Boston to spend $1M to extend fare-free MBTA bus pilot for 3 months, price tag hits $17M

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city will spend another $1 million in federal funds to extend a fare-free MBTA bus pilot for three more months.

Wu said Friday that the city will use its remaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars, at a rate of $340,000 per month, to extend the fare-free pilot program for MBTA bus routes 23, 28 and 29, through the end of June.

Based on that monthly reimbursement rate to the MBTA, the program has cost the city about $17.34 million in ARPA funds to waive fares for riders on bus routes that serve Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury since it was launched in March 2022.

Initially envisioned as a two-year pilot, the Wu administration extended the program for two years in February 2024, and now for another three months ahead of its anticipated expiration at the end of this month.

The City of Boston is in talks with the MBTA about how to keep the fare-free bus program in place for the long-term, the mayor’s office said.

“Fare-free bus service helps families, workers, and businesses, and also makes bus service faster and more reliable,” Wu said in a statement. “We are extending this program through June, as we look to work with the MBTA to keep this going.”

The mayor’s office said ridership increased by 35% on the three fare-free routes in the first year of the pilot, which is more than twice the MBTA average. The targeted routes have seen a 16% spike in ridership since before the pandemic.

Surveys conducted by the city have shown more than a quarter of riders using those routes have saved “at least $20 a month,” which they have reported putting toward other household expenses like groceries, medicine, rent or school supplies, the mayor’s office said.

Other survey respondents reported that the fare-free bus transportation has helped them build emergency funds, cover school expenses or “simply stay in their homes,” the mayor’s office said.

Interim Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said Friday that the T has “been pleased to be able to support” the city’s fare-free bus pilot program, but gave no indication of whether it would be extended beyond June.