You’re not going to find a faster way through public transportation. My ex lives near Amherst and when my car was broken, I took a Greyhound bus Boston to Springfield then used the PVTA buses the rest of the way. It was my only option but just the PVTA from Springfield to Granby(right before Amherst) took over an hour when it’s a 15-20minute drive in a car. The Greyhound does stop in Framingham to pick up people so you could get on there and then the PVTA to Amherst but it’s going to be at least 2 1/2 hours for you. My sympathies to you, I did that trek every week for a while and because I live in Shirley I had to take the commuter rail (1hr) to North Station first, walk to South Station, 2hrs on the Greyhound, and then another hour on the PVTA. I’d usually have to wait an hour or more between the train/bus schedules too. I finally ended just renting a car one time and my god it was glorious! I wouldn’t recommend it but if you take the public transit route, I used this app Moovit - whatever city you’re in it will give you every option and combination of public transit available for your route. Wicked helpful when trying to align multiple bus/train schedules and navigate the inevitable detours
exilesamongyou t1_j9rs5ix wrote
Reply to Public transportation options to commute to western Mass from Boston area by sherryxiaoxue
You’re not going to find a faster way through public transportation. My ex lives near Amherst and when my car was broken, I took a Greyhound bus Boston to Springfield then used the PVTA buses the rest of the way. It was my only option but just the PVTA from Springfield to Granby(right before Amherst) took over an hour when it’s a 15-20minute drive in a car. The Greyhound does stop in Framingham to pick up people so you could get on there and then the PVTA to Amherst but it’s going to be at least 2 1/2 hours for you. My sympathies to you, I did that trek every week for a while and because I live in Shirley I had to take the commuter rail (1hr) to North Station first, walk to South Station, 2hrs on the Greyhound, and then another hour on the PVTA. I’d usually have to wait an hour or more between the train/bus schedules too. I finally ended just renting a car one time and my god it was glorious! I wouldn’t recommend it but if you take the public transit route, I used this app Moovit - whatever city you’re in it will give you every option and combination of public transit available for your route. Wicked helpful when trying to align multiple bus/train schedules and navigate the inevitable detours