WRTA Buses Fare-Free Until 2025: Board Vote

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester Regional Transit Authority board has approved the continuation of a fare-free policy for another year.

WRTA buses will remain fare-free until the end of June in 2025 as part of the transit agency's fiscal 2025 budget, which goes into effect on July 1. This is the second year in a row the board has unanimously approved including the fare-free policy in the budget. The fare-free policy would've expired this June without a board vote to continue it.

The policy has proven popular and beneficial for the bus system. A recent poll commissioned by the Worcester Zero Fare Coalition found that 19 percent of riders would stop riding completely if fares returned, while 26 percent said they would ride the bus less often with fares in place. WRTA has also seen the best recovery of ridership since the pandemic of any system in the state, according to federal data.

"Thank you to the @theRTA for today’s unanimous vote extending free fares through June 2025 & continuing to lead in fare-equity as the longest-running fare-free regional transit system in the US!" the zero fare coalition said in a tweet Thursday.

The fare-free renewal is the first under the leadership of Joshua Rickman, a former CT Transit official who took over as administrator after Dennis Lipka retired last year.

WRTA buses went fare-free in March 2020 so that riders could board at rear doors to avoid close contact with drivers as the COVID-19 pandemic began. But eliminating fares for WRTA buses was being discussed before the pandemic after a Worcester Regional Research Bureau report showing the benefits. The WRTA board has voted multiple times since 2020 to keep the policy in place. The agency has relied on federal stimulus funds to pay for fare-free, and WRTA had about $20 million in stimulus funds during deliberations in 2023.

WRTA isn't the only bus system in Massachusetts with a fare-free policy. The Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority is free, and the MBTA's routes 23, 28, and 29 will be free through February 2026. Routes 23 and 28 have recovered to near or above pre-pandemic ridership, according to the MBTA.

The fare-free policy applies to all fixed-route buses and paratransit vans in WRTA's service area, which includes 37 communities in central Massachusetts.