Low-income MBTA fare program stalled
Photo | Courtesy of MBTA
MBTA buses
Movement toward a low-income fare program at the MBTA will remain stalled for at least another month while the agency's new governing body gets up to speed, officials said Thursday.
At its penultimate meeting in June before dissolving, the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board voted unanimously to require the MBTA's staff to present options for a pilot program in October.
But because Gov. Charlie Baker and lawmakers took several months to agree to a successor board and name its members, MBTA officials now plan to push back that target.
"We know it is on the board's agenda and it is something where there has been significant internal work done, but we do want to give this board an opportunity to get started and to constitute itself first," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak told reporters.
The new, seven-member board plans to convene its first monthly meeting on Oct. 27, and its members will also need to divide themselves into at least three subcommittees under the law Baker signed.
MBTA officials have been exploring means-tested fare options for years, which racial justice and transportation advocates pitch as a way to ensure the T is a viable option for riders with lower income.
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