This summer, transit authorities in Brockton and on Cape Cod are experimenting with using free fares to encourage people to ride the bus. From June 19 through September 5, the Brockton Area Transit Authority (BAT) is running fixed-route and paratransit services free of charge on weekends. The idea came from Brockton’s mayor, Robert F. Sullivan, who suggested it at a BAT advisory board meeting to complement the City’s “Brockton Open for Business” campaign. The advisory board approved it unanimously. In addition to assisting the City’s initiative, BAT expected it would encourage riders to get back on board. “It seems like a win for the passengers, a win for the City, and a win for BAT,” shares Administrator Michael Lambert. “We have capacity on weekends, so we were able to implement this without added costs and minimal reduction in revenue.” The Mayor highlighted the free bus service at events, BAT promoted it through newspapers and social media, and riders have also shared information through word of mouth. So far weekend ridership is up 20 percent over the spring.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) began piloting “Free Fare Fridays” on its fixed-route services July 2. Building on the success of CCRTA’s existing program offering free fares to older adults riding its fixed-route services on Wednesdays, CCRTA’s Mobility Manager suggested free fares for the general public as a strategy to welcome riders of all ages back onboard and attract new riders. “We wanted to show essential workers and people on the Cape that we appreciate their trust in us, and it’s also been a good way for us to incentivize people to try public transit for the first time, whether they’re residents or seasonal visitors,” explains Administrator Tom Cahir. To get the word out, CCRTA issued a press release, used social media, and posted ads on their buses. They also arranged for partner agencies to share it, including local Chambers of Commerce, local hotels, and the Cape Flyer, whose riders can connect directly to a free local bus on Fridays. In the first month of the pilot, CCRTA saw ridership steadily increase on Fridays.

In addition to BAT and CCRTA, the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority piloted a fare-free week in July, with the intention of promoting that they are open for business and sharing information about service changes and a new transfer policy that went into effect July 1. Starting August 29, a partnership between the City of Boston and the MBTA will offer three months of free rides on the Route 28 bus, similar to the partnership between the City of Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority that has offered free service on three routes in Lawrence since 2019. The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority is offering discounted fares through September, and effective July 1, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority made their pilot program offering fare-free bus rides for older adults on Tuesdays permanent. The Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) and the Franklin Regional Transit Authority have not resumed collecting fares since pausing fare collection in the early days of the pandemic and have each announced that they will run fare-free buses through the end of the calendar year. Despite being fare-free for over a year, WRTA reports that its ridership is still only about two thirds of what it was before the pandemic, so WRTA leadership is instead looking towards service improvements and expansion in hopes of bringing more riders onboard.

Equity, mobility, and the environment are focus areas for Good2Go, a new carshare program that launched in Boston earlier this year. Good2Go uses only electric vehicles, locates them in residential neighborhoods where a high proportion of households do not have cars, and makes the pricing and processes accessible to low-income drivers. Currently, four vehicles are available at three sites in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Over the coming months, Good2Go plans to expand to eight vehicles in at least four locations, and hopes over time to expand to other parts of Massachusetts as well.

Ensuring that low-income drivers could access and benefit from the program was a priority from the beginning. Pricing is tiered, and residents can qualify for the reduced price if they are on MassHealth, receive a range of benefits such as SNAP or WIC, or demonstrate a low enough income. Drivers can access cars through a smartphone app or by calling a 24/7 bilingual call center. In addition to credit cards and debit cards, Good2Go accepts payment through a prepaid debit card, which allows drivers without a bank account to participate.

Good2Go came together through a collaboration of local and national partners including E4theFuture, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Eversource, the City of Boston, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and Nuestra Comunidad Community Development Corporation, as well as Mobility Development, which had previous experience developing equity-oriented and electric carshare programs in upstate New York, Central California, and Los Angeles. Learn more from these articles in the Boston Globe and StreetsblogMASS. Local drivers can sign up for the carshare, and organizations can contact EVGood2Go to learn more or join the partnership.

On August 7, the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) began piloting weekend microtransit in portions of Framingham and Natick covering both downtowns as well as the “Golden Triangle” shopping area along Route 9. When ready to travel, riders can summon an on-demand ride through downloading the CATCH Connect app or by calling MWRTA, and a wheelchair-accessible vehicle driven by a MWRTA driver will appear and take them where they want to go within the service area.

