Boston: Mayor Michelle Wu, Secretary Phil Eng Announce Extension of Fare-Free Transit Program

Mayor Michelle Wu and MassDOT Interim Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng today announced that the City of Boston has extended its successful fare-free transit program through the end of 2026. During the pilot, ridership has grown faster on Routes 23, 28, and 29 than anywhere else in the MBTA system, while saving families money and improving bus speed and reliability.

"Fare-free buses are delivering results for residents—saving commuters money, easing traffic, and growing our economy by connecting Bostonians to work, fun, and family," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "We're proud to partner with the MBTA to extend this successful program as we continue building a more reliable, accessible, and affordable transportation system across Boston."

"I'm glad to support the extension of the City's Fare-Free Program, ensuring that the City's dollars can go farther for their residents," said Interim Secretary of Transportation and MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. "The MBTA is happy to collaborate with our municipal partners on efforts that make public transit easier to use and more widely available. Thank you to Mayor Wu and the City of Boston for their continued partnership."

"Fare-free bus service has delivered real benefits for riders, families, and neighborhoods across Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan," said Nick Gove, Chief of Streets for the City of Boston. "By extending this program, we are continuing to make transit more affordable, more accessible, and easier to use for the communities that depend on these routes every day. We are grateful for our partnership with the MBTA and excited to keep building on this work."

Since the beginning of 2026, riders have taken nearly 23,000 fare-free trips every weekday on Routes 23, 28, and 29. All-door boarding has cut dwell times at stops by about 20%, meaning that riders have a faster trip when they take a fare free bus.

"The extension of the fare-free bus program is great news for our neighbors," said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. "Boston's fare-free bus program has helped our neighbors' get where they need to go, connected our communities, and increased accessibility to work, school, healthcare, the grocery store, and essential resources across the Massachusetts 7^th. Public transit should be a public good and that's exactly what the success of this fare-free program demonstrates. I'm grateful to Mayor Wu, the MBTA, and our transit equity advocates for their partnership and leadership."

"I want to thank Mayor Wu and Secretary Eng and their entire teams for developing a fare free solution to extend bus service along Blue Hill Ave through the end of the year," said State Representative Russell Holmes. "The continued growth in use of the routes along Blue Hill Ave show how vital the need is for fare free service for more than 40,000 daily transit users each day."

"Access to reliable public transportation should never depend on what someone can afford. Public transit is a public good worthy of our investment. The extension of Boston's free bus program is an investment in our residents, our workforce, and our communities," said Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune. "By keeping fares free on these routes, used heavily by our working class and Black and Brown residents, we're helping families save money, making it easier for people to get to work, school, and essential services, and continuing to build a more equitable and connected city. I'm proud to support this effort and grateful to everyone who has worked to make it possible."

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"Fare-free bus service is an investment in equity and opportunity," said City Councilor At-Large Henry Santana. "Reliable public transit connects residents to jobs, healthcare, education, and essential services while reducing financial barriers for working families. Expanding fare-free service helps build a more accessible, connected, and thriving Boston."

"I am ecstatic to see the extension of the fare-free buses to the end of the calendar year," said City Councilor Enrique Pepén. "Residents and visitors depend on these routes to travel through the city, especially since the #28 is one of the most used buses in the whole MBTA system. This extension shows our commitment to public transit and accessibility."

"Boston's fare free bus program serves as a national model for how government can respond to the needs of its residents," said Jeff Rosenblum, Interim Executive Director, Board Chair, Co-Founder, LivableStreets. "We have heard directly from riders on the positive impact on their lives: less stress every time they need to get somewhere and more money available for groceries. More people are choosing transit over driving, and some have started riding the bus for the first time because it's free."

According to the City's evaluations, more than a quarter of riders save at least $20 a month, money that families now put toward groceries, medicine, rent, or school supplies. Some riders say the program has helped them build emergency funds, cover school expenses, or simply stay in their homes.  The program also attracted new riders, helped ridership grow faster than the MBTA bus system overall, and kept buses moving reliably even as more people chose to ride.

