trip lasting just under 25 minutes, the 39E is a fast and scenic way for people to get between South Hadley and Northampton, and their respective colleges. These colleges are members of the Five College Consortium, so its not uncommon for a Smith student to take classes at Mt. Holyoke and vise-versa. The 39E operates hourly on academic weekdays only.

So, what’s so bad about the 39E? Firstly, the route designation is misleading from the start. The normal Route 39 only serves Mt. Holyoke during “Winter Session”, which is just 3 weeks in January. How can the PVTA call this route the 39 express when the regular 39 never serves Mt. Holyoke for most of the year? *Secondly, as it turns out, UMass Transit also operates the 39E, but its just for two trips in the late afternoon (and only found on the Rt. 39’s schedule). Just have UMass Transit operate every trip of the 39E! That would save passengers from the cut-away bus and non-college students/faculty from having to use the farebox.

Considering all of this, the 39E is a route that leaves much to be desired. I admit that the concept and frequency of the route itself is fine, but the way the shuttle bus is used, the misleading nature of the 39E, and the fact that VATCo and UMass Transit both operate the 39E, leaves me pretty unhappy with this route.