Local News

‘An amazing initiative’: Riders on Boston’s 23, 28, and 29 buses can now ride free

“We had a fun and very smooth bus ride from right in front of Sportsman’s Tennis club over here to the station.”

Mayor Michelle Wu arrives at Ashmont Station in November, when she first announced her plan to eliminate fares on the 23, 28, and 29 bus routes for a two-year period. David L Ryan/Globe Staff

By Arianna MacNeill

March 1, 2022

1 minute to read

The 23, 28, and 29 bus routes are officially free — for at least the next two years.

Mayor Michelle Wu took a celebratory ride on the Route 29 bus to Jackson Square Station in Jamaica Plain Tuesday to mark the occasion.

“I’m so excited,” Wu said during a press conference. “We had a fun and very smooth bus ride from right in front of Sportsman’s Tennis club over here to the station.”

Help us spread the word: Starting today, the 23, 28 & 29 @MBTA buses are free for everyone! @Kim_Janey @RepPressley @SenMarkey pic.twitter.com/GKVV5EvB3S
— Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭 (@MayorWu) March 1, 2022

Kate Bennett, administrator for Boston Housing Authority, praised the measure.

“This is just an amazing initiative,” she said. “This is what equity looks like. And to bring this resource and this service to the public housing communities that we represent across the city, and that intersect so many places with these three bus lines, is just an incredible benefit to our residents.”

Last month, Wu announced that the three bus routes would be fare-free on a two-year pilot, thanks to $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

“We’ve seen it work during the pandemic, and we’ve seen it on the 28 bus,” the mayor said at the time, referring to the three-month pilot run on that route by former acting Mayor Kim Janey. That pilot was extended through the end of the year, and Wu had said she wanted to continue it further.

Despite being free, having Route 28 free didn’t save people much, according to the T, since many still ended up paying for a monthly pass. But ridership went up by about 22 percent, and the wait time was reduced by 20 percent, even though two-thirds of riders still ended up paying a fare, either by buying the pass or by paying for a transfer to another line.

Boston isn’t the only Massachusetts city to make buses free. For the next two years, the entirety of the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority bus system will be free, according to The Boston Globe. It has about 2 million riders annually.

Worcester also eliminated fares in March 2020 and plans to keep it that way at least through 2022.