Transit Benefits Program

Why is Somerville doing this?

The City works to provide transit passes that allow people an unlimited number of trips on subway and buses to provide economic relief and expand access to jobs, services, educational and social opportunities to more of our community members, especially young adults and lower-income community members, these programs align with Somerville’s strategic plans and goals to increase sustainable and equitable transportation options.

Program Goals:

• Equity: Everyone should be able to get where they need to go regardless of income
• Access: Access to economic and educational opportunities, social and health services amenities​
• Environment: Reduce emissions and help meet Somerville’s Climate goal of achieving a non-car mode-share of 75% by 2040

“Funding these passes is one way we are increasing our local investment in youth and families while also advancing our climate action goals. Public transportation is a public good that must be an accessible, reliable resource for all residents, and this is a vital step in that direction. I thank the MBTA, the City Council, and the School Committee for supporting this program and look forward to building on initiatives like these going forward.” - Mayor Katjana Ballantyne

Student Pass

Background

Somerville Public Schools (SPS) is providing free MBTA youth transit passes (“M7”) for all our students in grades 7 to 12 for the school year. With the M7 Card, students can take unlimited trips on the subway, bus, and Commuter Rail to Zones 1A, 1, and 2. This is a continuation of the program from previous years. In the first year of the program (2021-2022), students took over 150,000 trips using the passes with 32 percent taken on the subway. The City is excited to continue and expand this program.

Press Release from August 29, 2022.

Application

Cards haven been distributed to students at school by the end of September.

Visit SPS’s Frequently Asked Questions webpage to learn more.

Parent and Guardian Pass

Background

City of Somerville distributed a limited amount of free monthly MBTA transit passes to eligible households through the SPS Family Liaisons. These passes were pre-loaded with monthly bus and subway passes and will be valid from time of distribution through August 2025. Passes were available to parents and guardians of all SPS students of any age or grade.

Low-income Pass

Background

The City of Somerville distrbuted a limited amount of free monthly MBTA transit passes to eligible persons via the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS). These passes were available for residents enrolled in a partner program like SNAP, MassHealth, or Head Start.

Workforce Pilot

Background

Somerville Public Schools (SPS) partnered with the City’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development to launch the SPS Workforce Transit Pass Pilot Program from January to June 2023. This program was funded thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act. The pilot program provided free MBTA Link Passes to all SPS staff who chose to sign up. Passes were good 7 days a week for unlimited travel on all MBTA subway lines, local bus lines, and the Silver Line. The goal of the pilot was to support staff, promote sustainable transit, ease parking pressure around schools, and evaluate use and interest in transit passes.

To learn more about the impact of the pilot, check out the findings below. This pilot was extended and continues for the 2025-2026 school year, and was expanded to include City Staff.

For more information on the program please see the Human Resources webpage.

Findings

The City was able to study the pilot through 3 surveys that teachers and staff responded to, and usage data provided by the MBTA. In this study, we found that

• 523 staff members took a total of 22,590 trips, saving over $45,000.
• 95% of cards were used on subway services and 65% were used on bus services throughout the pilot.
• 84% of participants felt the transit pass allowed them to use a car less and described other benefits including saving money and having more convenient travel options.

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Providing transit access alone does not remove all barriers to using public transit. When asked about barriers to transit, survey takers described system wide problems, such as closures and unreliable service. Even when it was working as intended, some found public transit inconvenient because they lived a long way from a transit stop or found the schedules inconvenient.

When asked what improvements would help staff take transit more, the most popular answers were

1. more frequent transit service (52%),
2. transit access closer to home (18%)
3. and transit access closer to my workplace (14%).

In the surveys, we also found that...

• People use a variety of modes to complete their trips. 60% of cards were used on both bus and subway modes. Being able to provide both was an important part of the program.
• Even staff who indicated they never took transit before (3% of intake surveys) used this card to take new trips on transit, taking a total of 292 trips on their pilot cards.
• Transit trips were taken throughout the day. However, 39% of all trips did take place during the morning or evening peak, which provided an alternative to driving during our most congested times of day.

If you are interested in learning more about the pilot evaluation, this data is available in the City of Somerville Open Data Portal, where you can review the data dashboard and download the data.

Application

For questions on enrollment, staff should reach out to their manager.

East Somerville Business Employee Pilot

As part of Community Mitigation funds provided by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the City of Somerville will be launching a new free transit pass program for employees of East Somerville Businesses. More details will be available later this year on this webpage.