‘Fare Access’ for the homeless: Craig’s Doors launches free bus pass program to overcome transportation barrier

After months of searching for a home for a Craig’s Doors shelter guest who uses state rental vouchers, Jack Myers was excited to find an available unit and set up a tour.

However, when Myers arrived to tour the rental unit, the guest was nowhere to be found.

“When I called and asked where he was, he told me he couldn’t afford a bus pass,” said Myers, who was a case manager at the time. “Setting up an appointment is hard enough to do because of the standards required to move in somewhere with a voucher … and the thing that stopped him was literally $2.”

Since then, Myers’ work with Craig’s Doors made him realize the barrier that a lack of access poses to those looking to overcome homelessness. So when the 21-year-old political science major was contemplating how he could make an impact on the community that has lasting effects as part of his senior thesis project at the University of Massachusetts, he proposed providing guests of Craig’s Doors with access to the PVTA bus system for free.