Next Stop #1 - No Ticket to Ride

At the start of the pandemic, federal subsidies helped to keep public transit running even though there were few passengers. There was less of a need to collect fares and in fact many Regional Transit Authorities did not. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu first promoted the idea of free bus service as a city councilor, the idea became reality when she took office.

Using 8 million dollars in federal Covid relief money, Mayor Wu made 3 of the busiest routes in Boston free for the next 2 years. Other transit agencies like the Merrimack Valley and Worcester RTAs are also adopting fare free models. And the creation of a means-tested fare system to make transit more affordable for low income riders is under consideration by the MBTA with the encouragement of many transit advocacy groups.

We will look at the pros and cons of making mass transit more affordable.
How do we create free fares, or lower fares for low-income riders? What would affordable transportation look like? What is the effect on ridership? And what will happen to the current fare free pilots when the COVID-19 relief funds are depleted?

----- Contents of the video ----
0:00:00 - Intro
0:03:50 - Presentation Panelists
0:04:34 - Free Fares in Merrimack Valley
0:12:21 - What About MBTA
0:17:26 - Public Transportation Public Good
0:29:33 - Source of Funding
0:37:48 - Role of Legislature
0:44:11 - Audience Questions
0:53:22 - What Next?

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