In September 2024, the MBTA implemented the Income-Eligible Reduced Fare program, which lowered the costs of transit trips for some riders across this region.  This program also resulted in cost savings that are being applied to deliver this extension through the end of the year.  The City anticipates working this summer and fall on options for the fare free program in 2027.

Last April, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the release of Boston's 2030 Climate Action Plan, a roadmap for how the City will achieve its carbon emissions reduction and climate resilience goals. These targets include reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Transportation related emissions account for almost 30 percent of the City's overall emissions.  One of the key strategies in the plan is to reduce tailpipe emissions by encouraging more residents to take public transit, including through the continuation of fare-free bus routes.

"Extending the fare free bus program is an important step towards our climate goals," said Brian Swett, Boston's Chief Climate Officer.  "Making bus trips free and fast will continue to boost bus ridership, which will ease congestion and lower emissions for our region."

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"Extending fare-free service on Routes 23, 28, and 29 is an investment in the people who rely on the bus every day and in the neighborhoods that keep Boston moving," said Mary Skelton-Roberts, the City of Boston's representative on the MBTA Board of Directors. "Transportation decisions are also decisions about household affordability, public health, climate, and opportunity. This program has shown how strong partnership between the City and the MBTA can deliver real benefits for riders, and I'm grateful to see that work continue for the communities along these vital routes."

"Extending Boston's fare-free pilot supports the BIPOC communities relying on routes like the 28, which saw a 38% ridership surge but remains one of the slowest buses on the network," said Caitlin Allen-Connelly, Executive Director, TransitMatter.  "It provides further incentive for the City of Boston to continue to advance transit priority projects to keep buses moving, ensuring transit is both affordable and dependable."

The City and the MBTA are also working together to advance a broader transit priority, beautification, and traffic safety project along Blue Hill Ave. This effort is focused on making one of Boston's most important bus corridors safer, more reliable, and more welcoming for everyone who uses it, whether they are riding the bus, walking, biking, driving, or visiting local businesses. By pairing fare-free service with street improvements such as more reliable bus operations, safer crossings, better curb management, and public realm upgrades, the City and MBTA are working to create a corridor that better serves residents, supports local neighborhoods, and reflects the importance of Blue Hill Ave as a vital connection through Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.

Origins of Boston's Fare-Free Bus Program

The City of Boston's fare-free bus program began with the launch of a fare-free pilot on MBTA Route 28 in August 2021. The pilot tested whether eliminating fares on one of the MBTA's highest-ridership bus routes could make transit more affordable, speed up boarding, improve rider experience, and support ridership recovery along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor.

Building on the success of that pilot, Mayor Michelle Wu announced in February 2022 that the City would expand fare-free service to MBTA Routes 23, 28, and 29 beginning March 1, 2022. The expanded program focused on routes serving Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, including communities along and near Blue Hill Avenue that have historically been underserved by the transit network and where many residents rely on bus service for daily trips to work, school, medical appointments, shopping, and other essential destinations.

The program reflects Mayor Wu's commitment to making public transit more accessible, affordable, and reliable, beginning with bus service. It also built on years of advocacy from community organizations and transit advocates who had called for fare-free transit as a way to advance equity, reduce household transportation costs, support local businesses, and encourage more people to choose transit.

Early results from the Route 28 pilot showed strong promise. After fares were eliminated, ridership on Route 28 rebounded to more than 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with more than 12,000 daily riders. The pilot also showed that fare-free service could support all-door boarding and reduce the amount of time buses spend stopped while passengers board, helping make service faster and more efficient.

The program has been funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), approved by the Boston City Council and implemented in partnership with the MBTA. Through the program, the City and MBTA created an opportunity to study the longer-term impacts of fare-free bus service on ridership, reliability, travel behavior, affordability, congestion, and rider experience, while delivering immediate benefits to riders on three of Boston's most important bus routes.

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