Cape Cod RTA to Offer Free Fares on Fixed Bus Routes Starting June 21

Beginning June 21, travelers can ride for free on fixed bus routes through the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA).

CCRTA Acting Administrator Kathy Jensen said that following a clarification in policy language, the CCRTA is now able to offer free fares to passengers in conjunction with other regional transit authorities (RTAs) off the Cape.

“We will be doing free fares for everybody for as long as the funding will let us — if not forever, I'm hoping,” she told CapeCod.com in an interview.

The initiative is being funded through the recently adopted Fair Share Amendment, which increased taxes on luxury real estate sales.

Jensen said she had hoped the CCRTA would have been able to implement the free fares earlier. However, the policy language that the CCRTA wanted to adopt from other RTAs was not clear on whether the free fares implementation would also impact the dial-a-ride service called SmartDART. 

According to Jensen, the dial-a-ride service and routes taking passengers off the Cape will still maintain their respective fares.