BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s $10 weekend pass is on indefinite hold, MBTA officials said this week, citing federal rules for ending the pilot program.
The MBTA says the pass offering unlimited weekend rides on its commuter rail system was popular, raising weekend revenue by 4.6 percent during its six-month trial, the Boston Herald reports. But the Federal Transit Administration requires additional studies before the program can become permanent, and the transit agency is still determining what to do next, the MTBA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board was told.
“The pilot is suspended until we get some direction from the FTA,” Deputy General Manager Jeff Gonneville said.
The board had learned of the suspension a week earlier, with one member suggesting a new pilot program with a slightly different price to circumvent the FTA rule. [See “MBTA’s $10 weekend pass to end, at least for now,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 11, 2018.]
