Fare-free bus rides could be here to stay now that millions of dollars have been set aside in the state budget that will allow transit authorities statewide to waive fees — and politicians and others who support the idea say it has the potential to be tranformative for residents throughout the Valley.

“Community members will benefit significantly. Free public transportation supports access to employment, school, health care, food, human services, family and friends,” said state Rep. Mindy Domb of Amherst in an email to the Gazette. “That’s true if you live in a city or a rural area, but may be more acute in rural communities given distances.”

Funding for this initiative is from the $1.3 billion in revenue generated by the “Fair Share” surtax of 4% on the amount of annual income over $1 million. The budget signed last week by Gov. Maura Healey sets aside $100 million in Fair Share funding for regional transit funding and grants, including $30 million for the elimination of fares for public transit service throughout the state.

Domb said the benefits of increased access and connectivity that free fares can provide were made especially apparent by a free transit program, initiated in March 2023, for guests at the Craig’s Place homeless shelter in Amherst. Eliminating the cost of bus fares allowed guests to access job opportunities and vital services that were difficult to come by before. Participants were able to visit grocery stores and pharmacies, and even begin to pursue housing. Of those who used the free passes, 71% said the free fares helped them on their way to securing housing, and 16% claimed that it helped them gain employment.

“The way people were able to more easily access housing, more easily access work, and really turn their lives around was incredible,” state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa said of the Craig’s Place program. “We’re looking forward to seeing more of that, because the more people are using a service, the easier it is to get funding for it.”

Sabadosa noted how pandemic-era decreases in ridership led to “a decrease in some of the routes” for local transit authorities, and how encouraging ridership could lead to the bolstering of the system overall. She also said that, in the event that Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) secures funding for free fares, the money could help strengthen the existing partnership between the local five colleges and PVTA, which already provides free rides for students.

Ridership rises

While the PVTA has been offering free rides this summer, the Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) has waived its fees since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. For both authorities, the new state funding could offer a continuation of the positive impacts they’ve been seeing in terms of ridership and the elimination of administration hassles.

FRTA administrators said covering bus fares with CARES pandemic relief funding brought ridership numbers back up to pre-COVID levels.

“It’s much easier for drivers. They don’t have to wait for people to fumble with change or deal with conflict when people are short,” said Tina Cote, administrator for FRTA. “People are really appreciative that they can get on buses and not have to pay a fare, and use that money toward something else.”

Cote stated that the elimination of fares has also made for smoother operations on the administrative side. Often, fare boxes on the buses would break, leading to difficulties collecting the fares in the first place and creating long wait times for people trying to board the buses. FRTA staff is also able to save time by not having to repeatedly count up the collected fare box money.

According to Cote, not much change is expected with the continuation of fare-free rides, but FRTA hopes to continue the success they’ve seen thus far.

For PVTA, free summer rides will continue to run through the end of this month to celebrate the transit authority’s 50 years of service, using funding from the state’s Try-Transit Program.

“Fixed route ridership has increased,” said PVTA spokesperson Brandy Pelletier in an email. “We believe it is attributed to the fare free program.”

This summer, PVTA saw fixed ridership back up to 95.7% of 2019 levels in June, and 86.8% of 2019 levels in July, Pelletier said.

PVTA officials say that it’s uncertain if and when the new state-funded fare-free rides will be implemented, as transit authorities are awaiting more information about the program.

“The language in the state budget indicates it is a grant program to be managed by MassDOT for which details/specifics are not currently available,” wrote Pelletier.