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MBTA

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Designing an accessible fare reduction application for 60,000+ low-income riders and the communities that raised me.

UX Research Product Design Accessibility Civic Tech 2023–2024

60K+

Potential riders reached

Eligible for 50% fare discount

25.5K

Applications initiated

Since launch in Sept 2024

$45M

Program funding

MBTA investment in equity

The Problem

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The MBTA had $45 million to help low-income riders access cheaper fares. The barrier wasn't money. It was a form nobody could get through.

The Income-Eligible Reduced Fares (IERF) program offered a 50% discount on all fares for qualifying riders. But without a thoughtfully designed application, that benefit would never reach the people who needed it most people with disabilities, limited English proficiency, low digital literacy, or simply no time to wrestle with a confusing government form.

Growing up in Lynn, MA (12% poverty rate), I knew firsthand how transit costs shape daily decisions. This wasn't abstract. The friction in a form has real consequences: missed jobs, skipped appointments, lost independence.

How might we... Design a government assistance application that feels human, removes anxiety, and works for riders of all abilities and backgrounds?

The Process

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Strategic Research

I started by auditing comparable government assistance programs SNAP and MassHealth that our target users would already have experience navigating. Both were functional but sterile, offering no warmth or guidance for someone approaching a stressful process. I mapped the requirements our application needed to meet: clear eligibility info, a streamlined document upload, transparent progress tracking, flexible delivery options, and an unambiguous confirmation of approval.

Collaborative Wireframing

Rather than designing alone and handing off, I looped engineers in early to understand technical constraints and surface ideas. That collaboration produced some of the best moments in the design including a transit-themed progress bar using MBTA's iconic line colors, which came directly from an engineer's suggestion. We also added explicit RMV consent language, an alternative shipping address option, and switched from a percentage indicator to numeric steps, which felt far more grounding for users.

Usability Testing

Seven usability sessions revealed a critical mismatch: participants assumed they needed to upload proof of benefits, but our system would verify eligibility automatically by cross-referencing RMV and EOHHS data. That assumption created real anxiety. Working with our content lead, I designed a "Before You Begin" page that stated upfront exactly what users would and wouldn't need. Naming the unknown removed it as a source of fear.

Accessibility as Foundation

Knowing our users included people with disabilities, limited literacy, and varying levels of digital fluency, accessibility wasn't a checklist item. It was a design constraint from day one. We adhered to WCAG AA standards through the MBTA component library, conducted screen reader testing, and partnered with the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) for an expert audit. Their feedback: "You guys do really, really, really good work here."

Handoff & Public Engagement

My handoff included complete Figma files with responsive designs, detailed documentation of UX decisions and accessibility requirements, and ongoing support through implementation. I also participated in public comment sessions across Boston, not as a formality, but as a chance to hear directly from the communities this program was built for and refine the experience accordingly.

Findings

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Users assumed they'd need to prove it themselves

Every usability participant expected to upload documentation proving their enrollment in a qualifying assistance program. The reality (that eligibility would be verified automatically) wasn't intuitive. Without addressing this upfront, the process would have felt untrustworthy and incomplete.

Progress framing shapes confidence

Percentage-based completion felt abstract and unmotivating for a multi-step government form. Switching to numbered steps ("Step 2 of 4") gave users a concrete sense of where they were and how close they were to done a small change with outsized impact on completion behavior.

Delight belongs in government design too

The transit-themed progress bar, with each step colored in MBTA's iconic line colors, was a moment of warmth in a typically cold experience. It didn't compromise usability. It enhanced it, giving riders something recognizable and even joyful in a process that usually asks nothing of them but patience.

"This is an enormous step for communities of color and communities of low income."

Noemy Rodriguez, MBTA rider and community advocate

The Solution

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[ Before You Begin screen ]

[ Identity verification ]

[ Confirmation screen ]

A 4-step application that verifies eligibility automatically, guides riders through the process with warmth, and gets out of their way.

The final flow covered eligibility overview, identity verification via RMV data, CharlieCard delivery preferences, and a clear confirmation summary. The entire process takes about five minutes, saves progress at every step, and requires only a Massachusetts ID no documentation uploads needed.

The transit-themed progress bar used MBTA's actual line colors to mark each step, turning a bureaucratic necessity into a moment of brand recognition and delight. The "Before You Begin" page reframed the entire experience: by naming what users wouldn't need, it removed the anxiety that had been stopping them before they even started.

Design decision

Naming the absence of a requirement ("You will not need to upload proof of enrollment") was more powerful than any reassuring copy we could have written. Silence about what's not needed reads as ambiguity. Saying it directly reads as trust.

Impact

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25.5K+

Applications initiated

Since September 2024 launch

50%

Fare discount unlocked

On all MBTA fares for qualifying riders

60K+

Potential riders served

Program capacity at full adoption

🏆

Commonwealth Equity in Governance Award

Selected from a record number of submissions, 2024

Learnings

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Collaboration multiplies creativity

Some of the best ideas in this project came from engineers, not designers. The transit-themed progress bar (the detail people remember most) came from an engineer who cared about the experience. Bringing the full team into the design process early, rather than handing off finished specs, consistently produced more thoughtful, more buildable solutions. I'd do this on every project.

Empathy requires listening and action

Understanding what users expected (even incorrectly) was as important as understanding what they needed. The documentation assumption wasn't irrational; it was based on every other government form they'd ever filled out. Designing for that mental model, not against it, was the move. Proactively addressing a misconception before it became a barrier is what made the difference in completion rates.

MBTA

The Problem

The Process

Strategic Research

Collaborative Wireframing

Usability Testing

Accessibility as Foundation

Handoff & Public Engagement

Findings

Users assumed they'd need to prove it themselves

Progress framing shapes confidence

Delight belongs in government design too

The Solution

Impact

Learnings

Collaboration multiplies creativity

Empathy requires listening and action

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