Full and original article posted on MassLive
Worcester Regional Transit Authority buses will continue to be free to ride through June 2024 after the agency’s advisory board voted to extend the program for another year on Thursday.
The WRTA first implemented fare-free bus service at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has repeatedly extended the program. Until the board’s vote Thursday, it was set to expire in June 2023.
The WRTA Audit and Finance Committee submitted a budget for fiscal year 2024 last month which included funding to extend the program once again, using about $3.6 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. Tom Coyne, deputy administrator and CFO of the WRTA, said at the time that the agency had $19.8 million in CARES Act funding remaining, of which about $5.9 million will be used in fiscal year 2024.
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