U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley refiled laws that seeks to make public transportation fare-free for all customers.
“Fare-free transit is an economic, racial, and climate justice issue, and it’s high time we invest in public transit as the public good that it is,” Pressley mentioned in a Friday assertion.
“Making our infrastructure fare-free will help folks access essential resources like jobs, school, child care, the grocery store, and the hospital while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making our communities more connected.”
First launched in 2020, the Freedom to Transfer Act would search to make public transportation, together with the MBTA, free by establishing a $5 billion aggressive grant program to help state and native fare-free efforts, investing in infrastructure and security enhancements, significantly in low-income communities, and making certain grant recipients use funds to handle fairness gaps in transit programs.
Markey and Pressley say the laws builds on fare-free pilot packages in Boston and people via regional transit authorities throughout the state such because the Worcester Regional Transit Authority and Merrimack Valley Transit.
“All across Massachusetts and the country, more communities are joining the fare-free revolution,” Markey mentioned in a press release. “By making public transit free, we are able to alleviate the excessive burden of transportation prices on working households whereas constructing a system that’s extra accessible and environment friendly.
“Free buses and trains also means less traffic congestion, cleaner air and a safer working environment for transit workers.”
Low-income households spend almost 30% of their family earnings on transportation bills. Site visitors congestion has worsened greenhouse gasoline emissions and air pollution, exacerbating local weather change and contributing to well being points like bronchial asthma and lung most cancers in “marginalized communities,” in accordance a press release issued by Pressley’s workplace.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu threw her help behind the proposed laws, saying Friday that “free transit is an investment in the public good and in our economy and communities.”
“Boston’s fare-free bus routes have had the highest ridership of the entire bus system, and we’ve seen improved service from buses being able to load faster at each stop,” Wu mentioned in a press release. “Most of all, commuters no longer have to ration trips to connect all the pieces of their lives.”
Critics of fare-free public transportation have pointed to the MBTA’s monetary struggles lately.
The MBTA Board accepted a $3.24 billion fiscal 2026 price range that will increase complete bills by $222 million, or 7%, final month, in response to a State Home Information Service report. MBTA officers mentioned the company’s price range deficit is projected at $168 million within the FY26 price range.
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