Transit complex floated as way to ease traffic

Route 128 “is well over capacity,’’ said Krieger said. “We are trying to seek economic development in our communities, but we are going to find we are running into difficulties because people can’t get to work.’’

The commuter rail system is set up on a suburbs-to-city axis, designed to move office workers into Boston each morning and out to their bedroom communities each evening.

Of course, lots of folks still work in downtown Boston, but a growing number of tech and biotech workers commute to one of the giant office parks that line the highway.

Starting at North Station, the Fitchburg line has stops in Cambridge, Waltham, Weston, Lincoln, Concord, South Acton, Littleton, Ayer, and Shirley.

Adding the new stop would enable everyone from software developers to biotech researchers to take the train to Route 128, and then ride a bus to work.

But getting from concept to construction could prove challenging.

First, not surprisingly, is money. Not just the cash to build — that’s still far down the line — but the money for a study to flesh out the idea.

While $150,000 is set to be picked up by the developer of the Polaroid site in Waltham, the coalition is preparing to seek additional funding from other sources, including state transportation officials, Krieger said.

Richard Nangle, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, referred questions to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

“MassDOT planners are always willing to listen to proposals designed to attract more people to public transportation,’’ said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA.

But even if you can prove that a Route 128 transit center will get commuters out of their cars, you still have a problem: Where are you going to build it?

There’s no easy answer to that question, notes David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, which represents developers across the state.