128 Business Council

128 Business Council is a Waltham-based nonprofit that tackles traffic congestion and weak regional connectivity along the Route 128 West corridor. It brings together employers, developers, residential communities and municipalities to build transportation partnerships, and it runs real services, including commuter shuttles, that give people reliable car-free options to reach member sites. For commuters, it is a resource for getting to work without driving; for member companies, it helps make their locations more competitive.

The council traces back to 1985, when GTE Laboratories, Polaroid and The Nelson Companies jointly funded a transportation impact study of the corridor between Route 2 and Route 20. That study warned that congestion would harm the region without quick action, and the council formed two years later to develop alternative transportation and promote environmentally friendly practices. It has since grown in geography and scope, and now also positions itself as a source of planning research and data.

What to Know

• It was the first Transportation Management Association in Massachusetts.
• The council is now in its fourth decade of service to its members.
• Its board president is Doug Waybright of The Nelson Companies.
• The staff brings 67 combined years of transportation planning and operations experience.
• It publishes rider survey results and research such as its work on the peak hour effect.