Are Free Fridays on the T's commuter rail this summer a hint of the World Cup chaos to come?

20 years ago, MA mandated residents to buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Unaffordable healthcare inflation followed along with new mandates, rising premiums, fewer choices & increased provider payments without real transparency or efficiency standards. Taxpayer costs soared; working family income growth suffered. Small businesses & their workforces have consistently faced annual double digit premium increases. Healthcare cost reforms are long overdue.

There are two ways to look at Gov. Maura Healey’s announcement of “summer savings” for MBTA commuter rail riders.

One way is celebratory. “Free Fridays,” when riders do not have to pay fares on Fridays in June, July and August, on top of planned 50% discounts of monthly commuter passes that could save passholders hundreds of dollars, offer some relief. Fares can be quite steep depending on someone’s individual income and where in the 10 zones they live.

But the other way to look at it involves the nagging feeling that we’re in for a bumpy summer, and these discounts are a way to smooth over the service disruptions that will hit regular riders.

State and local officials have spent months preparing, particularly for the seven World Cup matches to be played at the 65,000-seat Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Healey has compared the effort to hosting “seven Super Bowls in four weeks.”

Two million visitors are expected to hit the Boston area for World Cup-related events, with additional people expected for the America 250th celebrations, and the Tall Ships. Not to mention Boston Harborfest, the regular Red Sox-Yankees games and concerts that mark the city’s summers. 

While some involved in World Cup prep say Massachusetts could see a $1 billion economic impact, sports economist Victor Matheson told the Boston Business Journal he viewed that number as “wildly optimistic, even in the best of times.” The Trump administration’s anti-immigration stance could also mar the games.

The World Cup also looms over city and town finances. The town of Foxborough successfully demanded upfront coverage for security costs from organizers. Boston, which is now grappling with a $48 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year, is tracking World Cup costs for the remainder. (The city was just awarded $12.5 million from FEMA, though they applied for $24 million. The Tall Ships usually includes a state reimbursement, according to a City Hall spokesperson.)

The MBTA, undergoing a turnaround under Phil Eng, will be in the global spotlight. For the World Cup, six of the seven games are on weekdays, and the matches are set to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., according to a presentation to the MBTA’s board. 

Coordinating with multiple other agencies, the MBTA has agreed to dedicate 14 trains to move 20,000 passengers who are attending each match between South Station and its Foxborough station. They’ll get hit with higher fares while other riders will see the discounts.

Eng estimated the cost of the summer discounts at $9 million, according to the Boston Globe. The T is also putting $35 million towards upgrading the Foxborough station. (The cost of the discounts has been factored into the T’s operating budget, and increased ridership, drawn in by the discounts, could lead to more revenue, the T posits.)

In a statement, Eng called this summer’s event schedule "unprecedented." He added, “These free and discounted summer Commuter Rail services are a Thank You to our regular passengers and to encourage more people to experience the convenience of leaving their cars at home and choosing transit.”

Given that commuter rail schedules in June and July will be adjusted to handle the 20,000 passengers on 14 trains to and from Gillette, it could also function as a preemptive “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

My main concern is how this all affects Boston’s comic convention, which is set for early August and will feature actors from the “Lord of the Rings” and the “Ninja Turtles” movies from the 1990s. How well do you think state-level planning is going for this packed summer? Drop me a line: [email protected].

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