MWRTA launched its first microtransit pilot this past February in Wellesley, where the microtransit took the place of a low-ridership bus service. The new pilot experiments with offering Sunday service, which MWRTA has never had for the general public, but which riders have often requested. A recent CTPS study looking at feasibility of Sunday service recommended microtransit in the Golden Triangle region as a good place to start. Over the course of the year-long pilot, MWRTA will analyze the usage data to see whether ridership patterns would support a fixed-route bus or whether microtransit is a better fit for the long term. Some MWRTA fixed-route buses do run on Saturdays, so the pilot will also allow MWRTA to see what happens when passengers have both modes available.

MWRTA Administrator Ed Carr expresses optimism about this new mode: "Microtransit is the long sought after solution for the suburban/rural mobility management lack of density problem, which is how to connect outliers to fixed routes and shuttles. Technology now makes this possible.”

MassMobility thanks Brandy Pelletier, Manager of Marketing, Advertising & Public Relations at PVTA, for writing this guest article. This article showcases one example of how Massachusetts’ transit authorities have supported vaccine access. For additional examples from around the country, check out these resources from the National Center for Mobility Management. If you would like to submit a guest article or suggest a topic for a future MassMobility article, we welcome you to contact us.

As part of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority’s (PVTA) ongoing response to the pandemic, we have worked proactively to support the efforts of the Commonwealth, our communities, and local medical providers to ensure effective vaccine access for the residents of our service area. To ensure that our riders know where vaccines are being offered in our region, we have created a Vaccination Locations page on our website. This page, which is updated weekly, provides a comprehensive listing of all vaccination sites in our service area with dedicated links to their online booking sites so riders may schedule available appointments through our website if they choose. This page also provides information on which PVTA bus routes serve each location.

We adjusted our Dial-A-Ride and ADA Paratransit trip protocols to provide streamlined scheduling for riders accessing vaccination sites, and we are working directly with regional medical facilities to coordinate scheduling as well. PVTA is also working to provide direct support to the homeless, veterans, homebound individuals, older adults, persons with disabilities, and essential workers without access to transportation by providing taxi service to vaccination sites through a grant-funded program in coordination with Yellow Cab. We also hosted Curative at our Administration Office on July 13 and August 3, offering free Covid-19 vaccines to the community. We posted flyers in all of our vehicles, at terminals and transit hubs, on social media, and blasted to community businesses and organizations to help spread the word about the clinic.

MassMobility thanks WalkBoston for alerting us to this update.

Released this past March, MassDOT’s updated Complete Streets Program Funding Guidance includes a new emphasis on the importance of public engagement, as well as suggestions for how municipalities can incorporate public engagement into all stages of their Complete Streets work. Through MassDOT’s Complete Streets program, municipalities can receive technical assistance and funding to improve street access and conditions for users of all ages, abilities, and travel modes. While MassDOT did not add any new requirements around public engagement, applicants may receive additional consideration of their proposed project by detailing public engagement efforts in the construction funding application.

The idea to add a focus on public engagement came to Cassandra Gascon, Community Grants Program Administrator in MassDOT’s Highway Division, during one of the periodic phone calls she gets from residents curious about ongoing local Complete Streets projects or the program in general. “If we really want our communities to embrace Complete Streets, we have to do it together with them,” she says. Gascon is currently working on incorporating public engagement resources into her other programs, such as Chapter 90.

MassDOT announced Complete Streets grant awards to 18 communities in July, as well as Shared Streets and Spaces grants to 77 municipalities and one transit authority.

Applications are open for the FY22 Community Compact Best Practices Program! Municipalities agree to implement at least one best practice that they select from a list of best practice areas, which include age- and dementia-friendly best practices and transportation best practices. Applications will remain open until funding runs out. For more funding opportunities, check out our webpage on funding for community transportation.

Do you have a great photo of older adults or people with disabilities benefiting from accessible community transportation? Consider submitting it to the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center's annual photo contest. Entries are due September 9.

Northern Essex Elder Transport (NEET) is hiring an Administrator. The Administrator is responsible to the NEET Board of Directors for the management, administrative, and volunteer recruitment functions of the NEET volunteer driver program. To apply, send your resume to info@driveforneet.org.

The Massachusetts Public Health Association is hiring a Part-Time Central and Western Massachusetts Campaign Coordinator to work on a Transit Justice & Stable Neighborhoods campaign.

Many transportation companies that provide human service trips are hiring. If you are interested in applying to drive or serve as a monitor to help consumers access key health and social services, check out these opportunities.

For up-to-date information about a particular transportation service, please contact the transportation provider directly. And remember, if you're taking a trip, bring a mask! Masks are still mandatory on public and private transportation services.

Transportation and vaccine access in Massachusetts:

Vaccine and vaccine outreach information:

Reopening guidance:

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