Mass transportation in Boston was provided by private companies, often granted charters by the state legislature for limited monopolies, with powers of eminent domain to establish a right-of-way, until the creation of the MTA in 1947.

[7] The rail, which opened in 1835,[6] connected Boston to Lowell,[8] a major northerly mill town in northeast Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley,[9] via one of the oldest railroads in North America.

This marked the beginning of the development of American intercity railroads,[6] which in Massachusetts would later become the MBTA Commuter Rail system and the Green Line D branch.

As rail passenger service became increasingly unprofitable, largely due to rising automobile ownership, government takeover prevented abandonment and dismantlement.

The 1945 Coolidge Commission plan assumed that most of the commuter rail lines would be replaced by shorter rapid transit extensions, or simply feed into them at reduced service levels.

[citation needed] In the 1970s, the MBTA received a boost from the Boston Transportation Planning Review area-wide re-evaluation of the role of mass transit relative to highways.

Producing a moratorium on highway construction inside Route 128, numerous mass transit lines were planned for expansion by the Voorhees-Skidmore, Owings and Merrill-ESL consulting team.

Between 1971 and 1985, the Red Line was extended both north and south, providing not only additional subway system coverage, but also major parking structures at several of the terminal and intermediate stations.

"Forward funding" introduced at that time consists of a dedicated revenue stream from assessments on served cities and towns, along with a 20% portion of the 5% state sales tax.

Since 1988, the MBTA has been the fastest expanding transit system in the country, even as Greater Boston has been one of the slowest growing metropolitan areas in the United States.

[38] On March 19, 2015, using a grassroots tool, GovOnTheT, Steve Kropper, and Michele Rapp enlisted 65 Massachusetts General Court legislators to ride the T to the State House, pairing them with 85 TV, radio, electronic, and print reporters.

[40] The next month, Baker appointed a new MassDOT Board of Directors and proposed a five-year winter resiliency plan with $83 million being spent to update infrastructure, purchase new equipment, and improve operations during severe weather.

[41][42] A new state law established the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, effective July 17, 2015,[43] with expanded powers to reform the agency during five years.

The report said, "There is a general feeling that fiscal controls over the years may have gone too far, which coupled with staff cutting has resulted in the inability to accomplish required maintenance and inspections, or has hampered work keeping legacy system assets fully functional.

The colors were assigned on August 26, 1965, in conjunction with design standards developed by Cambridge Seven Associates,[57] and have served as the primary identifier for the lines since the 1964 reorganization of the MTA into the MBTA.

[59] Opened in September 1897, the four-track-wide segment of the Green Line tunnel between Park Street and Boylston stations was the first subway in the United States, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The rail network operates according to a spoke-hub distribution paradigm, with the lines running radially outward from the city of Boston, with a total of 394 miles (634 km) of revenue trackage.

In addition, over a dozen stations are equipped with "Pedal & Park" fully enclosed areas protected with video surveillance and controlled door access, for improved security.

In June 2019, a year after the trials the board voted to make some changes to the schedule which would allow for further late night service to be incorporated long term[90][91]

[94] Passengers pay for subway and bus rides at faregates in station entrances or fareboxes in the front of vehicles; MBTA employees manually check tickets on the commuter rail and ferries.

For paratransit service, instead of physical fare media passengers maintain an account to which funds can be added by web site, phone, mail, or in-person visit.

Several local politicians, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Representative Ayanna Pressley, and Senator Edward J. Markey, have proposed to eliminate MBTA fares.

[106] In the fall of that year, the agency started upgrading a portion of faregates at all stations to accept only contactless cards, in anticipation of the phase-out of paper CharlieTickets,[111] which occurred on March 31, 2022.

[112] Installation of upgraded fare vending machines was completed in July 2022, allowing riders to purchase CharlieCards and the new tappable CharlieTickets at any rapid transit station.

A common complaint from monthly pass holders was that on-board conductors would sometimes fail to check any tickets for their car, giving a free ride to single-ride and cash-on-board passengers.

[needs update] The FY2010 budget was supplemented by $160 million in sales tax revenue when the statewide rate was raised from 5% to 6.25%, to avoid service cuts or a fare increase in a year when deferred debt payments were coming due.

The Board forwent federal funding to allow the contract to specify the cars be built in Massachusetts, in order to create a local railcar manufacturing industry.

[150] In addition to the new rolling stock, the $1.3 billion allocated for the project will pay for testing, signal improvements and expanded maintenance facilities, as well as other related expenses.

Given the vast long-haul rail routes, the MBTA further determined its desire to work with distance providers of telecom or utilities to provide authorization to use pieces of public land for ROW projects, including: renewable energy installs, electric power lines & energy corridors, optical fibre lines, communications sites, road, trail, canal, flume, pipeline or reservoir uses.

It tells the absurd story of a passenger named Charlie, who cannot pay a newly imposed 5-cent exit fare, and thus remains trapped in the subway system.