MBTA Expands Fare Program to Local Employers

The Massachusetts Bay Area Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced partnerships with Kendall Square Association (KSA) members Google and Sanofi, the City of Boston, and retailers in Assembly Row.

The partnership will provide employees of those organizations with local bus and subway passes through the Pay-Per-Use limited fare program, according to MBTA's news release.

During this program, a select number of employees from Google, Sanofi, the City of Boston, and retailers at Assembly Row will have unlimited access to subway and local bus services with their trips fully funded by their employers or for Assembly Row retail employees funded by Assembly Connect for the duration of the Pay-Per-Use limited fare program initiative.

Since 2016, the MBTA said it has partnered with MIT to operationalize a post-paid institutional fare program that charges the institution based on usage of their employees’ transit passes. The Pay-Per-Use limited fare program initiative is expected to run for 24 months, whereupon the MBTA said it will evaluate expanding it further as we transition to the new fare collection system.

“The benefits and policies that employers offer their employees play a key role in what mobility choices their employees make,” said Steve Poftak, MBTA GM. “We are thrilled to partner with the City of Boston, Google, Sanofi, and Assembly Connect to support their employees’ use of transit. By studying this limited expansion of the program that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) helped pioneer, we aim to guide further development of flexible fare programs for employers as we transition to the new fare collection system.”