Good news for people who ride the bus in Lawrence. The city will begin a yearlong pilot program making it free to ride city buses in 2023. All Lawrence transit services will be free for riders beginning Monday, January 2. The free ride program includes regular fixed-route bus service as well as the city’s paratransit service. An increase in Federal Transit Funding is making the fare free pilot program possible. The volume of Lawrence transit riders declined significantly during the height of the pandemic and city leaders say ridership has not fully recovered. Fare free programs in other cities have resulted in ridership increases of between 20% and 60%. The Lawrence transit system is funded by local sales tax revenue and state and federal funds with fare revenue accounting for only about 6% of operating costs. The program will be re-evaluated in fall 2023 to determine the feasibility of extending the pilot.
