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Boston will keep three MBTA bus routes fare free through June, extending a popular program that began in 2022. But the long-term future of fare-free transit in the city remains uncertain, with funding for the $4 million-per-year program set to dry up this summer.
Mayor Michelle Wu announced Friday morning that her administration will continue paying the MBTA $340,000 per month to make rides on Routes 23, 28 and 29 free, an initiative that was set to expire at the end of February. Since the program’s inception, the city has used federal pandemic relief dollars to reimburse the T for free trips, but the city expects those dollars to run out by July.
According to City Hall data, ridership on Routes 23, 28 and 29 — which run through Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan — has grown faster than anywhere else in the MBTA system, even exceeding pre-pandemic numbers by a wide margin. Ridership on the system’s subway lines, for comparison, remains well below pre-COVID levels.
“Fare-free bus service helps families, workers and businesses, and also makes bus service faster and more reliable,” Wu said in a written statement. “Carrying 16% more riders than before the pandemic and cutting dwell times by about 20% through all-door boarding, the buses have stayed on schedule even while carrying more passengers.”
Surveys conducted by the city found that 26% of riders on the fare-free routes saved more than $20 a month, and are using their savings to purchase food, save towards long-term goals and build emergency funds.
Wu said the city is currently discussing the program’s long-term future with the MBTA. Spokespeople for the mayor’s office and the MBTA declined to provide further information about the status of those talks.
Phil Eng, the MBTA’s general manager and the state’s interim transportation secretary, said in a statement that the transit agency is happy with the fare-free program’s initial results and has been “pleased to be able to support” Boston.
Boston’s fare free transit plan has been celebrated by national policymakers, cited in numerous studies on the positive effects of fare-free rides, and referenced in a recent New York Times opinion essay calling for more fare-free programs across the nation.
Transit advocates are celebrating the mayor’s decision to extend fare-free rides on the three routes but worry about the program’s future.
“Extending the fare free program is no substitute for a broader plan,” said Caitlin Allen-Connelly, executive director of the Cambridge-based nonprofit TransitMatters. “If the city wants to see this program be successful, it needs a long-term plan.”
