Free Travel Training with the MBTA Mobility Center

The MBTA Mobility Center offers three types of free travel instruction services to help older adults and people with disabilities travel independently on the subway, bus, Commuter Rail, and ferry.

Travel Instruction Services

Group Training: Transit Access 101

Learn the basics of navigating the MBTA safely at our training center at Broadway station on the Red Line. Explore accessibility features on out-of-service subway and trolley cars and take a guided subway ride with a travel trainer to practice real-world travel skills.

Small Group Training

At these hands-on trainings at community agencies, riders learn about the MBTA system and essential safety protocols, then practice boarding an out-of-service bus to gain experience and build confidence.

Personalized Individual Travel Training

Trainers join participants on actual trips specific to their travel goals to help them become familiar with the route and provide support until they’re able to safely navigate on their own.

The Mobility Center also offers training and support to help riders learn more about other MBTA resources, including:

• Using trip planner and MBTA alerts to plan a safe and accessible trip
• Reading MBTA schedules and maps
• Using the MBTA Go app to navigate the system
• Buying a ticket or pass at a fare vending machine
• Applying for reduced fare cards
• Linking reduced fare cards to a RIDE account

Learn more about travel instruction services and tools

Sign Up for Travel Instruction

To sign up for a training, email howtotravel@mbta.com  or call 617-337-2727 (711 for TTY callers or VRS for ASL callers).

Read About Our Travel Trainer

Earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics interviewed Johnathan Houston, the Mobility Center’s travel trainer, and featured him on their website.

Johnathan describes the day in the life of a travel trainer, how he supports riders, and what he finds most rewarding about the job. “It’s a great feeling when a trainee tells me that their mom or someone else in their life asks them for advice on using transit because they’ve gotten so much better at getting around the city…They realize that they can get to so many other places, and it brings richness to their life to feel more capable of moving around their town, county, or city.”

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