Free Bus Plan Could Cost $100 Million Passengers board a bus outside the MBTA subway stop in Davis Square in Somerville, Mass., Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. Josh Reynolds/AP March 8, 2021 Making all MBTA buses free of fares to riders could have "unintended consequences" on the RIDE paratransit service and carry a price tag stretching close to or above $100 million, T General Manager Steve Poftak said Monday. Poftak did not explicitly oppose the free bus proposal from Transportation Committee Co-chair Sen. Joseph Boncore, but he said not charging riders on those platforms "may not have the desired effect that some of the advocates believe it will."