What is one thing you would change about buying fares on the T?
I’m a regular bus and subway rider with a pass through work. But, others in my life have to pay for their own passes and trips. One thing that I would change about buying fares on the T is to make it easier to figure out what is the best fare to pay and find where to make a transaction to pay. Some of this will become better as the MBTA completes its Fare Transformation program between now and 2025. Click here to see more on that on the MBTA’s website.
Until then, though, some common questions and challenges that people have with MBTA fares are:
- What is the fare or pass that is best for your trip?
- Where to buy fares and add value?
- Where can you find fare vending machines at stations?
Figuring out what fare or pass is best for your trip is really challenging. I started to do a flow-chart to try to help me with making that decision, but, having started it, I can tell you that it will take a while before I’ll post that. It’s complicated enough that I don’t know if I will have time to finish it before the T starts to make major changes on fare products.
That being said, I pulled together some info about where to buy fares and add value to a CharlieCard which is question 2. Read more below. Question 3 will be another blog post, soon.
What transactions can you do at different locations on the MBTA?
The MBTA has a lot of different ways to pay or add value. I pulled together the information into a table for how to do some common transactions:
- Buying a single trip, or roundtrip, if available
- Adding cash value to a CharlieCard (i.e. converting cash to value on a CharlieCard)
- Buying a 1-day or 7-day pass
- Buying a month pass
Transferring between different buses, trains, or boats is generally easy, but, you do have to remember that if you have:
- a pass, your transfers are included
- a CharlieCard, you can make up to 2 bus transfers on cash value
- a CharlieTicket, you can make 1 transfer on cash value
- paid in cash, you have to pay for each part of your trip separately
A transfer from bus to subway means you will pay a new full fare, except for people with cash value on a CharlieCard. People who use CharlieCards will be able to pay the fare difference; today, that’s 70 cents. A transfer from subway to bus, follows the rules in the bullets above.
The Table
The table below lets you know what you can do at each fare purchase or transaction location for the 4 transactions that I described above. These loctions are:
- on a bus or streetcar
- on the subway train
- on the ferry
- on the commuter rail train
- at a station vending machine
- at an MBTA-certified retail sales location
- on the mTicket app
- online
- by mail
The different locations are listed on the left column of the table and the rest of the columns shows which of the four transactions you can make at that location.
Hopefully, this table helps someone until the T makes it (hopefully) easier in the future to make a fare purchase or transaction. The information is current as of December 1, 2022 when I created the table.
| Where | Buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket | Add value to a charlie card | Buy a 1-day or 7-day pass | Buy a month pass |
| On a bus or streetcar (Green Line branches and Mattapan-Ashmont HSL) | Yes, one-way only, with cash Note: Change will be returned as a CharlieTicket | Yes, with cash at the farebox and some patience | No | No |
| On the subway | No | No | No | No |
| On the ferry | Yes, with cash at the dock | No | No | No |
| On the commuter rail train | Yes, with cash onboard and with applicable penalty | No | No | No |
| At a station fare vending machine | Yes, buy a card and add value | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| At a MBTA-certified retail sales locations | Yes, buy a card and add value | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On the mTicket app | Yes, only for commuter rail and ferry | No | No | Yes, only for commuter rail and ferry |
| Online | No | Yes, with a delay until 5 a.m. the next day; you must first tap at a subway station | No | Yes, with a delay until 5 a.m. the next day; you must first tap at a subway station |
| By mail | No | No | No | Yes, purchase online any commuter rail, ferry, and express bus passes to be sent by mail |
For my friends who use a screen reader, I also wrote this table as a text. This may be more helpful for you.
If you are boarding a bus or streetcar on the Green Line branches or on the Mattapan-Ashmont High Speed Line you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, with cash only Note: Change will be returned as a CharlieTicket
- add value to a CharlieCard: yes, with cash only and some patience
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: no
If you are boarding the subway, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: no, must do this at a station platform
- add value to a CharlieCard: no, must do this at a station platform
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no, must do this at a station platform
- buy a month pass: no, must do this at a station platform
If you are boarding the ferry, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, with cash at the dock
- add value to a CharlieCard: no
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: no
If you are boarding the commuter rail train, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, with cash and with an appropriate penatly fare
- add value to a CharlieCard: no
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: no
If you are at a station fare vending machine, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, buy a card and add value
- add value to a CharlieCard: yes
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: yes
- buy a month pass: yes
If you are at an MBTA-certified retail sales location, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, buy a card and add value
- add value to a CharlieCard: yes
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: yes
- buy a month pass: yes
Find the retail sales locations, on MBTA’s “finder” website: https://www.mbta.com/fares/retail-sales-locations
If you are using the mTicket app, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: yes, only for commuter rail and ferry
- add value to a CharlieCard: no
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: yes, only for commuter rail and ferry
If you are online, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: no
- add value to a CharlieCard: yes, but you must wait until 5 a.m. the next day to tap at a station fare vending machine
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: yes, but you must wait until 5 a.m. the next day to tap at a station fare vending machine
If you are sending an order by mail, you can:
- buy a one-way or roundtrip ticket: no
- add value to a CharlieCard: no
- buy a 1-day or 7-day pass: no
- buy a month pass: yes
Andrew Reker 