Earlier this month, I took a ride in a van.

It wasn’t just any old van – it was a vehicle rented by half a dozen Western Mass. residents who commute to Boston every day for work. They meet in the McDonald’s parking lot at Exit 7 in Ludlow, where an Enterprise van is waiting for them. They leave at 5:30 a.m. every morning and get back around 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. each night.

They pool their money to rent the van each month, and take turns driving each way. It comes out to about $338 per month per person.

As Juli, the van “captain,” told me, this is still the most cost-effective option, cheaper than taking a commercial bus every day or driving to Worcester to take the commuter rail from there.

For some, they commute because their employers left the Greater Springfield area, and they had to follow their jobs to Boston. Relocating entirely – buying a home in Greater Boston’s overheated housing market – is out of reach for most families.

And it doesn’t necessarily make sense to do that when you’ve built a community here in Western Mass., where your family is, where your children’s school and friends are.

For others, they had to expand their job search because there just aren’t that many jobs available in Western Mass. for the skill-sets they have. Like Kevin, who grew up in Chicopee and met his wife here, they built their lives here and they don’t want to leave that behind. So they have to commute for the kinds of jobs that they are qualified to do.

I was inspired by the work ethic of my constituents, who wake up before dawn and share the cost of a trip that often exceeds two hours, just to make it to a job that keeps food on the table and a roof over their families’ heads.

But they should not have to do this just to keep a job they are qualified for.

First of all, more of these jobs should be available in Western Massachusetts. That’s why a number of my colleagues and I sent a letter to Gov. Baker urging him to place the headquarters of the new state Department of Family and Medical Leave in Springfield. When the Department of Unemployment Insurance closed its Springfield call center in 2016, we lost 57 middle class jobs here. Now, the state Lottery plans to move its warehouse operations from Springfield to Worcester.

Second, if Western Massachusetts residents do choose to commute to Boston, there should be reasonable options to do so. As Juli told me, they have been leaving at the same time for the past ten years but arriving in Boston later and later. Traffic is getting worse. And fast, frequent and reliable rail service connecting us to Boston must become a reality for Western Mass.

Our state’s economy is fundamentally unfair when the vast majority of new growth is happening in only a handful of zip codes, while the rest of our Commonwealth struggles to keep up.

The commuters I met on the van this month are losing time with their spouses and children, giving up their health and well-being in the process. They should be able to make a living and have time to spend on what that living is for.

State Sen. Eric Lesser
Longmeadow