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 pulled 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 in 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. Eliminating the cost burden of bus fares allowed the guests to access job opportunities and vital services that were difficult to come by before. Participants were able to visit grocery stores, 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 about 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 riseswith free fares

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 has 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 appropriated 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.

Personal stories

Because of the fare-free summer rides, Kaitlin Montgomery said she’s been riding the bus “a lot more.”

“It’s been able to help me get from point A to point B, I’m able to get to the gym more regularly,” she said as she waited for a bus to arrive to Pulaski Park in Northampton on Friday. “I was thinking they should make this a full-time thing. It’s so helpful.”

For Tashauna Fuquay, 17, whose family does not have a car, fare-free rides have meant not having to rely on anyone else for rides, allowing her to accept a job at Chipotle in Hadley as she prepares to enter her final year at Northampton High School.

Fuquay, who used to live in the Boston area, has used public transit her whole life, and said that, aside from Brockton and Boston, she’s used the bus system the most in Northampton.

“It’s so easy to just get on and go,” she said. “Even though it’s really cheap to get on the bus, it’s still a financial burden. ... That extra expense, those dollars, add up.”

Usually, the buses are reliable for Fuquay, but as she sat in the heat on Friday afternoon, she told the Gazette she had been waiting for about 40 minutes for a late bus to arrive. In the Transit app she relies heavily on for her travels, the arrival time for the bus continued to jump forward. Luckily, she was on her way to Chipotle to hand in paperwork, so she wouldn’t be late for an official shift.

While cost is just one part of the transit experience for Fuquay and other riders, removing the financial barrier to bus rides has certainly had an impact on transportation accessibility.

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. “Any fare free grant application has to be approved by PVTA’s Advisory Board as the Board is responsible for setting fares for the system.”

Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, a PVTA board member, echoed the current uncertainty surrounding the program.

“We’re waiting and researching exactly what that meant for Easthampton,” she said. “But overall it’s great, because we feel that Easthampton is underserved.”

Rider-friendly schedules

Eliminating bus fares could be a step in the right direction in terms of bolstering service for municipalities like Easthampton, but bus routes and schedules are other important factors in increasing transportation accessibility.

“Reducing or eliminating fares is one part of a puzzle that encourages ridership,” said Domb. “We need to ensure that routes and reliable rider-centered schedules that make sense for people to access employment, school, food, health and human services are in place along with any fare reductions or eliminations. I believe these interventions will be successful especially if they’re amplified with widespread public information and marketing.”

Cynthia Tarail, Easthampton’s PVTA board-appointed designee and director of the Easthampton Council on Aging (COA) and Enrichment Center, emphasized further uncertainty regarding how the program will impact older riders, pointing out the work that the Easthampton Council on Aging continues to conduct in an effort to allow seniors to get more out of public transit.

“I do not know if this change means the PVTA Senior Van and the ADA Paratransit Van rides will also be no-cost,” Tarail said in an email to the Gazette. “No matter how much a bus or van ride costs, adults often need assistance to navigate these transportation options, particularly the online request systems, and need someone to advocate with them for improved service or to troubleshoot issues.”

According to Tarail, the Easthampton COA’s efforts to help older adults with transportation include providing travel instructions through its outreach program, hosting PVTA senior ID days so residents don’t have to travel to Holyoke to get an ID, selling discounted tickets, hosting trips to various destinations to familiarize senior riders with certain routes, and other forms of support and advocacy.

“If a rider tries public transportation and gives up after an issue, it could be that with our support, they could have made more use of the service,” wrote Tarail. “In fact, we sometimes steer riders to PVTA’s senior van, or, if they qualify, to health insurance-covered rides, particularly when they have weekly or twice-weekly regular medical rides, such as for physical therapy, which would overtax our small senior transportation program.”

Other improvements

Reducing cost burdens for those who use public transportation is just one aspect in encouraging ridership, and state officials are directing funding at other potential improvements. The new state budget allots 41% of revenues from the “Fair Share” surtax to transportation efforts, $100 million of which is slated for regional transit funding and grants. Combined with spending from general funds for these purposes, a total of $204 million will be put toward regional transit funding and grants statewide this fiscal year.

Of the “Fair Share” funding not being used for fare-free initiatives, $66 million will go toward direct operating support for Regional Transit Authorities, $10 million will be used to incentivize connections between regional transit routes, and $4 million will support expanded mobility options for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.