Roxbury Community College student Alberto Castro told reporters at an event held by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on March 22, 2022 that fare-free bus service helps him save money he can later put towards his two children. State House News Service photo/ Screenshot
For Alberto Castro, a father of two and student at Roxbury Community College, free bus rides means saving money that he can later put towards his children.
“I want a better future for them. It helps to put more money in my pocket to buy food or for medication or things like that,” he said during a press conference Tuesday morning. “It definitely helps me and my family.”
A trio of MBTA bus lines in Boston – Routes 23, 28, and 29 – are part of a two-year fare-free pilot program that launched on March 1 and the bus routes partly pass by Roxbury Community College. City officials have said instituting free bus rides on routes running through Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester will speed up daily service and help residents save money. The free rides are being funded by one-time federal funds that will eventually dry up, but the initiative is showing what’s possible for some MBTA users, and also giving public officials time to think about how they can possibly finance the initiative’s long-term expansion.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said free transportation lifts a “mental burden” people may feel when working public transportation plans into a daily schedule.
“I think any working parent or family member with kids is used to that daily toil of how am I going to get here on time, get back to pick up the kids, figure out what’s for dinner, and how we put that on the table for everyone,” she said. “It’s a very familiar feeling that if you have to get all these things done, and transportation is an extra cost and a barrier, then you start to ration what you have to do or you try to just jam things together.”
The two-year program follows a six-month fare-free pilot on Boston’s Route 28. An MBTA analysis of that foray released in late-February found free bus rides boosted ridership by more than 20 percent, though only one-third of riders said they saved money.
The ridership increase on Route 29 during the six-month pilot had minimal negative impacts on travel times and reliability, the MBTA study found. The analysis said there was a 20 percent reduction in dwell times – time spent in the same spot – for riders when compared to similar routes.
Roxbury Community College student Andrea Jonas said free bus rides help her save money that she can put towards her nursing education. She said in communities like Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury, fare-free buses help low-income residents access services that they otherwise couldn’t get to without a car.
“Free transportation is very important to us,” she said. “And you guys are changing the community by doing this, actually. So you guys are making a big difference. I just want to say that.”
The city announced plans to run three free bus lines in Boston in November 2021, with Wu looking to make good on a campaign promise. The pilot draws funding from $8 million the city received from the federal government to cover the cost of lost fare revenue, and if necessary, to expand service.
