Resolved, (a)The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) shall conduct a study of the viability of implementing fare free service within the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The study shall commence not later than December 31, 2021 and shall be completed within 12 months. The MBTA shall suspend further implementation of the fare transformation project, previously referred to as AFC 2.0,  until the commission report is completed.

(b) There shall be a  fare free MBTA commission, with the support of MBTA staff, who will oversee the study. The commission will consist of  15 members including : the general manager of the MBTA or designee; 1 member of the fiscal management and control board chosen by the board at a public meeting; 1 labor designee; 1 member of the Green Justice Coalition; 1  designee from LivableStreets Alliance, , 1 designees from Transportation for Massachusetts ; 1 designees from Transit Matters; 1 member of the MBTA Advisory Board representing the City of Boston, 3 additional municipal designees chosen by the MBTA Advisory Board that represent 1 Environmental Justice municipality within the MBTA region, 1 municipality with ferry service; and 1 municipality with only bus service; and 1 designee representing people with disabilities.

(c)  The commission shall form sub-groups as needed and  shall have full access to any data or record related to the study. The MBTA shall identify and assign a team of staff dedicated solely to the support of the commission and drafting of the study.

(d) The study shall include, MBTA ridership and revenue by mode, MBTA ridership and revenue by payment method, ridership by minority and low-income use by mode, the cost of collecting fares including but not limited to all hardware and software utilized to collect and disseminate fares on buses, trolleys, at stations and at third party locations, all operations and staffing costs for collection and fare payment enforcement, credit card processing fees, cash holding and processing costs, dwell time changes for all modes, incident of operator/rider conflict, overall ridership levels and cost saving of not implementing the fare transformation project.

(d) The commission shall present formal findings not less than every six months thereafter to the Joint Committee on Transportation and the Ways & Means Committees of the House and Senate. A final report shall be submitted to  the Joint Committee on Transportation and the Ways & Means Committees of the House and Senate and the joint fiscal management and control board and MassDOT boards not later than January 1, 2023.