MBTA partners with clothing co. to give passengers free rides

Starting today, riders who utilize certain routes on Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority buses will be able to ride specially decorated buses for free, as a result of an advertising deal with L.L. Bean, a clothing company.

Passengers will be able to tell if their ride will be for free if they take a bus that looks like an L.L. Bean shipping box, according to the media advisory. The campaign will last until April 2.

The L.L. Bean buses will be running on routes 1, 9, 47, 57, 66, CT1, CT2 and CT3. The route 57 bus, which runs from Watertown Yard to Kenmore Square, runs the length of the Boston University campus.

“Depending on the day and/or time, one or two of these will operate on the Rt. 57,” said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo in an email.

Ten buses total will be “wrapped,” Pesaturo said.

These buses will have a covered farebox reading, “Your ride is free today courtesy of L.L. Bean,” according to the media advisory.

Thought the MBTA will not be getting any fare money on the 10 buses for the six days that the campaign will be going on for, L.L. Bean is paying the MBTA $180,000 for the free rides and $36,000 to “wrap” the buses in their ads, Pesaturo said.

“The T has been exploring several different ways to raise non-fare revenue, and this effort is one of them,” he said.

“L.L. Bean chose Boston, known for its loyal L.L. Bean customer fan base….Boston is the only city with these unique, wrapped buses that resemble L.L.Bean shipping boxes and the only city where passengers ride free for one week courtesy of L.L.Bean,” the advisory said.

The advertising campaign is celebrating the launch of free shipping, which began on March 25.

Although the MBTA has previously offered free rides as a promotion, they have never been for such a long time period. According to The Boston Globe, Microsoft and ING have previously paid for free promotional periods, however each were only for three hours at a time.