BRTA's Fare Free Month Well Received by Community
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — During a time of inflationary costs of living, the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority boosted its December ridership by 20,000 with a free fare event.
Funded by a state grant, bus and paratransit services were of no cost from Nov. 25 to Dec. 31. This led to nearly 54,000 riders throughout the month, compared to last year's December ridership of around 34,000.
This was just below BRTA's goal of 55,000 riders but Administrator Robert Malnati is still happy with the result, as it allowed more people to use the transit authority’s services or discover them for the first time.
"Hopefully it helped the community at a time where it was needed with the inflationary pressures from everyday life," he said.
"And if this could be one way to remove some of that from some of our riders and also introduce the opportunity to people that maybe didn't know where we went and how the bus could fit their needs."
Malnati believes that the BRTA would have reached its 55,000 rider goal if not for a couple of snow storms that caused service shutdowns.
"We had been trending the first quarter and even through October about 22 percent ahead of the previous year," he said.
"So we were trending in that positive direction as it was."
All 15 of the state's regional transit authorities worked together to submit a joint application for the grant that supports the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's "Try Transit" initiative.
"It was accepted and awarded and the rest is history," Malnati said.
After being awarded, it was divvied between RTAs.
Last year, the BRTA offered free rides for one week but this was the first time it was able to offer them for an extended period of time.
The promotion was well received by the community, with some offering thanks to the transit authority.
For more information on the Berkshire Regional Transit authority visit berkshirerta.com.
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