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From YouTube: 28 Bus Pilot Annoucement
Description
Watch Mayor Kim Janey announce that the city of Boston will begin a fare pilot on MBTA Route 28 starting August 29th for three months until November 30th. Route 28 riders will be able to board buses without needing to pay a fare.
A
Good
morning,
everyone
I
have
some
very
exciting
news
for
the
city
of
boston,
especially
for
residents
like
myself,
who
rely
on
public
transportation
for
those
who
ride
the
28
bus
that
begins
right
here
in
matapan
square.
I
have
invested
500
000
in
a
partnership
with
the
mbta
to
pilot
a
program
that
will
provide
free
bus
fares
on
this
route.
A
A
A
More
than
two-thirds
of
riders
on
the
28-bus
are
classified
as
low-income.
According
to
the
mbta's
most
recent
system-wide
survey,
this
pilot
will
help
us
achieve
rider
equity,
provide
monetary
support
to
writers
and
allow
us
to
better
understand
what
impacts
travel
time.
For
example,
black
riders
spend
64
more
hours
per
year
on
bus
commutes
compared
to
white
passengers
for
many
of
the
residents
who
rely
on
the
28
bus
to
get
to
work
school
shop.
For
food
and
see
a
doctor,
the
bus
is
their
only
mode
of
transportation.
A
Residents
of
roxbury,
dorchester
and
matapan
also
suffered
hardest
from
the
ripple
effect
of
the
pandemic,
which
disrupted
all
functions
of
society,
especially
our
economy.
We
want
to
provide
economically
disadvantaged
residents
who
were
hard
hit
by
the
pandemic,
with
monetary
reprieve
by
eliminating
their
transportation
costs.
A
This
pilot
will
measure
the
impact
of
free
fares
on
ridership
along
the
28
bus
route.
It
will
provide
direct
benefits
to
communities
that
historically
have
been
disenfranchised
by
the
lack
of
rapid
transit
and
the
free
bus
pilot
will
also
feature
all
door
boarding
where
riders
can
board
using
any
available
door
on
the
bus,
reducing
border
boarding,
time
and
travel
times.
A
A
It
will
help
us
determine
how
to
make
public
transportation
equitable
for
all
riders.
I
took
the
bus
here
from
my
home
in
roxbury,
and
I
look
forward
to
seeing
many
more
people
on
the
team
while
taking
the
mbta.
Please
continue
to
wear,
masks
and
practice.
Safe
social
distancing,
covet
19
is
a
devastating
reality
that
has
taken
the
lives.
A
A
Finally,
I'd
like
to
end
with
some
thank
yous,
I
am
joined
by
a
number
of
elected
officials
here
today
from
the
boston
city
council,
michelle
wu,
who
has
also
been
a
long
time
advocate
of
public
transportation,
joined
by
city,
councilor
ricardo
arroyo,
who
represents
matapan
and
high
park
on
the
city
council,
also
joined
by
state
representative
russell
holmes.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
leadership,
even
if
we
don't
always
see
eye
to
eye
on
public
transit
issues.
I
am
so
glad
that
you
are
here
with
us
and
certainly
no
jeff
we're
here
in
partnership.
A
State
just
to
be
clear
and
state
representative
brandy,
fluker
oakley.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
leadership
as
well.
I
also
want
to
acknowledge
the
boston
transportation
commissioner,
greg
rooney.
He
is
not
able
to
be
here,
but
members
of
the
team
are
here
and
I'm
really
grateful
for
the
leadership
of
venete.
Thank
you.
A
It
up
and
omar
is
here
as
well.
Thank
you
so
much
omar,
the
chief
of
policy
and
planning,
is
here
mary.
Where
are
you?
Thank
you
so
much.
The
chief
of
civic
engagement
is
here
aisha
miller,
thank
you
for
being
here
and
then.
Finally,
the
many
many
advocates
who
continue
to
push
for
reliable,
affordable,
safe
public
transportation.
We
could
not
have
done
this
without
you,
so
thank
you.
So
much
really
appreciate
you
at
this
time,
happy
to
take
a
couple
of
questions.
A
C
A
A
I
would
love
to
see
free
buses
all
throughout
the
city
of
boston,
there's
no
secret
there
I
have
been
advocating
for
that.
We
thought
it
was
really
important
to
start
with
the
28
bus
route,
given
that
it
has
the
largest
share
of
riders,
given
that
it
is
a
major
economic
corridor,
blue
hill
avenue
and
the
people
who
ride
and
rely
on
the
team
connecting
matapan,
dorchester
and
roxbury
really
important
to
start
here.
A
A
We
certainly
want
to
understand
how
this
has
impacted
people
financially,
and
we
think
a
free
bus
obviously
will,
as
I
mentioned
earlier,
the
people
who
ride
this
bus
route,
whether
to
go
to
school,
whether
to
go
to
work,
whether
to
various
appointments
for
them.
This
is
their
main
mode
of
transportation,
and
so
we
need
to
make
sure
that
it
works
well
for
them,
and
we
certainly
hope
that
what
we
learned
from
this
pilot
will
help
us
expand
to
other
routes
in
the
future.
A
So
it
is
still
important
for
us
to
remember
that
kovid
is
still
here
and
may
be
here
for
the
duration.
We
don't
we
don't
know
how
long
the
cdc
and
and
others
our
partners
in
the
federal
government,
as
well
as
our
state
partners
and
city
officials.
We
all
continue
to
monitor
the
data
closely,
an
important
reminder
to
folks
who
need
to
get
vaccinated,
that
we
have
vaccines
available,
that
we
need
to
continue
to
wear
our
mass
in
all
public
buildings.
That
is
still
the
case.
A
A
So,
as
I
mentioned
several
times
last
week
in
all
of
our
public
buildings,
the
current
practice
is
to
wear
masks
if
you're
in
any
municipal
building,
our
students
are
currently
wearing
masks
now,
as
they
attend
a
summer
school
or
programs
in
our
community
centers
and
the
superintendent
just
offered
a
letter
last
week,
reaffirming
the
importance
of
wearing
masks
come
this
fall.
It
is
very
important
that
we
continue
to
protect
ourselves
from
this
deadly
virus.
Last
question.