July 4 travel in the Boston area includes free T service—and free coffee

The T will be free after 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced.

That means that buses, trolleys, trains, and commuter rail will be no-cost for riders getting home from Independence Day festivities—or heading out to late evening ones given that July 5 falls on a Friday.

For most of the day July 4, the T will operate on a Sunday schedule; though subways will operate at rush-hour levels beginning at 2 p.m., the MBTA said. Commuter rail will operate on a Saturday schedule and the RIDE for those with physical challenges will operate on a Sunday schedule. Most ferries will operate on a Saturday schedule, with service on the F1 Hingham-Boston route canceled for July 4. MBTA parking facilities will operate as usual.

The MBTA, too, is prohibiting bikes on all subway lines for all of July 4. Bikes are also banned from inbound commuter-rail trains from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and outbound ones after 4 p.m. on Independence Day. Riders can get MBTA service alerts the day of here.

Also, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is altering some of the Boston area’s roadways in anticipation of heavier-than-usual traffic during the holiday weekend. Moreover, the agency is postponing all scheduled roadway construction throughout Massachusetts from 5 a.m. on Wednesday, July 3, until the morning of Monday, July 8.

MassDOT, too, is opening the high occupancy vehicle lane between Quincy and Boston along Interstate 93 early, at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2, and at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3. The lane will be closed all day July 4 and 5, and then reopen on Monday, July 8.

The Sumner Tunnel swing lane will open on July 3 at 10 a.m. and close on July 8 at 5 a.m., MassDOT said.

Finally, as if to make drivers more alert, MassDOT said that 18 highway service plazas will have free coffee after 10 p.m. on July 4 and until 5 a.m. on July 5. These include 11 service plazas along I-90 (a.k.a. the Mass. Pike), plus plazas along Route 3 in Plymouth, Route 128 in Beverly, Route 128/I-95 in Newton and Lexington, Route 6 in Barnstable, and the Route 24 northbound and southbound plazas.

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