Brockton Offering Free Weekend Bus Service To Jumpstart Economy

BROCKTON, MA — Mayor Robert Sullivan is offering free weekend bus service on all Brockton Area Transit routes throughout the summer.

Transit services have been suffering nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and that's no different for the city of Brockton. More people are working from home, less people were going out and Brockton transit services are feeling the blow.

As COVID-19 restrictions started lifting, Sullivan took initiative of the reopening process in late May and launched, "Brockton Open For Business" a plan that would have members of the city government reaching out to businesses in the area asking how they can help get them back to their full potential.

To help get the city "open for business" and simultaneously bring back riders to the local transit system, Sullivan suggested starting free weekend bus fares through the summer on all Brockton area transit routes during a recent board meeting, and The Commonwealth said it was unanimously favored.

Other communities have also experimented with free transit fares. The Worcester Regional Transit Authority has been waiving the city's transit fares since the beginning of the pandemic, recently voted to continue free service through the end of the year.

Worcester was able to do this by tapping into federal relief funds to cover the cost of removing fees, and now Brockton will be doing the same. The cost of waiving service fees for the remainder of the summer is going to coast about $26,500 which will be covered by a part of the $8.9 million funding that Brockton Area Transit (BAT) received from the American Rescue Plan Act, a law signed by President Biden in March to provide aid to local companies.