On Thursday, the Healey-Driscoll administration released $10 million in new funding for the state's Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) – the transit agencies that operate bus service outside of the MBTA's service region – to bolster service and introduce new routes, with a focus on improving regional connections between RTA service areas.
The funding comes from a carve-out from the state's Fiscal Year 2026 budget law, which allocated a total of $209 million in operating funds to RTAs this year.
According to the budget law, $10 million of that sum was set aside for "for the creation or altering of routes that advance connectivity between existing public transportation routes including, but not limited to: (A) regional transit authority bus routes; (B) Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority routes; and (C) local economic hubs."
According to a press release from the Governor's office, the administration rewarded funds to 16 different programs. Details were not yet available, but a handful were mentioned in the press announcement, including:
- Three grants will fund new or improved interstate routes that connect to destinations in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The Lowell RTA will pilot year-round service on a route to Nashua, N.H.; the Merrimack Valley RTA (MeVa) will provide a new route to connect Lawrence, Methuen, and Salem, N.H.; and the Southeastern RTA will partner with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) to increase frequency on the interstate 24L route between Providence, Fall River, and Newport.
- The MetroWest RTA will receive funding to improve service on its 495 Connector route, which connects MBTA regional rail stations in South Acton (the Fitchburg Line), Southborough (the Framingham/Worcester line), and Forge Park (Franklin line) with downtown Hudson, Marlborough, and Hopkinton – cities and towns that otherwise don't connect to the MBTA regional rail system.
- In addition to its new route to Salem, N.H., MeVa also received funding to introduce a new "Methuen Crosstown" route, which agency administrator Noah Berger described as a service that will directly connect riders to key medical, municipal, educational, and senior housing locations, shaving as much as 45 minutes off of trip times."
- The Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART), which serves north-central Massachusetts in the region around Athol, Gardner, and Leominster, will also receive funding to improve rural transit access. "These grants are incredibly important to MART and our rural communities to provide access to transportation for residents who have no other public transit options," MART Administrator Bruno Fisher said in a statement.
The Massachusetts Legislature has significantly increased its support for regional transit authorities in the past three years, after voters enacted the new "Fair Share" income tax surcharge on high-income households.
In 2022, the RTAs only received $94 million a year in operating support from the state – about half the current funding level, after adjusting for inflation. In the years since then, RTAs have been able to put the additional state funding to work with additional hiring and expanded service offerings.
