Wu: 3 MBTA bus lines to be free under new 2-year pilot program

Starting next month, MBTA bus Routes 23, 28, and 29 will be fare-free.

Mayor Michelle Wu announced the two-year pilot program while visiting Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester Wednesday morning, calling the move “groundbreaking” and something that the community has been pushing for for “a very, very long time.”

“We know that public transit is a public good and it should be funded that way,” Wu told those gathered for a press conference. “It is true, it has been true … transportation is about connectedness at the end of the day, connecting us to healthcare, to education, to jobs, and to each other.”

Wu noted that transportation is linked to equity and economic mobility, as well as climate justice. The mayor also pointed to the public health benefit of reducing exposure to pollution, as well as “easing traffic and congestion.”

She also stressed it reduces travel time since people don’t have to wait in line, unfurling crumpled dollar bills to pay the fare.

“We’ve seen it work during the pandemic, and we’ve seen it on the 28 bus,” Wu said, referencing the three-month pilot program former Mayor Kim Janey ran for Route 28 from Aug. 9 through Nov. 29 last year. The pilot was then extended through the end of the year, and Wu expressed intentions to extend it further.

Since her earliest days in office, Wu has been committed to making the three bus lines free. The mayor filed an appropriation order back on Nov. 17, a day after she was sworn in, to eliminated fares on the three lines by using $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief.

“The bottom line is this: free fares work,” city Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge said during the press conference. “Since fares came off the 28 bus in August of last year, we’ve seen ridership surge to over 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.”

That amounts to about 12,000 riders per day, he said, adding that the increase in ridership makes Route 28 the most popular bus in the system.

Peggy James, a Mattapan resident and Route 28 bus rider, spoke of the benefits of a fare-free bus during the press conference.

“When I get on the bus … everybody gets on, there’s no hassle, there’s no aggravation about having to stand in line,” James said, noting that she uses the bus to go grocery shopping, do her laundry, and head to the gym. “This is one of the best things that has happened in this city.”

Making the buses free also is a nod to equity, according to Mela Bush Miles, director for transit oriented development at Alternatives for Community and Environment, who mentioned how fare evasion affected men of color more so than other groups of people.

“So there’s a justice component in that,” she said. “You can’t evade a fare if there is no fare. And there was a disproportionate number of African American males and males of color who were being cited for fare evasion in the past. So in the interest of social justice, free fares make a lot of sense.”

The hope is to eventually get to a totally free MBTA, according to Wu. However, she said there are costs that have to be made up, plus “coordination and logistical details.”

The mayor said her office is discussing fare-free pilot programs with other cities and towns.

On the question of moving toward a broader fare free system, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said there are some “important questions about funding.”

“We stand willing to cooperate with municipal partners who want to do this type of work, but there are some larger structural questions that I know that the mayor has been deeply involved in,” he said. “We look forward to continuing that conversation.”

Watch the full press conference:

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