Riders of the 23, 28, and 29 buses are primarily people of color who have low incomes, according to a 2019 report from LivableStreets, a public transportation advocacy group.

Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of community group the Livable Streets Alliance, said: “We are thrilled to hear about the expansion and extension of the free buses pilot in Boston – and we are proud that Boston has become a national leader in the free transit movement.

“This is not pie-in-the-sky. These are reasonable, achievable, affordable steps to improve transit service and make us a national leader in transit,” Thompson said. “We need to dispel the myth that we need to choose between free service and great service. We can have both and we are implementing both.”

A 2019 report from the transportation advocacy group LivableStreets found that more than 59 percent of riders on the 23, 28, and 29 buses were low income and more than 96 percent were people of color.

“The ridership on that route is almost up to pre-pandemic levels and is now the most popular bus route in the entire MBTA system,” said Stacy Thompson of the Liveable Street Alliance.

“Every project has someone complaining about something, and I don’t really see anything particularly glaring about this project,” said Thompson, an executive director at Livable Streets Alliance. “As a knowledgeable advocate, who knows the ins and outs of this project, I’m not worried about this delay because they were able to keep the project on track during COVID.”

Thompson, Executive Director of the Livable Streets Alliance, said: “As a knowledgeable advocate who knows the details of this project, I was able to get the project on track during COVID, so I don’t have to worry about this delay.”

Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson talked all things transportation, including Beacon Hill’s response to Mayor-elect Michelle Wu’s plan for free ridership on the MBTA.

LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said 90% of Route 22 riders are people of color, a group that has had disproportionately longer commutes for decades. “Every minute” the MBTA saves riders closes that gap, she added.

“This project has been a major step forward for the MBTA and Boston when it comes to closing our system’s transit equity gap,” said LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson.