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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1186 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2246
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Patricia D. Jehlen
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to fare free buses.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Patricia D. JehlenSecond MiddlesexVanna Howard17th Middlesex2/2/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/13/2023Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester2/15/2023Adam GomezHampden2/23/2023Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex2/23/2023 1 of 4
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1186 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2246
By Ms. Jehlen, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2246) of Patricia D. Jehlen, Vanna
Howard, James B. Eldridge, Michael O. Moore and other members of the General Court for
legislation relative to fare free buses. Transportation.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2340 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to fare free buses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. (a) There shall be within the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, a
2pilot program for fare free buses. The program shall establish a minimum 1 year pilot, whereby,
3access to bus service is free for any person who boards an MBTA bus, without pass, cash fare, or
4CharlieTicket. The program may include all MBTA bus routes and shall at a minimum include
5no less than 10 priority bus routes as established by the MBTA, and 10 routes that are not top 20
6routes, but that experienced higher than average ridership between the months of March 2020-
7December 2020. The program shall include no less than 3 routes that operate with terminuses at:
81. MBTA commuter rail suburban stations; 2. MBTA heavy rail or subway stations; 3. bus depot
9destinations. 2 of 4
10 (b) There shall be a fare free MBTA bus advisory group consisting of 10 members to
11oversee the pilot program. The advisory group shall include: the general manager of the MBTA;
12the director of bus operations; the secretary of transportation or a designee from the department;
131 members of the fiscal management and control board chosen by the board at a public meeting;
14a labor designee; the executive director of LivableStreets or a designee; the executive director of
15ACE or designee; 1 member of the MBTA advisory council, chosen by the council; 1 person
16representing people with disabilities; 1 seat for an Environmental Justice municipality within the
17MBTA region.
18 (c) The fare free MBTA bus advisory group shall create, with the assistance of MassDOT
19and MBTA staff, goals, standards, and key metrics for the development and tracking of the fare
20free bus pilot. It shall hold public meetings at which public testimony will be accepted not less
21than quarterly and present all relevant data and implementation information. The advisory group
22shall form sub-groups as needed, including to evaluate the impacts on ridership, equity, increase
23in access to MBTA heavy rail, system efficiency, on-time performances of bus routes, any cost
24savings as compared to fare revenue impact, impact on fare evasion, impact on bus driver and
25rider incidents, or any other area identified by the advisory group. The advisory group shall
26identify ridership community representatives for each of the routes that are part of the pilot and
27those representatives shall be allowed to participate in each of the meetings or portions of
28meetings where those routes are discussed. The advisory group shall have full access to any data
29or record related to the pilot. The MBTA and MassDOT shall identify and assign a team of staff
30dedicated solely to the support of the advisory group and the performance of the pilot.
31 (d) The pilot shall commence not later than December 31, 2024. The advisory group shall
32present formal findings not less than every six months thereafter to the joint fiscal management 3 of 4
33and control board and MassDOT Boards. A final report on the pilot shall be submitted to the
34joint fiscal management and control board and MassDOT boards not later than 3 months after
35the conclusion of the pilot.
36 SECTION 2. (a) All Regional Transit Authorities operating in Massachusetts shall
37operate a pilot program for fare free buses. The program shall establish a minimum 1 year pilot,
38where by, access to bus service is free for any person who boards an RTA bus, without pass or
39cash fare. The RTA program may include all bus routes within the specified Regional Transit
40Authority and shall include at least one route that experienced higher than average ridership
41between the months of March 2020-December 2020.
42 (b) There shall be a fare free RTA advisory group to oversee the pilot program. The
43advisory group shall include: 1 representative from each participating RTA; the secretary of
44transportation or a designee from the department; 1 member of RTAAC; 1 person representing
45people with disabilities; 1 member from an Environmental Justice community in a participating
46RTA region; 1 municipal designee within a participating RTA region.
47 (c) The fare free bus RTA advisory group shall create, with the assistance of MassDOT
48staff, establish goals, standards, and key metrics for the development and tracking of the fare free
49bus pilot. It shall hold public meetings at which public testimony will be accepted not less than
50quarterly and present all relevant data and implementation information. The advisory group shall
51form sub-groups as needed, including to evaluate the impacts on ridership, equity, increase in
52access to MBTA heavy rail, system efficiency, on-time performances of bus routes, any cost
53savings as compared to fare revenue impact, impact on fare evasion, impact on bus driver and
54rider incidents, any expansion routes or linkage routes that could be brought online, or any other 4 of 4
55area identified by the advisory group. The advisory group shall identify ridership community
56representatives for each of the routes that are part of the pilot and those representatives shall be
57allowed to participate in each of the meetings or portions of meetings where those routes are
58discussed. The advisory group shall have full access to any data or record related to the pilot.
59MassDOT shall identify and assign a team of staff dedicated solely to the support of the advisory
60group and the performance of the pilot.
61 (d) The pilot shall commence not later than December 31, 2024. The advisory group shall
62present formal findings not less than every six months thereafter to the joint fiscal management
63and control board and MassDOT Boards. A final report on the pilot shall be submitted to the
64joint fiscal management and control board and MassDOT boards not later than 3 months after
65the conclusion of the pilot.