GATRA turns down state money for free bus fares in Taunton. Here’s why

TAUNTON — There are 15 regional transportation authorities in Massachusetts that provide bus services to cities and towns outside of Boston, and 13 of them — including the RTA that serves Brockton and the RTA that serves New Bedford and Fall River — got grants from the state to provide free transportation services year round.
The RTA that serves Taunton — the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, better known as GATRA — did not apply for state funds to provide free bus fares year round, a spokesperson for GATRA told the Gazette. (The other RTA that did not apply for the state funds was the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority). In total, the State provided $30 million to the 13 RTAs, and none of that money went to GATRA.
“At this time, GATRA has decided not to participate in free fare programs announced by the Healey-Driscoll Administration late last month,” a spokesperson for GATRA told the Gazette.
GATRA is currently offering fare-free bus service for six weeks, lasting from Nov. 29 to Dec. 31, as part of an initiative they call “Try Transit,” the spokesperson said.
“GATRA’s fixed route and complementary ADA paratransit services will be fare free. Initiatives like this also help to provide data that GATRA can use to consider fare policies in the future,” the spokesperson said.
Why GATRA decided not to apply for state funding
The spokesperson for GATRA said that “numerous factors” contributed to the RTA’s decision not to apply for the state funding.
“The funding for this fare free initiative is not a part of the annual Regional Transit Authority (RTA) budget, and therefore, it is not guaranteed year after year,” the spokesperson said. “GATRA did not feel comfortable enacting such a large fare policy change on its fixed route and complementary ADA paratransit services that may not be sustainable. Fare policy changes of this magnitude, to remove fares completely or to potentially reenact fares in the future should funding not be available, also need to be voted on by the GATRA Advisory Board.”
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How much do GATRA bus fares cost?
GATRA charges a standard fare of $1.50 per one-way bus trip, and offers a 50% discount for people with disabilities, seniors over 60 years of age, Medicare card holders, and elementary, middle, and high school students, the spokesperson explained. Children younger than 6 are not charged bus fares.
The spokesperson said that GATRA has provided free bus travel on a number of occasions, specifically between March and August of 2020, and between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024 as part of their “Try Transit” initiative.
What Mayor Shaunna O’Connell says
A spokesperson for Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell, who is also the chair of the GATRA advisory board, sent the Gazette a statement about whether she supports RTAs providing fare free bus travel.
“I support the state providing dedicated funding for fare-free service that is sustainable and does not affect the scope and service of other transportation programs,” the statement read.
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Why State is providing funding for fare-free travel
A spokesperson for MassDOT said that while it is “difficult to gather all-encompassing data on ridership,” the data that does exist shows that RTA customers often have low incomes. Four RTAs recently completed surveys, the spokesperson said, “that indicate the majority of their respective customers have household incomes below $25,000 annually.”
In a press release announcing the funding, officials touted fare free travel as a way to increase transit ridership and increase affordability.
“We’re proud to be delivering this funding to help RTAs keep their service fare free to save money for riders and encourage more people to use public transportation,” Gov. Maura Healy said.
One RTA administrator, Noah Berger of the Merrimack Valley RTA, which provides bus service in Lawrence and Haverhill, said that providing fare free bus travel has been transformative for the RTA.
“Since going fare free, our fixed route bus ridership has quadrupled and now exceeds pre-pandemic levels by over 60%, while passenger complaints are down a third. Bus trips are faster, and drivers are happier because they no longer have to police the fare policy,” Berger said. “Our riders report no longer having to ration trips to medical or educational appointments due to cost, and they are keeping more money in their pockets to spend at local businesses in Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill.”
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How long will the state funding last?
The governor’s office announced that they had awarded funding for the 13 RTAs to provide fare free transportation in October 2024. The funds were allocated in the fiscal year of 2025, which runs from July 2024 to June 2025.
A spokesperson for MassDOT said that if the RTAs had leftover funds by the end of fiscal year 2025, the RTAs could use the funds for the fiscal year of 2026 as well.
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