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South Coast transit officials have extended free bus service for an extra two months this summer while they wait for the state Legislature to make a long-term funding decision.

The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority’s advisory board voted on Thursday to extend its fare-free pilot program until Aug. 31. The program had originally been scheduled to end on June 30 after its state grant funding ran out.

It’s “really just to give the Legislature time to settle the budget and to give continuity to our passengers,” said Erik Rousseau, SRTA administrator and CEO.

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State lawmakers are currently weighing whether to include more money for free bus fares in the next budget, which takes effect July 1. The Senate’s version of the budget includes $40 million to fund free fares for all of the state’s local bus systems. But the House’s version doesn’t. Legislators are now reconciling the difference in conference committee before they send a final budget to the governor.

Legislators don’t normally finish the budget by the start of the fiscal year, so SRTA officials likely won’t know until sometime in July whether there will be more funding to keep offering free fares. That means SRTA would have had to start collecting fares after the end of the pilot this month, then potentially stop collecting fares again weeks later if more funding made it into the budget.

Rousseau said SRTA extended the pilot for continuity’s sake, because a “yo-yo” pattern of frequent changes in fare collection can confuse and frustrate riders.

“If the Legislature comes through with this funding, hopefully there will be some sentiment around the idea that this is the way of the future and it will be permanent,” he said.

To keep buses free while lawmakers hash out the budget, SRTA officials re-allocated money that had been earmarked for free fares during the December holidays. Rousseau said he didn’t want to cut service to fund free fares.

The two versions of the budget represent differing views in the two chambers of the Legislature on how to fund local transit.

At a Community Conversation hosted by The Light last week, State Rep. Bill Straus said the House did not include fare-free funding in its budget because lawmakers in that chamber wanted regional transit authorities to make their own decisions about whether to allocate resources for free fares.

Several legislators have written to Rousseau and SRTA’s advisory board over the last week urging the agency to continue providing free fares. 

Reps. Antonio Cabral (13th Bristol), Chris Hendricks (11th Bristol), Patricia Hadad (5th Bristol), and Paul Schmid (8th Bristol) said in a joint letter that they were ready to work with the agency to make sure free fares and Sunday buses continue.

We “encourage you to marshal your resources to continue the fare-free ride program,” they wrote. “We, the South Coast State Delegation, look forward to working with you to get much needed investments for this crucial service in our communities.”

In a similar letter, Rep. Alan Silvia (7th Bristol) said the South Coast delegation was “committed to advocating over the long term to fight for the resources we need in the Southeastern region for our transit system.” That includes more operating funds for regional transit authorities and “fare equity programs,” he wrote.

Rep. Chris Markey (9th Bristol) commended the agency for offering free fares but did not promise any state support.

State Sen. Mark Montigny also wrote to Rousseau in support of free fares, but unlike the members of the House, he expressed explicit support for the Senate’s plan to fund free fares with state grants. He wrote that SRTA’s decision to continue the fare-free program was “crucial” to securing the funding.

“While this funding is subject to conference negotiations with the House, I am confident that we can all succeed in securing this vital resource for our communities,” Montigny wrote.

Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org