Hate Gas Prices? Worcester Area Has Free Solution

WORCESTER, MA — Travel from Brookfield to Shrewsbury center, from downtown Worcester to downtown Webster and from Tatnuck to Lake Quinsigamond. It's all free.

With gas prices across the region surging due to the war in Ukraine, local residents might be looking for a cheaper way to get around. It's a good time to remember that all Worcester Regional Transit Authority buses are free right now.

Totally free. You can take the bus pretty much anywhere across the 37 communities served by WRTA. The system's paratransit system is also free right now, offering disabled residents pickup and drop off services from most places inside the WRTA service area.

On Monday, AAA Northeast reported Massachusetts had broken an all-time record for a gallon of gas at $4.16, and prices have only continued to go up.

According to GasBuddy, the cheapest gallon of regular unleaded was $4.19 at a few stations scattered around Worcester on Wednesday. But prices were up as high as $4.44 at a Shell station along Grove Street in Worcester, $4.29 at the Maple Avenue Mobil in Shrewsbury and $4.45 at a Sunoco along Route 20 in Millbury.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on Russian energy imports, a move that will punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but will likely mean higher gas prices in the U.S. and across the globe.

If high gas prices become a long-term problem, WRTA will be there for local residents. The bus system will be free until at least the end of 2022 under a fare-free experiment that began about two years ago at the outset of another global crisis: the coronavirus pandemic.

How to ride WRTA

• Find WRTA bus routes here
• Find WRTA bus schedules here
• Track WRTA bus locations here