Traffic & Transit
MA Free Bus Transit Experiment Ends On New Year's Eve
Almost every bus system in Massachusetts has been free since November, part of a MassDOT bid to boost transit use.
WORCESTER, MA — If you haven't tried transit yet, you have until the end of the year to ride for free.
MassDOT sent $2.5 million to each regional transit authority (RTA) in the state this year to remove fares starting on Thanksgiving and going through the holiday season. The fare-free period was an effort to give regular riders a break, and introduce new riders to transit.
There are 15 RTAs in Massachusetts serving regions like Worcester, MetroWest, the Pioneer Valley, Merrimack Valley and Montachusett. The fare-free period ends on New Year's Eve — a particularly good day to take a bus to and from festivities.
(The MBTA did not participate in the experiment, but will offer free transit across the system on New Year's Eve beginning at 8 p.m.)
Two RTAs in Massachusetts have a larger fare-free project ongoing.
The Worcester Regional Transit Authority — which serves a wide area from Webster to Princeton — has been free since March 2020. The effort began due to a pandemic boarding policy, but was a goal of local transit boosters long before COVID-19 appeared.
The Merrimack Valley RTA removed fares in March for at least two years after previously experimenting with free buses. The agency has reported a 121 percent increase in ridership since starting the fare-free period. WRTA, meanwhile, maintained the highest ridership of any large RTA in Massachusetts throughout the pandemic.
The MBTA has also removed fares on three bus lines, the 23, 28, and 29, for two years. At the end of the period, the T will evaluate how removing fares impacted ridership.
