Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson discussed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s announcement of a two-year, fare-free program for MBTA bus routes 23, 28 and 29 beginning March 1, 2022, and how the program relates to Wu’s mission to make the T free. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets.

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. The routes travel along or intersect with Blue Hill Avenue, where the city plans to install center-running bus lanes.

“If the members aren’t asking hard questions, particularly around things like safety and finances, then what is their purpose?” asked Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group. “You have an opportunity to do so much, what are you doing with that role?”

Each route serves a diverse ridership, and they all intersect with Blue Hill Avenue, which research and advocacy group Livable Streets Alliance identified as a corridor that should be prioritized for reliability improvements and increased ridership, the city said.

Other BRT-like programs include the Columbus Avenue center bus lane and new boarding platforms in Boston, which opened this past fall. A study by Livable Streets found that 78% of bus riders were satisfied with the new features, and a quarter said they ride the bus more now.

Stacy Thompson of LivableStreets Alliance also stressed the importance of equitable access and questioned why the T doesn’t have a complete low-income fare policy...

“I don’t necessarily think that criminal charges would have resolved the underlying chronic, systemic issues within the state agencies that were involved with this,” Thompson said in an interview. “Typically, you only see criminal charges if there are one or two people who are verifiably involved. It’s just much harder to prosecute something that is about a system failure.”

“This is woefully insufficient and hugely disappointing,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance. “I don’t see how they can justify these actions.”

Nonprofit Livable Streets’ executive director Stacy Thompson said on Boston Public Radio last week that bike- and bus-focused projects typically boost business.

“The data shows that two-thirds or more of people going to these businesses live in that community, walk, take bikes there or take transit,” Thompson said. “Where we’ve put down bus priority projects and bike projects, business has gone up for a lot of folks, because you have more people who can get to that business.

Stacy Thompson of the LivableStreets Alliance said the draft guidelines on the whole appear to do good, but she took issue with the fact that the plan doesn’t require a certain percentage of the units be affordable.