THE FARE-FREE train has left the MBTA station, according to Gov. Maura Healey’s transportation chief, who says making the whole system fare-free is unreasonable.
In a recent talk to business leaders, Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the state transportation secretary, indicated that while 13 of the 15 Massachusetts regional transit authorities can now provide year-round fare-free service, thanks to state grants, that won’t be happening anytime soon at the largest one, the MBTA, which primarily serves Greater Boston.
The stance puts transportation officials in the position of effectively saying to leading regional transit authorities they can be fare-free, while at the same time saying no to Boston, the state’s economic engine, and to elected officials like Michelle Wu, who had a fare-free T as a key plank in her 2021 mayoral platform and is up for reelection in 2025.
Wu has advocated for a fare-free MBTA since 2019, when she was a city councilor, arguing that public transit should be treated like public schools, parks, and libraries. (The Boston Public Library’s facade in Copley Square carries the motto, “Free to All.”)
During her tenure as mayor, she has primarily focused on fare-free buses. Through a pilot program running through March 2026 and paid for by Boston through $350,000 a month in federal pandemic funds, three fare-free routes serve riders from Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury. Half of the riders are low-income, and they’ve accrued savings of an average of $35 a month.
But Tibbits-Nutt, during a transit summit inside the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters last month, said there isn’t enough money, even at the federal level, to cover the revenue hole created through fare-free public transit system-wide.
“I would be surprised anytime in the near future you saw any large transit agency in the United States go completely fare-free until there’s a completely different way that we fund transit,” she told attendees of the transit summit.
“It is just not reasonable and I’m not sure it is actually going to get to the actual central point of equity,” she added.
Healey and Tibbits-Nutt have instead pushed for income-based fares at the T, which allows Massachusetts residents who are between the ages of 18 and 64, and enrolled in a state assistance program, to get 50 percent off all fares. An estimated 60,000 riders are expected to be eligible, and the cost was previously tagged at roughly $30 million to start, and grow to up to $59 million.
“I think that is actually the most impactful thing you can do, that you can actually sustain,” Tibbits-Nutt said. “Because that’s the other thing: If you go fare-free, there’s no going back. You can’t step back from that.”
The regional transit authorities that are going fare-free – in Brockton, the Berkshires, Worcester and Cape Ann, among others – received $30 million in grants through the fiscal year 2025 budget, and they are on a “different scale,” since they are bus-based, and easier to expand than a rail-based system like the MBTA, Tibbits-Nutt said.
Meanwhile, the T earlier this year launched a new payment system allowing people to tap their smartphone or credit card rather than a CharlieCard. The system, years behind schedule, has cost roughly $1 billion. The T has also hired new staff to curb fare evasion.
Brian Kane, the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, which speaks for T riders and taxpayers, noted the transit agency is facing a $700 million deficit in seven months. A 31-member transportation task force, appointed by Healey and chaired by Tibbits-Nutt, has been tasked with issuing “recommendations for a long-term sustainable transportation finance plan” that includes not just the T but also roads and bridges.
Many T riders’ trips are already subsidized more than they were before Covid-19 hit, and the T’s fare revenue remains significantly down from where it was before the pandemic, according to Kane. In 2019, fare revenue came to $700 million, and now it’s down to over $400 million.
But Wu is also proving that there are operational benefits to fare-free buses, he added. Allowing riders to board for free at all doors speeds up service for all.
Asked about Tibbits-Nutt’s comments this week, Wu said city officials have had “ongoing conversations” about the existing three fare-free routes and potential partnerships with other communities who share MBTA routes with Boston.
Healey has also talked about the pathway to fare-free bus service statewide as an important component of providing “reliable, convenient, affordable transit for everyone,” Wu added. “Fare-free bus has always been the first step in making sure that we could capture the greatest benefit from where the disparities are, from where the service improvements would come, and where the greatest share of residents will benefit financially from having those fares go right back into their pockets and then being able to support their families.”
Jim Rooney, the head of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce who hosted Tibbits-Nutt last month, said he agrees with Wu that public transportation should be seen as a public good, and he supports income-based fares, but “when you get down to the financial feasibility of [a fare-free MBTA], it begins to fall apart and no one has solved for that yet.”
Before taking over as CEO of the business group, Rooney worked for the late mayor Thomas Menino and helped run the MBTA as deputy general manager. He said he believes people have a “little skin in the game” when they pay a fare, and he subscribes to the belief that making it completely free would devalue the product.
“I’ve said this to people who’ve asked me about [a fare-free T], if you stand on Broadway in South Boston and look at the young professionals getting on the bus to come downtown to their jobs, they can afford the two dollars,” he said. “Not everyone needs a free ride on public transit.”
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