page_title: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
section_title: Commuter Rail
hierarchical_section_title: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority / Funding / Fares and fare collection / Commuter Rail
caption_attribution_description: English: Two MBTA Commuter Rail tickets (on Charlietickets) and two paper receipts. The tickets are a 12-ride Zone 6 and a single-ride half-fare Zone 4 ticket, while the receipts are for a Zone 2 fare and a Zone 4 to Zone 7 interzone fare.
context_page_description: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier modes of public transportation in Boston were independently owned and operated; many were first folded into a single agency with the formation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1947. The MTA was replaced in 1964 with the present-day MBTA, which was established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before becoming a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in 2009.
  The MBTA and Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority are the only US transit agencies that operate all five major types of terrestrial mass transit vehicles: light rail vehicles; heavy rail trains; regional rail trains; electric trolleybuses; and motor buses. In 2016, the system averaged 1,277,200 passengers per weekday, of which heavy rail averaged 552,500 and the light-rail lines 226,500, making it the fourth-busiest subway system and the busiest light rail system in the United States.
context_section_description: Commuter rail fares are on a zone-based system, with fares dependent on the distance from downtown. Rides between Zone 1A stations – South Station, Back Bay, most of the Fairmount Line, and eight other stations within several miles of downtown – cost $2.10, the same as a subway fare with a CharlieCard. Fares for other stations range from $5.75 from Zone 1 (~5–10 miles from downtown) to $14.50 from Zone 10 (~60 miles). All Massachusetts stations are Zone 8 or closer; only T.F. Green Airport and Wickford Junction in Rhode Island are Zone 9 and 10.
  Interzone fares – for trips that do not go to Zone 1A – are offered at a substantial discount to encourage riders to take the commuter rail for less common commuting patterns for which transit is not usually taken. Discounted monthly passes are available for all trips; 10-ride passes at full price are also available for trips to Zone 1A. All monthly passes include unlimited trips on the subway and local bus; some outer-zone monthlies also offer free use of express buses and ferries. A cash-on-board surcharge of $3.00 is added for trips originating from stations with fare vending machines.
caption: Commuter rail tickets and on-board fare receipts
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