In today’s daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.

We celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Like Dr. King, I too have a dream. Someday I want my neighborhood, and all neighborhoods in Worcester, to experience and be a part of the current “Worcester Renaissance.”

LAWRENCE, Mass. — Dionisia Ramos gets on the 37 bus twice a day, rooting through her handbag to dig out the fare and drop it into the slot, so it came as shock several months ago when the bus driver reached out his hand to stop her.

WORCESTER—The proof is in the pedestrian, as illustrated by a Lincoln Street “walk audit” conducted earlier this year by the Worcester Research Bureau.

Would you be in favor of the WRTA going fare-free? That is the question asked by the Worcester Free Fare Task Force in August and September of 2019 and now being being proposed for public hearings by City Counsilor Gary Rosen (chair of the Public Service and Transportation Committee).

WORCESTER - The Worcester Regional Research Bureau has taken steps to encourage the public to weigh in on the walkability of their neighborhoods.

A report released Thursday by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau says Worcester is trailing five other Central Massachusetts communities in its commitment to creating a walkable city.

City leaders in Worcester, Massachusetts, plan to examine whether a free bus system could work in the community.

City leaders in Worcester, Massachusetts, plan to examine whether a free bus system could work in the community.

It’s been roughly eight months since the Worcester Regional Research Bureau broached the idea of a fare-free bus system for the Worcester Regional Transit Authority, but not much has happened at City Hall to follow up.