The Cambridge City Council has unanimously asked city staff to take a third look at making the MBTA Route 1 bus fare-free. The bus runs along Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard Square in Cambridge and Nubian Station in Roxbury, passing MIT, Central Square and Boston’s Back Bay and South End. The order, adopted at the council’s meeting on Tuesday, October 20, does not spend any money. It asks for updated costs and ridership data in time for the city’s 2028 budget.
What the fare-free Route 1 order asks for
The order was co-sponsored by Councillors Ayah Al-Zubi, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Marc McGovern and Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem, The Harvard Crimson reported. It directs City Manager Yi-An Huang to work with Boston and the MBTA to:
- Request current MBTA ridership data for Route 1.
- Update the 2024 estimate of what a fare-free program would cost.
- Check federal fare equity rules that apply to fare changes.
- Assess whether Route 1 could be made free on its own or as part of Boston’s existing fare-free bus program.
- Look at whether fare-free rides could be piloted on Routes 47 and 66 while the city tracks ridership, speed and cost.
The order asks for a response within 90 days, according to the Crimson. “This order does not spend anything. It’s just asking the manager to get the MBTA’s boarding data so that we know our updated share,” Al-Zubi said, as quoted by the Cambridge | Somerville Independent.
How much a free Route 1 bus could cost
Cost has stopped the idea twice before. In a 2024 memo, then-Assistant City Manager Iram Farooq estimated the total cost at about $2 million to $3 million a year, with Cambridge’s share between $1 million and $1.3 million, the Crimson reported at the time. Farooq wrote that the MBTA “expects challenging financial conditions with its upcoming annual budgets” and that fare-free routes “will be feasible only if cities will cover the foregone fare revenue.” The Independent put the current total at up to $3.2 million, to be shared with Boston.
A Fare-Free Working Group of councillors and Community Development staff, formed in 2022, named Route 1 as the top candidate for free rides, the Independent reported. Siddiqui, now mayor, said on October 20, “It was quite challenging to make that happen.”
Boston’s fare-free buses and the end-of-year deadline
Boston already pays for free rides on three routes. According to the MBTA, Routes 23, 28 and 29 are free through December 31, 2026, in a program funded by the City of Boston. The routes serve Roxbury and Dorchester, connecting riders to Ruggles, Jackson Square, Mattapan and Ashmont stations. Transfers to other routes are not free. “Boston is working out with the MBTA what comes after that. If we want the No. 1 in that conversation, we have to say so,” Al-Zubi said, according to the Independent.
Why Route 1 matters to Cambridge and Harvard riders
Route 1 is the fourth-largest bus route in the MBTA system, carrying about 9,000 riders on an average weekday, the Crimson reported; the Independent cited more than 10,000. It regularly faces delays from traffic on Massachusetts Avenue. The route links Harvard Square, MIT, Central Square, the Hynes Convention Center area, Boston Medical Center and Nubian Square. The current timetable is on the MBTA Route 1 schedule page.
Cambridge already has free shuttles. EZRide, which connects Lechmere and Kendall Square with North Station, carries about 500,000 passengers a year, and MIT is its largest single funder, according to the Independent. Councillor Patty Nolan said, “We need to be doing more to make public transit the mode of choice for many, many more people in Cambridge.”
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What happens next
The city manager’s response is due within about 90 days. Any fare-free program would still need funding from Cambridge, Boston or both, and an agreement with the MBTA. Cambridge’s council and School Committee began planning for the fiscal 2028 budget, which starts July 1, 2027, at a joint roundtable on October 26, according to the city calendar.
Related coverage: Brookline is also studying transit gaps in its community shuttle study, and the city council is separately reviewing the future of the Harvard Square kiosk. See also MBTA service changes in November 2026.
Sources
- The Harvard Crimson: City Council Renews Push to Make Route 1 Bus Fare-Free (Oct. 21, 2026): sponsors, order contents, ridership, 90-day deadline.
- Cambridge | Somerville Independent: Free rides on the No. 1 bus are back on the wish list: quotes, cost estimate, EZRide.
- MBTA: Fare-Free Program for Routes 23, 28, and 29: Boston program end date.
- The Harvard Crimson: Fare-Free Route 1 Bus Proposal Unlikely Until Fiscal Year 2026 (Apr. 29, 2024): 2024 memo and cost range.
Additional sources
- MBTA: Route 1 schedule: stops and timetable.
- City of Cambridge: City calendar: FY28 budget roundtable.
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